Steve Cropper - Playin' My Thang

All Music Guide

The man whose reputation is well established as a stellar guitar sideman has a big challenge stepping out front, especially considering the decision to take on lead vocal responsibilities. As a result Playin' My Thang is not so much about Steve Cropper's guitar playing as his singing, the obvious reason the early '80s release hasn't exactly achieved classic status.Not that he is a bad singer, not by any means. The title track manages to merge a story told by the singing voice with lead guitar playing, along the lines of the classic "Guitar Man" song and others of its ilk. "Give 'Em What They Want" is a surprising, thoughtprovoking opener although it also presents the first ample evidence that this is going to be a dull album. The cynicism of the lyrics as well as somewhat morose groove make it seem like a selfconfessional opus from a singer/songwriter is underwaybasically the truth, since Cropper wrote or cowrote many of these titles. In that case, are the musings of a jaded sessionman... really such an attractive basis for lyrical philosophy? Certainly whoever designed the album cover didn't think soCropper's axe is given priority. "Fly" is a bit more of a Stevie Wonder thing; which, along with an aggravated and strange brass arrangement of "Let The Good Times Roll", are examples of material related to, but not exactly in, what is considered to be Cropper's forte.A Delbert McClinton cover entitled "Sandy Beaches", complete with Jim Horn on flute, brings to mind the Herbie Mann Memphis Underground recordings as well as the prospect that a guitarist could take advantage of such a setting for some picking. Cropper's main business seems to be trying to pull off the vocal, complete with "I'll be loving you, loving you" chorus. Any Read more Less