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We got both kinds of music here
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This review first appeared in the March 4, 1994 issue of the North County Blade-Citizen (now North County Times).
Many black blues and R&B artists will tell you they listened to country or bluegrass while growing up. Many white country and bluegrass musicians say blues and R&B was on the radio in their houses as kids. And many, if not most, will tell you that country and blues are two sides of the same music.
MCA has gathered an all-star cast from country and blues/R&B and proved that the two traditions that grew out of America's Southern rural culture have far more in common than is usually thought.
Pairing country and soul legends on each song, producer Don Was set the stage for history to be made. The performers deliver bountifully, wtih outstnading versions of American popular classics: Sam Moore and the late Conway Twitty duet on "Rainy Night in Georgia," Vince Gill and Gladys Knight lay down a joyous "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and Clint Black and the Pointer Sisters get funky on "Chain of Fools."
Every song is a highlight; the best of the best come on the jazz standard "Since I Fell for You" by Natalie Cole and Reba McEntire, and on the classic "Patches" – a tear-jerking duet by elder statesmen George Jones and B.B. King.
This album, seamlessly blending country, blues, bluegrass, R&B and jazz into a pure, American music, will give niche-obsessed radio programmers fits. But once people hear a cut or two from "Rhythm, Country and Blues," they're going to demand the rest of this exciting and fun collection.