Otis Clay and
Johnny Rawls Team Up as Soul Brothers for New CD Coming from Catfood
Records On October 21
EL PASO, TX – Catfood Records announces an October 21 release
date for Soul Brothers, the new album featuring Blues Hall of Fame
singer Otis Clay and Blues Music Award winning vocalist Johnny Rawls for what
promises to be one of the musical highlights of the year.
Produced by Johnny Rawls and recorded at Sonic Ranch in
Tornillo, Texas, Soul Brothers showcases the deep soul/blues
veterans at their very best. They’re backed by the solid, in-the-pocket band,
The Rays: Richy Puga (drums), Bob Trenchard (bass), Johnny McGhee (guitar), Dan
Ferguson (keyboards), Andy Roman (sax), Mike Middleton (trumpet) Robert
Claiborne (trombone), Nick Flood (sax) and The Iveys - Arlen, Jessica and
Jillian - (background vocals).
Also joining in the sessions was Southern California
percussionist Jon Olazabal.
Last year saw Otis Clay join Johnny Rawls as a special guest
on three tracks of his multi-Blues-Music-Award-nominated CD, Remembering
O.V., which paid tribute to Rawls’ late friend and mentor, O.V. Wright
and featured nine songs associated with Wright, plus an original cut, “Blaze of
Glory,” that saluted the legendary soul man. Remembering O.V. also
won the latest Living Blues Magazine Critics' Poll for “Southern
Soul Album of the Year.”
The 10 tracks on Soul Brothers showcase
original songs from Rawls, Clay, Trenchard, Al Basile, Darryl Carter and Jose
Hernandez, plus soul-powered takes on a versatile mix of tunes popularized by
Dave Mason (“Only You Know and I Know”), Jimmy Ruffin (“What Becomes of the
Brokenhearted”), Tyrone Davis (“Turn Back the Hands of Time”) and Kay Kay
Greenwade (“Waiting for Dreams”).
Both men are uniquely qualified to sing the gospel of soul
music. Johnny Rawls was O.V. Wright’s music director and guitarist back in the
1970s and after his mentor died in 1980 he played a large role in keeping
Wright’s band going strong into the 1990s. (They backed and opened for R&B
stars like Little Johnny Taylor, Little Milton and Bobby “Blue” Bland). In his
own long-established solo career, Rawls continues to draw inspiration from
Wright’s Southern soul music, as well as the other greats.
Although he had some early success at other labels, Otis Clay
made his bones starting in the early 1970s during his stay at the legendary Hi
Records in Memphis, under the tutelage of the great Willie Mitchell, who
produced a long string of soul music classics for Clay, including “Trying to
Live My Life Without You.” During that time, he also became an international
touring star, drawing huge crowds throughout Europe and in Japan, too. He was
enshrined in the Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2013, a testament to his ongoing
success as a recording artists and touring performer.
While both Otis Clay and Johnny Rawls traveled in the same
circles back over 40 years, they never really connected on a personal level for
many years. “We really got to know each other well starting about 10 years ago,”
says Rawls. “I was a big fan of Otis. Working with O.V. was a wonderful
experience, and now getting a chance to work with Otis is even better. We have a
lot in common: both of us come from a gospel background. We had a lot of fun
recording this album.”
Clay’s comments echo Rawls’ feelings. “We knew each other
before we knew each other,” jokes Otis. “O.V. Wright and I go back
to when we were both doing gospel music and our careers were very similar.
Johnny absorbed all that great music from O.V and we had such a good time
recording these songs. For me, it’s a good feeling to talk to someone like
Johnny about names, places and events we’re both familiar with from back in the
day. There’s so much that we have in common. And Bob Trenchard is really tuned
into all this music and just let us go for it.”
