Roosevelt Matthews

The web is littered with playlists including one or the other of Roosevelt’s desperately wanted King 45 – either the funk “Tighten Up” or the slow midpaced Northern You Got Me Diggin’ You which I've got quite a soft spot for – and which I’ve uploaded if you want to hear what all the fuss is about.  Matthews' strong baritone comes across well and the backing by the Upsetters, for whom he fronted as lead singer, is well judged. Although Billy Ball’s group were based in Indianapolis all their discs were cut in Nashville. Come On Home slows the pace down from the uptempo numbers which featured prominently in their dynamic stage act, and is a worthy deep ballad.

UPDATE ~ Matthews turns out to be one half of Chuck & Mac, the duo who had such fine discs on Ruby and Twinight. The other member was Aubrey Wallace. You can check out their recordings here.