Audio CD review:
The Wet Willie Band - High Humidity

The Wet Willie Band - High Humidity

Band: The Wet Willie Band Title: High Humidity Rating: Release Date: 2004-10-12 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Mind Over Matter 2: She Caught the Katy 3: Street Corner Serenade 4: Easy Street 5: Everything That 'Cha Do 6: Babyfat 7: Countryside of Life 8: Leona 9: When Something Is Wrong With My Baby 10: Grits Ain't Groceries 11: Keep On Smiling 12: Shout Bamalama

Vocals not the Biggest problem! I've just listened to the clips of this CD and while I grant that the vocals fall far short of Jimmy Hall's, they are not the biggest problem by a long shot. I've been a Wet Willie fan since I saw them in Memphis back in the late 70's. The guitar tone is so thin and trebly it sounds like he's plugged into a transistor radio with a blown 2 inch speaker and turned it up full blast! This may be the worst sounding live electric guitar tone I've ever heard and I've heard a lot. What the heck's going on here. Are the sound engineer's eardrums busted from years of mixing rock n roll?. Which One's Willie? Only a few groups have had some success with this - Van Halen, Chicago and Bad Company. Probably the hardest thing a band can go through is replacing the lead vocalist. And usually there are the die-hards that remain faithful to the original line-up and dismiss the band. In this case, the lead singer is not Jimmy Hall - and Jimmy had a very distinct vocal style and sound - he's probably one of the best Southern style vocalists around. The vocalist here has a very New Orleans (or cajun) sound - and while he's not Jimmy - he doesn't pretend to be him either. He does a very capable job with the material. The recording quality/mixing is very good and the audience is not over-bearing. Most important, it's great to hear the band get out and perform once again. I would have given the album 5 stars but 3 key songs (in my eyes) are missing - "Weekend", "Make You Feel Love Again" and "Rainman" (by Michael Duke). The last two songs from the fantastic "Manorisms" album. With the current release of Wet Willie's Epic Record albums on a single disc - that's probably the better route to go. But I must say that this is a very good release and would definitely hunt it down, especially on the used market!. Hum Drum Jimmy's southern drawl just makes the music sound better, when he sings. The lead singer's voice is not as full as Jimmy's voice, they play the songs a little faster than normal. I have seen the original band in concert with a horn section and the willettes as the backing vocals' and the concert was done right after they did their last record album. For me being a hard core fan of Wet Willie and if you are a hard core fan of Wet Willie. I DO NOT recommend this CD highly. It's not worth it. wet willie NOT !! Sorry, but if it ain't got Jimmy Hall, it ain't Wet Willie!!!. If Grits Ain't Groceries, This Ain't Great Music What an awesome album to groove to! Honestly, I was having a "grouchy" day when I first got this CD, but within minutes after putting it in the CD player I was smiling and dancing to the music. I loved Wet Willie as a kid and I love them just as much today. Highly recommend!. You can see a complete list of all The Wet Willie Band discography, or go back to the The Wet Willie Band tabs