The Daptone record label has made a name for itself by reproducing the sound of late sixties and early seventies Motown recordings with uncanny accuracy. Their headlining act, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, released their fourth album, “I Learned the Hard Way,” earlier this year. The album is as retro as anything you’ll find. It was recorded live in the studio on old analog equipment, its hook-laden instrumentation drips with strings and horns, and backup vocalists regularly call back in two-part harmony.
Sharon Jones’s singing on this album is emotive and raw, and keeps me coming back to this album. Almost every song on this album is about heartbreak of one stripe or another, and Jones sings this material so convincingly that the album is almost gut-punchingly painful to listen to in places. Whether she is singing about being cheated on by her man in the album’s title track or about life as a neglected child in “She Ain’t a Child No More,” she sings so passionately that you cannot escape the sensation that she has lived whatever she’s singing about. Some songs she opens with a conversational patter that recalls James Brown, except that her patter is also unflinchingly honest. When she says that she learned the hard way, this is borne out by her performance on song after song about messy relationships and bad breakups. That she has married such an authentic sounding delivery with a level of virtuosity that recalls soul greats like Aretha Franklin is a real testament to her ability as a singer and an entertainer.
While most members of the band contributed material to this album, bassist Bosco Mann, who is also the manager of the Daptone label, provided the lion’s share. Unfortunately, the songwriting is not as clear and concise as most of the old Motown singles they are inspired by, so the songs on this album tend to meander a bit. At its best, the material on this album reminds me more of later, longer songs like “Ball of Confusion.” While Jones’s delivery and the musicianship of the Dap-Kings carry whatever they perform, I would love to hear the group tackle something more like what the songwriters in the Brill building were putting out in the sixties. In the better-written songs, like the closing doo-wop number “Mama Don’t Like My Man,” the group is dizzyingly good, and I would love to hear the band tackle better material more often. I’m not saying these songs are as uninspired as, say, Usher’s “OMG”. They’re just not at the level of “Respect.”
You can click here to download the title track for free at the band’s website.
