Steve Cropper

Dedicated

2011-06-09

The 5 Royales started as a gospel group in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. After switching to secular music, guitarist Pete Lowman Pauling penned several frequently covered. giant hits as varied as "This Is Dedicated to the One I Love" and "Monkey Hips and Rice." The band recorded for Apollo and then King Records. When Duck Dunn, little brother of a King Record employee turned his high school friend, Steve Cropper, on to the Royales, the Mar-Keys were born. Cropper and Dunn became legendary in the Stax Records House Band: Booker T and the M.G.'s. Steve Winwood, Bettye La Vette, Willie Jones, B.B. King, Shamekia Copeland, John Popper, Delbert McClinton, Sharon Jones, Buddy Miller, Dylan Leblanc, Brian May and Lucinda Williams join Steve Cropper in this celebration of the 5 Royales' legacy. Those that weren't familiar with the band were simply pulled along by Cropper's enthusiasm. A fitting tribute to R&B ancestors infused with the inimitable Steve Cropper and his Memphis roots. Lucinda on "Dedicated to the One I Love" is transcendent. Bettye La Vette is simply plaintive on "Say It." Check Winwood, King & Copeland, McClinton, or Jones. Not a bad track in the bunch. Reviewed By: Todd Townsend.

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