Johnny Rawls - Make Them Dance

Album: Make Them Dance
Size: 83,4 MB
Time: 36:01
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2025
Styles: Soul, soul-blues
Art: Front, back, inside

1. So Cold (3:57)
2. Dreams Of You (3:52)
3. Make Them Dance (3:21)
4. Move In My Direction (4:31)
5. Costs Too Much (4:01)
6. Give It To Me (3:04)
7. Rip Off The Bandage (3:26)
8. Say That You Love Me (3:12)
9. Swimming With The Sharks (3:20)
10. The Long Road (3:12)

Since 1985, when Johnny Rawls released his first solo album, the Mississippi native has commanded a genre he’s largely been credited for inventing. On Make Them Dance, Rawls delivers another generous helping of the soul blues that he’s been refining for more than 50 years, beginning with his early work supporting ZZ Hill, Little Johnny Taylor, and Joe Tex. “My songs are one foot in the past and one foot in the future,” Rawls told writer Michael Liminios in 2017, a fitting way to describe a recipe rooted in ‘60s soul but laced with contemporary trappings.

The singer and guitarist is joined here by more than a dozen musicians, including the horn players that help define his sound; on the lead-off track, “So Cold,” they carry the riff of mid-tempo heartbreak tune and serve as a majestic counterpart to Rawls’ heartfelt vocals. It’s followed by the ballad, “Dreams Of You,” one of six tracks Rawls wrote or co-wrote for the album, underscoring the wealth of material he has contributed to the blues. Once again, the horn section kicks off the tune, as if heralding Rawls’ arrival. The song sounds familiar the first time you hear it, but Rawls invokes the depth of passion that makes you feel that longing for lost love.

“Costs Too Much,” the sole tune Rawls wrote on his own without collaborators, is among the album’s standout cuts. The playful lyrics – suggesting that you need a lot of money to court a woman – will never go out of style. Rawls’ spoken-word section carries the fun all the way through the fadeout. Other highlights include “Rip Off The Bandage,” which features some strong lead guitar work from Will McFarlane, and “Swimming With The Sharks,” a song about a woman courting love and danger.

The late Jim Gaines, who produced several albums for Rawls, knew how to provide the best possible framework for Rawls, crafting a sound with punchy horns and uncluttered arrangements, as he did for Make Them Dance. Gaines, who died in November 2024, was widely known in the rock world for working with marquee names like Carlos Santana, Steve Miller, and Huey Lewis. But his love of the blues stretched far beyond his acclaimed work with Stevie Ray Vaughan. It’s a fitting testament that one of Gaines’ final projects was collaborating again with Rawls, a fellow Southerner. /Michael Cote, Blues Music Store

(For personnel details, see artwork included.)

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