Donnie Fritts
(Leaning Man Records)
To say that Donnie Fritts has had a run of bad luck is to understate the case by a country mile. In 2003 he had most of his face removed as part of his battle against a rare form of cancer. Two years before that he was recovering from kidney replacement surgery and, responding to a friend who asked how he was doing, he still had enough gumption to respond with the phrase that became the title of this album. Over the years, as an integral and original part of the Muscle Shoals music scene Fritts has played drums and keyboards with Arthur Alexander, Spooner Oldham and Kris Kristofferson and put his compositions in the hands of those pros as well as the likes of Ray Charles, Willie Nelson and Percy Sledge. So he's seen good times too; not that things seem even remotely balanced. But old Donnie Fritts don't quit easy.
One Foot In The Groove is a labor of love and necessity - most musicians don't have much in the way of health insurance - put together by Fritts Oldham, Mike Dillion (Ani DiFranco), Muscle Shoals veteran players David Hood, N.C. Thurman, Kelvin Holly, Scott Boyer and writer/singer/producer and Fritts' longtime friend, Dan Penn. Most of the songs were written by Fritts in collaboration with Boyer, Penn, Oldham, Tony Joe White and others and the album is true to its word. This is real good country soul that shows why Fritts was such a good source of material for those like Alexander, Charles and Tony Joe who trod, maybe even eradicated, the line between country and soul music.
Fritts sings in a voice that is a little Leon Russell and a little Tony Joe and it's a pleasing baritone swamp growl that doesn't at all sound like it's coming from a man for whom trips through the wringer have become regular events. There's not enough of this kind of music being made these days. It's good to have Donnie Fritts around to do it and do it well.
Standout Tracks: "Across the Pontchartrain", "One Foot In The Groove" RICK ALLEN
