Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings I Learned The Hard Way LP (Vinyl)

Since so few acts in the new millennium attempt the old-school soul that's the specialty of Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, it may be easy to assume that they're heralded simply because of their rarity: although they certainly sound like plenty of acts from back then, they're praised because nobody else sounds like them now, something that's all well and good but doesn't quite suggest how good the group really is. I Learned The Hard Way, their fourth album, goes a long way in illustrating that they're very, very good, holding their own with all the '60s Southern and Northern soul they hold so dear.

Produced by Bosco Mann and recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine by Gabriel Roth in Daptone Records’ House of Soul studios, this record drips with a warmth and spontaneity rarely found since the golden days of Muscle Shoals and Stax. Sharon’s raw power, rhythmic swagger, moaning soulfulness, and melodic command set her firmly alongside Tina Turner, James Brown, Mavis Staples, and Aretha as a fixture in the canon of soul music. From the lush Philly-Soul fanfare that ushers in “The Game Gets Old” at the top of the record, to the stripped down Sam Cooke-style “Mama Don’t Like My Man” at the tail, the Dap-Kings dance seamlessly through both the most crafted and simple arrangements with subtlety and discipline. I Learned the Hard Way is the “Daptone Sound” at its finest.

"...gritty, credible, emotion-laden..." - Rolling Stone

"...simple one of the most scorching outfits on the planet..." - MOJO

Features:
• Vinyl LP

Musicians:
The Dap-Kings:
Thomas Brenneck
Binky Griptite
Dave Guy
Ian Hendrickson-Smith
Bosco Mann
Homer Steinweiss
Neal Sugarman
Fernando "Boogaloo" Velez

Selections:
1. The Game Gets Old
2. I Learned the Hard Way
3. Better Things
4. Give It Back
5. Money
6. The Reason
7. Window Shopping
8. She Ain't A Child No More
9. I'll Still Be True
10. Without A Heart
11. If You Call
12. Mama Don't Like My Man