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major figure in the music scene since the 1950s. He was a member of the Falcons along with Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett and Joe Stubbs,recording the
soul classics "You're So Fine" and "I Found A Love" among many others. In 1962 Mack Rice went solo and in 1965 he wrote the incomparable "Mustang Sally" for Mercury Records subsidiary, Blue Rock.
Wilson Pickett recorded it and when the song was released a year later, Mercury "knighted" Rice for the song's phenomenal success. Rice has been "Sir Mack" ever since. While Rice continued to perform and
record as a solo artist, he became involved with Stax Records of Memphis, TN as a songwriter, producer and arranger in 1969. Some of the songs he wrote for Stax and the artists who recorded them include "Respect
Yourself" (Staple Singers), "Cheaper to Keep Her" (Johnny Taylor), and "Cadillac Assembly Line" (Albert King). Sir Mack Rice's songs also been recorded by Ike & Tina Turner, Eddie Floyd, Bruce
Willis, the Blues Brothers, Buddy Guy and the Commitments. On Right Now Mackeprises four of his hits and also has written five new songs for the album. He is joined by his longtime friends, San Francisco-based band The
Dynatones. The natural chemistry between Rice and the Dynatones is apparent from the first chorus of the album's opening track, "Yesterday's Hero," Sir Mack's autobiographical sketch of the effects of the changing
tastes in popular culture. Trading lead vocals with Dynatones' C C Miller on "You're So Fine," Rice provides a thoroughly up-to-date version of the song Dave Marsh called, in Heart Rock & Soul, "arguably
the first soul hit." The version of "Mustang Sally" that Sir Mack and the Dynatones lay down for Right Now is perhaps the most rollicking take of Rice's most famous tune, and proof that all those FM oldies
stations might not be wrong when it comes to good taste. But when one hears "America, Right Now" it is clear that Sir Mack is not just reliving the fun of his famous past, but that his soul is firmly in the 1990s
and in tune with the needs of a country in isis. Listening to these songs which span four decades, one can feel that Sir Mack Rice and his music are on time, Right Now. |
