This album was released all the way back in 1997 to very little fanfare. Actually that alone would be an understatement – minute fanfare is more like it!! As a matter of fact, his music was first brought to my attention via a free CD that was given away with Mary J Blige’s album “Share My World. I don’t even have it anymore cause it got stolen, but I still remember not being too thrilled with most of what I heard from that particular bonus disc. In fact, I skipped all the way through it. When I heard Rahsaan’s contribution, I thought it was somewhat different. It may’ve even been just a tad bit too sophisticated for my then 15 year old ears. Not too long after that, I found a copy of this very album at my local library. I taped it, didn’t really listen to it, taped over it, borrowed it again, burnt it to a CDR and even then I still didn’t play it very often. It was his second album “Love In Stereo” that really had me hooked though.
Before either one of those two CDs ever got released, he was on the TV show “Kids Incorporated,” which I remember seeing re-runs of when I was about nine or ten years old. I think I recall seeing one particular episode which featured him belting out a cover of Aretha Franklin’s “Freeway of love,” albeit with some rather odd lyrical alterations….am I imagining things, or did Rah really sing that song? I do know there’s footage of him out there singin’ the Genesis song “Into Deep” to another boy, though. Kinda scary considering the man’s sexual preference. Whoa we’re gettin side tracked again!!! Let’s discuss the songs on the first ever Rahsaan Patterson album….for MCA Wreckaz……which you can also find at da Wrecka Stow. Actually no you can’t…you can only find this album at used record stores…. or in pawn stores…or on eBay for 99c like I did. All righty then, let us stop all of this yakking and get stuck into the review!!
Stop By: Damn, I wasn’t expecting music to sound like this back in 1997! It’s definitely not a stuttering hip hop beat that we’ve been presented with here, it’s nothin but da funk!!! And hey, if you’re gonna begin your debut album with a good, healthy dose of F.U.N.K and then perform the same song live on a TV show with Meshell N’degeocello on bass, then you’re gonna score HUGE points from me. Guaranteed like Morris E Day. Yaiss. The chorus comprises of a very simple message: “Come around my way, baby stop by.” Just make sure you bring along your humungous afro wig and bell bottoms, baby babba….okay, so maybe you can leave that particular outfit behind. Other than that, fantastic way to get things going.
Spend the Night: Elegance. That’s what Rahsaan displayed very well on his debut album. Obviously this is where all of that elegance began for him….well, as far as I know at least. As the title suggests, he wants to spend a little time with a certain somebody out there. Whether or not he was singing to his lady friend or intimate man friend is irrelevant as it has that universal appeal. As I said earlier, elegance was the name of the game here, he’s not singing about sex in a dirty manner, he’s doing it in a classy way. Very classy. Also his bass player is poppin the strings all the way thru this ballad ala Prince in his heyday. Again, great stuff.
Where You Are: Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve been attracted to a certain somebody, but you have no means of transport to get to that person? Perhaps we’ve all been there at some point in time. Rahsaan was expressing exactly that feeling to us right here on this track. He just wanted to get to the woman he had a bit of a thing for. And it’s definitely a woman because he says “girl” in the chorus. So yeah, he was into women at some point. Anyhow, I’m not gonna sit here and analyse the song too much cause it’s a fricken brilliant piece of work!!! Acoustic guitars, soulful harmonies, fingersnaps….it’s exactly what you would expect from Rahsaan. Of course, at the time it was only his first album, so you didn’t really know what he was gonna come with. It was all a surprise. Nowadays this song is probably considered a classic amongst his fanbase….and rightly so, it’s timeless.
So Fine: Rah picks up the pace once again on this next jam, which I always thought was some kind of throw back to the whole disco sounds of the ’70s. It certainly gives off that sort of vibe and it makes you wanna get up and dance…..that can only be a great thing, right? The person whom Rahsaan sings of gives him a great feeling of love, to the point where he feels addicted to the person….which sounds pretty extreme, but we’ll let that slide, I guess. This song also features a reference to the Rolling Stones foray into disco….the song currently known as “Miss You.” As this song fades out, you can hear, what appear to be bangles dangling off of Rahsaan’s wrists. I’d say that was a pretty big clue. Ah who cares anyway? Great music is great music.
Stay Awhile: I don’t know if that’s a xylophone at the beginning of this song, or one of those cymbals or something that a drummer uses. From there we’re treated to a very smooth r’n'b number which sees Rah asking his lady if she wants to stick around for a little longer….or something. I’m sure it was just a song….just music ya know…..it’s something to kick back to rather than dissect and take far to literally. What more can I say? It’s good stuff. I don’t think he could’ve said what he wanted to say any better.
Come Over: It is a flute and a Sitar, which glides us into song #6 on Rahsaan Patterson’s debut album. This song is all about a man who is neglecting his woman and Rahsaan is not very impressed with that. As a matter of fact, it is he who wants to be the one to fulfill her needs. I suppose he was singing from another fella’s perspective. Still, it’s another one that has that universal appeal……y’know, a man could throw it onto a mix tape and send it out to his girl. I put this song on a compilation myself. I didn’t send it to anybody though. Again, it’s nothing but class here.
Can’t We Wait a Minute: I’ve always had quite a tough time getting into this particular song. That’s only due to the fact that it mostly comprises of Rahsaan being accompanied by a Fender Rhodes piano. Songs like that usually don’t hold my attention for very long for some reason or another. After about two or three minutes, the other musicians decide to come in and add their respective contributions…..which is just as well cause I thought that maybe the guys got annoyed and decided to leave Rahsaan….with his warbling, vocal gymnastics ass. Just kidding! Rahsaan’s got a great voice…..that said, I still don’t pay this song very much attention.
Joy: So we’ve gone from Rhodes-based piano ballads to….a complete and total acapella. No musicians are featured on this track at all. It’s nothin’ but Rahsaan harmonising with himself. And it’s beautiful. It is also quite obviously a dedication to God. Rahsaan is feeling joy because of The Man Upstairs and he wants to spread it all around. All the more power to him for choosing to do that. Every time I hear this song, I get reminded of two Prince songs which are sung in the very same manner – “For You,” and “An Honest Man.” Who knows if that’s what directly inspired him though? It was most probably his church choir though.
My Sweetheart: Time for another upbeat one….don’t go thinking that it’s gonna be funky though, cause it’s quite far from that. I’m certainly not complaining though because it definitely sounds good. He’s decided to throw in a rock guitar as well, if only for good measure. You wouldn’t normally expect that from a soul artist, but then again this is not your typical r’n'b/soul type of album, it’s quite different from that. Lyrically he’s just singing about wanting to be with his lover…..or his sweetheart as he chooses to say. Not a bad track at all.
One More Night: I know Rahsaan is an ’80s kid, so it would probably be easy to presume that this could be a cover of Phil Collins’ song of the same name. Thankfully it isn’t. It is an original song where he more or less pleads for his woman to stick around for one extra night…..just cause he wants her to. Sure, why not, Rah? If I really listen to this song, I can hear shades of what he’d later do in his music……y’know, that whole moody, trip-hop influenced sound with the guitar riffs? Yeah, well, he’s kinda leaning towards that type of sound here. I guess you could say that this song was the prototype for that…..but of course, I could be wrong.
Don’t Wanna Lose It: Again, he’s bringing us that classy vibe on this cut. The drum machines are combined with real live drums and other actual instruments, like guitars and keyboards. I think all he’s saying here is that he can’t stop loving the person he’s with and that he really doesn’t want to let go of that person in any way, shape or form. Is the song based upon a real life event in his life? Who knows? Is it about a member of society who also has a member? You’re asking the wrong person. It’d be no big deal if that were the case though…….mind you, Rahsaan didn’t even write this song.
Tears Ago: What can I say about this song? It’s very lush and it features nothin’ but finger snaps, Rahsaan’s voice, some keys and the odd cymbal or two. That’s it. Lyrically it’s about a man who had his heart broken by another woman when she left him for somebody else, but that was quite some time ago. Or tears ago if you will. This is definitely grown folks music, though. Without a doubt. Again, it wasn’t penned by Rahsaan Patterson.
Ain’t No Way: Oh, man…not another piano ballad. Don’t you ever get sick of that stuff? Well I do. Matter of fact I’m about to press the skip bu–….. on second thought…..I think I might stick around, this sounds like it’s about to pick up……ah yeah!! There it is, right there. Now we’re groovin. Rahsaan says that there ain’t no way he’ll live without his partners love and…..I wanna say the same for this song, but the truth is, I always skipped over it. How silly of me. This is a damn good track and I never noticed that until this very minute.
Soul Free: And here it is, the song that served as my first official introduction to the artist known as Rahsaan Patterson. Sounds like he broke out a great big dusty church organ and got his keyboardist to lay down some funky riffs for us. Is that a Rhodes in the intro? Could be…..maybe it’s something else, though. Lyrically he’s just telling us all that he’s ready to part ways with his partner and so that he can more or less be free. Ironically, George Michael had a song of the same name, but of course this is not a case of Rahsaan doing a remake of the ninth song off “Listen Without Prejudice.” What can I say? Great outro. Oh that reminds me, I used to think that the opening lyric was “I’m giving up on weed,” but it’s actually “I’m giving up on we.” Misheard song lyrics be damned.
Verdict: Generally speaking, this album was never really one of my favourites and so for a while there, I thought it wasn’t as consistent as any of his follow-ups. However, when I look at it from this particular angle, I realize that Rahsaan Patterson is a great artist and this is most certainly a great debut album. Those things are pretty hard to come by nowadays. If you want to hear some good, quality soul music, then this is a good place to start.
