Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - I Learned The Hard Way (LP)

Tracklist:

A1 The Game Gets Old
A2 I Learned The Hard Way
A3 Better Things
A4 Give It Back
A5 Money
A6 The Reason

B1 Window Shopping
B2 She Ain't A Child No More
B3 I'll Still Be True
B4 Without A Heart
B5 If You Call
B6 Mama Don't Like My Man

Label: Daptone
Catalog: DAP-019

I Learned the Hard Way was produced and recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine by Gabriel Roth in Daptone Records’ House of Soul studios, the 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.