Album review: FRANKIE OLIVER – Here I Am

Good Deeds Music [Release date 09.06.17] www.frankieolivermusic.com

Frankie Oliver actually recorded his debut album ‘Looking For The Twist’ in 1997 (with the Sly & Robbie rhythm section), however due to various reasons it never really took off and he instead turned to becoming a London cabbie to get a stable income. He still does carry his Telecaster wherever he goes in his cab though!

Frankie Oliver has a soulful voice, very mellow and easy on the ears – you could see him getting a good reception on the Jools Holland show. There is a good mix of slow blues on ‘Tell Me’, which features lovely guitar (Frankie Oliver is joined by fellow guitarist Stephen Haworth throughout the album) and organ playing and the more commercial soul of ‘Man At My Window’. ‘Man At My Window’ would be perfect for daytime BBC Radio 2 and indeed does recall Simply Red in that band’s prime (as does ‘She’s Beautiful’).

Bit of gospel on ‘Cos Of You’, driven along by an organ riff and a gospel vocal arrangement on the chorus. Then we have a reggae flavour on ‘I’ve Got Love’, where the lyric has a rich man who may think he has everything in his life, yet he is missing that one vital thing – love. Bit of a sassy horns section midway through this one, very tasty indeed. He would be an ideal opener for Paul Carrack as plenty of musical crossover between them.

Frankie Oliver is back doing music he loves and with his distinctive soulful voice should be grabbing the attention more this time around. ****

Review by Jason Ritchie

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)