Loveaholic

Blackfoot, a Memphis-based singer, is always up to the task of delivering heart-busting Southern soul, but age has diminished the explosive outbursts a tad. With the help of ex-Soul Children member Norman West, crack female vocalists, and Homer Banks and Lester Snell's soap opera-ish songs, Blackfoot steps to the plate and smacks eight hard ones. "Just One Lifetime" is a duet with Ann Swanigan-Hines that's smoother than the pair's earlier ditty, "Tearjerker." This is not as riveting as some of Blackfoot's previous output, but the engineering and musicians have as much to do with the quality as Blackfoot's graying vocals. Where have all the great Memphis musicians gone? Even Banks and Snell's songs lack the grit and clever lyrical content of old. Originally released in 1991, this is a good album, although not a great or essential one. But if you like Southern soul, anything by Blackfoot is true to the genre; he couldn't fake it if he tried.