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| ELLIS HOOKS |
| up your mind |
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| ITEM NUMBER: 26129 |
RELEASE DATE: 10.28.03 |
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ELLIS HOOKS
up your mind
Ellis Hooks already has an album released in Europe that won over the hearts and minds of the international Soul Music set. The music he makes has always been an amalgamation of genres - Soul, Rock, Blues, call it what you will - and as an artist he's not easy to pigeonhole. Ellis will be the first to tell you that his music is a hybrid of his originality and his many influences, and what comes out may not fit into the square peg of today's music scene.
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| Ellis Hooks | lead vocals, acoustic guitar | | Jon Tiven | electric guitars, Hammond C3 organ | | Sally Tiven | bass guitar | | Mason Casey | harmonica | | Marvin Floyd | piano/organ | | Todd Snare | drums/percussion 1,2,3,6,8 | | Martin Ditcham | drums/percussion 7,9,10,12 | | Anton Fig | drums/percussion 4,5,13 | | Omar Hakim | drums/percussion 11 | | Freddie Scott | duet vocal Man of the Blues | | Prema, Yuko Ichioka, Laren Singer | background vocals Still Waiting | | Eddie Torres | congas/percussion Controlling Picaso | | | Jon Tiven | producer | |
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Click on the icon or song link to hear an audio clip. To listen to song samples you'll need Windows Media Player.
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Rising Young Southern Soul Singer |
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[04.06.2004] |
I didn't know that there were rising young Southern soul singers like Ellis Hooks around anymore. I figured they broke that mold after Otis Redding died.
But make no mistake. Hooks, an Alabama native who has not yet turned 30, has the voice of a classic Southern souler. People are comparing him to Redding, Wilson Pickett and Little Milton. I even hear a bit of Joe Tex and O.V. Wright in his raspy tenor.
- Ben Windham (Tuscaloosa News)
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Signal of Good Things To Come |
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[01.12.2004] |
...The staggeringly good soul/R&B/blues vocalist is a big seller across the water (Europe) and this North American release shows why: The slippery wah-wah, stop-time chorus of the title track; the slightly weird Controlling Picasso with the line 'Put some blue into your life'; the 60s-ish Holding Out My Love; the punchy duet with veteran Freddie Scott on Man of the Blues. Hooks cowrote all the material with producer guitarist Jon Tiven and shows a wide variety of influences, probably gleaned from his years bumming around the world after running away from home at 16. It's both a fine debut and a signal of good things to come.
- Norman Provencher (Ottawa Citizen)
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Shines Like A Polished Stone |
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[01.09.2004] |
Equal parts soulful groove, bluesy mix of joy and pain, and straight-up rock 'n' roll drive make for an excitingly raw collection that nonetheless shines like a polished stone.
Though recording at the age of 29 - making him a whippersnapper in blues years - Hooks has the growl of a seasoned veteran, by turns rough edged and sensual.
- Genevieve Williams (Blues Revue)
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[11.19.2003] |
"...the soulful, gravel-voiced (think Steve Marriott) Hooks makes a strong statement on his U.S. debut album. The 13th child of an Alabama sharecropper, Hooks can play Stones-like riffs one minute and conjure Sam Cooke with his voice the next..."
- Jeff Johnson (Chicago Sun Times)
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Outstanding Release (4 1/2 stars out of 5) |
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[10.23.2003] |
Up Your Mind is the American debut by soul-blues singer and songwriter Ellis Hooks. Originally hailing from Mobile, Alabama, until two years ago he was an itinerant musician, scrambling and scuffling across the globe, often as a busker. His debut album, Undeniable, garnered a slew of attention on the other side of the Atlantic and has afforded him the notoriety and critical acclaim to play the Montreux Jazz Festival and the esteemed Poretta Festival in Italy. Hooks, who is 29 as of this writing, and a current resident of New York, is remaking the music in his own image by using and fusing traditional elements from soul, rock, and the Mississippi Delta played in a direct, gritty manner. Hooks doesn't sift and he doesn't blend, he sculpts and shapes leaving the rough grain on the surface to admire. Hooks and veteran producer Jon Tiven offer a streetwise, passion-filled, toughness, in their deep, sensual mix. Hooks has a voice that owes a great debt to Otis Redding first and Wilson Pickett second (who Mr. Tiven produced for many years), and an approach in his songwriting that is eclectic, knotty and groove-solid. Up Your Mind's 13 songs run the gamut from the funky, dirty city blues of the opener "Ridin' With Fire" (with a distinct guitar line that comes straight outta "Rock And Roll Hoochie Koo"), to the Muscle Shoals strolling soul groove a la Eddie Hinton of "Controlling Picasso," and swollen, smoky, deeply sensual roil of "Down For The Last Time." Here, stinging guitars and Hammond B3's crisscross under a heavily reverbed vocal with a double timed rhythm track that is ready for remixing by DJs in clubs all over the world. (Don't be surprised if it ends up on a Gilles Peterson mix in the near future.) But still there's more; the straight-up Godfather of Soul funk in "Last Chance For Happiness," is over the top and down in the grease with a nasty rhythm and snarling vocal. The elasticity in the grain of Hook’s voice is astonishing; he could wrap emotion around the words on the back of a cereal box. Like his forbears, his vocal gift is in his ability to make every song he sings the last one on earth. An added treat on this slab is "Man of the Blues," a chilling autobiographical tome. With its ragged slide guitar blues, Hook’s duets with Freddie Scott who sounds here like Pops Staples at his rowdiest. Hooks own lines are full of razor wire and tears; they offer a dark story with a redemptive ending. Tiven's guitar playing is stellar, in the pocket, leading the singers just a bit into each line before exploding with a fill. Up Your Mind is the sound of a monstrously talented individual who may be coming to the populace as a newcomer, but carries in his voice the authority and lineage of the entire Southern soul and blues traditions. Up Your Mind is an outstanding release that deserves to be shortlisted for the Handy Award.
~ Thom Jurek (All Music Guide)
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[11.17.2003] |
Ellis is my brother. He really puts his soul into his music and expresses it very well. I love all of his songs. He is very gifted. Reach for the sky Big-Brother
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