''Late Starter'' is the fourth solo album by Mike Harrison, best known as a principal lead vocalist of

Spooky Tooth Spooky Tooth were an English rock band originally formed in Carlisle in 1967. Principally active between 1967 and 1974, the band re-formed several times in later years. History Prior to Spooky Tooth, four of the band's five founding members h ...

. Released in 2006, it is Harrison's first solo album in over thirty years, following the release of '' Rainbow Rider'' in 1975.

History and Critical Reception

The album came about following Harrison's engagement with the Hamburg Blues Band, which commenced in 1999. Michael Maslen, who owned

Halo Records Halo Records, also known as Halo UK Records, is an independent British record label, established in 2000.
l Halo ...

and was a Spooky Tooth fan, heard Harrison with the Hamburg Blues Band and persuaded Harrison to record another solo album. The album is primarily a collection of soul and blues covers, including "Sinner's Prayer", a song by

Lowell Fulson Lowell Fulson (March 31, 1921March 7, 1999) was an American blues guitarist and songwriter, in the West Coast blues tradition. He also recorded for contractual reasons as Lowell Fullsom and Lowell Fulsom. After T-Bone Walker, he was the most imp ...

and

Lloyd Glenn Lloyd Colquitt Glenn (November 21, 1909 – May 23, 1985) was an American R&B pianist, bandleader and arranger, who was a pioneer of the "West Coast" blues style. Career Born in San Antonio, Texas, from the late 1920s, Glenn played with various ...

that had most recently been covered two years earlier, on

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

' final studio album, ''

Genius Loves Company ''Genius Loves Company'' is the final studio album by rhythm and blues and soul musician Ray Charles, posthumously released August 31, 2004, on Concord Records. Billboard.com: Discography - Ray Charles - Genius Loves Company Nielsen Business Medi ...

''. To be more consistent with the history of much of what they were recording, Maslen and Harrison decided to record the album in analogue format. The album was well received. According to one reviewer, "This is an album haunted by unspoken promises and soulful regret, where hearts are betrayed by love's sweet delusion and sinners pray for forgiveness, delivered in a voice to shatter the strongest of hearts. He might be bloodied by his past, but he's vocally unbowed." Another reviewer commented that "...Harrison has the balls and ballast to not only pay tribute to the likes of

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

and

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

, but paint their musical fireplaces with his own vocal colour. Harrison’s rasping, yet soulfully blue, voice is perfect for Night Time, Your Good Thing Is About To End and I’ve Got Dreams To Remember. It’s an album of warm surprise for those who recall when Harrison was dubbed ‘the white Ray Charles’ (he really gets his hand into the glove of the master’s Drown In My Own Tears). The gospel shout of Let’s Go Get Stoned is also a winner, showing that Harrison has still got it what it takes."Ian Shirley
Review of ''Late Starter''
''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'', March, 2007. Retrieved 2018-01-13.

Track listing

#"Out of the Rain" (

Tony Joe White Tony Joe White (July 23, 1943 – October 24, 2018), nicknamed the Swamp Fox, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie" and for "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but which was first ma ...

) #"A Fool in Love" (

Frankie Miller Francis John Miller (born 2 November 1949) is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter and actor. Miller wrote for and performed with many recording artists and is best known for his 1977 album ''Full House'', the singles "Be Good To Yourself", " D ...

) #"Jealous Kind" (

Delbert McClinton Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940) is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist. From his first professional stage appearance in 1957 to his most recent national tour in 2018, ...

) #"

Come Back Baby "Come Back Baby" is a slow blues song written and recorded by the blues singer and pianist Walter Davis in 1940. Ray Charles's version, with the title "Come Back" and with songwriting credited to Charles, was released as the B-side to Charles' ...

" (

) #"I Can Give You Everything" ( Terry Anderson) #"Don't Touch Me" (

Hank Cochran Garland Perry "Hank" Cochran (August 2, 1935 – July 15, 2010) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Starting during the 1960s, Cochran was a prolific songwriter in the genre, including major hits by Patsy Cline, Ray Price, Eddy ...

) #"You Were Never Mine" (McClinton, Gary Nicholson,

Benmont Tench Benjamin Montmorency "Benmont" Tench III (born September 7, 1953) is an American musician and singer, and a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Early years Tench was born in Gainesville, Florida, the second child of Benjamin ...

) #" Night Time" (

Roosevelt Sykes Roosevelt Sykes (January 31, 1906July 17, 1983) was an American blues musician, also known as "the Honeydripper". Career Sykes was born the son of a musician in Elmar, Arkansas. "Just a little old sawmill town", Sykes said of his birthplace. The ...

) #" Your Good Thing Is About To End" (

Issac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

, David Porter) #"The Rock" ( Jim Varsos) #"Sinner's Prayer" (

) #"

Drown In My Own Tears "Drown in My Own Tears", originally credited as "I'll Drown in My Tears", is a song written by Henry Glover. It is best known in the version released as a single in 1956 by Ray Charles on the Atlantic record label. History "Drown in My Own Tear ...

" (

Henry Glover Henry Bernard Glover (May 21, 1921 – April 7, 1991) was an American songwriter, arranger, record producer and trumpet player. In the music industry of the time, Glover was one of the most successful and influential black executives. He gai ...

) #"

Let's Go Get Stoned "Let's Go Get Stoned" is a song originally recorded by The Coasters in May 1965. It was written by Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, and Josephine Armstead. Ronnie Milsap recorded it in October 1965 as a B-side to the single, "Never Had It S ...

" (

Ashford and Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, ...

Jo Armstead Josephine Armstead (born October 8, 1944), also known as "Joshie" Jo Armstead, is an American soul singer and songwriter. Armstead began her career singing backing vocals for blues musician Bobby "Blue" Bland before becoming an Ikette in the Ike ...

) #"I've Got Dreams to Remember" (

)

Credits

*Lead Vocals – Mike Harrison *Bass, Backing Vocals �
Trotter Schmidt
*Drums, Percussion, Backing Vocals �
Hans Wallbaum
*Guitar, Backing Vocals – Ralf Lehmann *Organ, Backing Vocals �
Axel Fuhrmann
*Piano, Backing Vocals – Mischka *Backing Vocals �

*Recorded a
The Grange Studio
*Engineer – Dave Williams *Produced by Mike Harrison and Mark Stevens *Executive Producer - Michael Maslen

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Late Starter (Album) 2006 albums Mike Harrison (musician) albums