Record #56: Junior Walker and the Allstars’ ‘Home Cookin’’
Junior Walker is one of the countless Motown artists whose catalogs I haven’t yet adequately explored. His work with The Allstars follows the traditional template of high-energy pop soul pretty closely, with his most exceptional characteristics being his gruff, gut-wrenching holler and his remarkable skill as an instrumentalist: In addition to taking the vocal lead, Walker also performs effortlessly emotive and powerful saxophone solos on every song. Home Cookin’s leadoff track is a cover of labelmates The Supremes’ “Come See About Me,” * and while this version doesn’t possess the same graceful, pristine approach, The Allstars’ rendition is bold, up-tempo and full of bravado. This is a brief listen—Home Cookin’ clocks in at just under 30 minutes—but it’s huge, raw and exactly the sort of thing I’d advise playing at a dance party. While I sometimes prefer smoother soul/Motown/Stax/Volt artists (Sam Cooke, for instance), Junior Walker paved the way for singers like Charles Walker, and for that I’m pretty grateful. This is a fun, consistent listen that flies by far too quickly.
* A rewarding perk to exploring the music of old soul artists—especially those on Motown Records—is finding new versions of songs made famous by other performers within their genre. It’s pretty exciting to come across the seemingly brand-new energy a different artist can lend a familiar track.
