Various Artists - Cover Me - The Eddie Hinton Songbook(2018) Ace - Soul/Pop(FLAC)

The Ace Songwriter Series resumes with a package featuring two dozen musical delights from the pen of the late Eddie Hinton. A cult hero among those who know and love their Muscle Shoals music, Eddie was a fixture of the Shoals recording scene in the mid-late '60s. As well as being a prolific and immediately recognizable session guitarist, and a great singer who sadly recorded far too infrequently, Eddie regularly wrote fine songs with a peer group that at various times included Donnie Fritts and Dan Penn. Cover Me features a comprehensive selection of Eddie's best-known copyrights, many of which are now regarded as classics of '60s southern soul. Not all of Eddie's songs are as well-known as his biggest hit, the much-recorded 'Breakfast In Bed', but there are several others here that could and should have been just as commercially successful. Artists would always be glad to record whatever Eddie submitted for their consideration. You only have to look at Cover Me's cast list, which includes Bobby Womack, Aretha Franklin, Dusty Springfield, Mink Deville, Cher and Lulu to name but a few, to see the caliber of talent Eddie's copyrights attracted. This collection brings together songs from all periods of Eddie's career. It's sure to enhance the stellar reputation of one of Muscle Shoals' favorite sons and it will be a welcome addition to anyone's collection of Ace Songwriter Series packages. Versions of two dozen of the finest compositions from one of Muscle Shoals’ most admired singer/songwriter/musicians of the 60s and 70s.
Atlantic Records’ Jerry Wexler said he was going to be “the next big thing” more than 40 years ago. Sadly, life dealt Eddie Hinton several poor hands in his 51 years on Earth, from a minor early 70s drugs bust that led to a premature departure from his home in Muscle Shoals to the release of a fantastic debut album in 1977 that got buried when his record label went bankrupt weeks afterwards, to a fatal heart attack in the 90s, just when he was finally beginning to achieve a long-deserved level of international recognition. No wonder he once wrote and recorded a song called ‘Hard Luck Guy’. If anyone ever earned such a nickname, it was Eddie Hinton. The songs here span approximately the first 10 years of his career. Between 1967 and 1977 he was writing with Muscle Shoals notables such as Marlin Greene, Donnie Fritts and Dan Penn, as well as playing guitar on almost every session held at Quinvy and Muscle Shoals Sound studios between 1967 and 1972. Eddie and his collaborators wrote great songs together, and many of the best can be heard here. Many of the tracks included in “Cover Me” are making their first appearance on UK CD. Some have never been reissued in any format. All offer a permanent testament to the talent of a man who was loved by his peers and is now recognised as a pivotal figure in the evolution of Muscle Shoals music.A sadly missed underated talent indeed!

                                                             Album Review Courtesy of PUW

                                                                           The Taster!   

  

                                                                    Artists & Tracks Below(FLAC)