Shorty was still yet to mature as an artist, and this has too many jarring musical moments and not enough witty lines to rank among his very best. It’s still excellent, which gives you some idea of the kind of talent we’re dealing with here. Go, Shorty, go. (8)
Even if it’s out of whack with the rest of his career, it’s a quirky, entertaining finish; meanwhile, there’s no doubt he could be proud of pretty much everything else he’d made. Here’s to you, Singin’ Sammy Ward. (6)
Motown may not have thought there was room for him in their brave new world, and commercially they may have been right; but you can’t help but feel that in discarding such a pro – with such a knack for making good records – they’d made a bad mistake. (8)
It all balances out, more or less, into a mildly diverting instrumental that doesn’t cause revulsion but doesn’t live in the memory. There’d be much better, and much worse, from Junior Walker yet. (3)
A great start, even if there was better to come. (7)
Both Crockett’s least country and most accessible song, of that I’ve no doubt. (4)
A bold attempt at repositioning Crockett as a tough, mean narrator in the Johnny Cash mould – but an attempt which falls rather flat, instead casting our Howard as the wettest and wimpiest of characters. (3)
The whole thing is just a chore to listen to, a massive comedown after the rush of the A-side. (2)
A big, brassy, bouncy irresistible rush of a pop song. Whisper it, it’s actually better than The Way You Do The Things You Do. (9)
It’s memorable and striking, but also jarringly misaligned; if it’s less of a mess, in its own way, than the half-hearted A-side, it’s still not as good as it should be, sounding unfinished and underproduced, even shambolic in places. (4)
Really not very good at all, a stark example of what happens when you try to squeeze a big-voiced R&B star vocalist into a pop framework cut to someone else’s measurements – but that’s not to overlook the fact the song itself isn’t very good either. (2)
Motown Junkies 