All Music Guide
Recorded in 1971, shortly after he departed Cadet Records in Chicago where he served as a prime sideman to both Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler, guitar king Phil Upchurch headed for the West Coast and Blue Thumb Records. Produced by Tommy LiPuma, Upchurch's Darkness, Darkness is his quintessential (double) album, full of laid-back funky grooves, elegant, mind-blowing guitar work, and in-the-pocket string and horn arrangements (as well as some fine Fender Rhodes work) from Donny Hathaway with legendary session bassist Chuck Rainey and smooth jazz piano great Joe Sample in the house. Upchurch is one of the rare guitarists who can walk the line of jazz, blues, rock, soul, and funk and fold them all into one another without sacrificing anything in the process, and that is displayed on countless occasions here. On the cover of the Youngbloods on the title track, Upchurch leaves all the fuzz tone and distortion of his early work behind him for the shimmering cleanliness of the West Coast so...und. He gets the dirty grooves through the notes, not the effects, bringing out a funkier side of the Jesse Colin Young tune than its author ever knew existed. Hathaway's spare, tasty muted horn arrangements follow in counterpoint to the melody, creating an extended harmony that acts almost as another voice. On "Fire and Rain," the James Taylor nugget that was a current hit, Upchurch begins tenderly, wringing the melody slowly and purposefully from the guitar before the keyboards and strings reach in and grab hold of it. Forced to respond, he chunks up with large Wes Montgomery-styled chords and knotty fills for the piano and horn lines, cascading like water in the background. He increases the tempo and turns it out as a funky soul tune, resonating with the haunting melodic invention that brings it back to its rooted, poignant lyric. And while these tunes signify Upchurch as capable of turning even the most melancholy of folk tunes into funk-driven boogaloos, it's on the soul tunes where he shines brightest. His covers of James Brown's "Colt Sweat," Percy Mayfield's "Please Send Me Someone to Love," and Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" carry the record into the pop stratosphere. While the rock music was danceable and inspiring to begin with and was reinvented both structurally and emotionally by Upchurch's playing, it's when he digs into classic RB material that things really start to happen. He plays with so much soul and sticky groove that he wrings every sweat-drenched ounce of emotion from these songs and turns them into anthems of funky transcendence. There isn't anything extra in his silky approach, but there is a profound knowledge of when to move and when to slip, slide, and groove through these charts that is a trademark for Upchurch. No one could take a raw tune like "Cold Sweat," smooth it out, an still give it the tough, minimal, feeling read that Upchurch does here. His fingers are flying all over the place but are never outside the reach of the rhythm section. Never. Darkness, Darkness is the soul-jazz album of 1971 to beat, and one of the finest albums of its genre ever released. Upchurch is a genius and this album proves it beyond doubt. - Thom Jurek, All Music Guide Read more Less
