LOU RAWLS - All Things In Time, Unmistakably Lou, When You Hear Lou, You’ve Heard It All, Let Me Be Good To You (BGO Records 2025)

 A fantastic run of music – four albums recorded by Lou Rawls for Philadelphia International records – all presented here in a single set! First up is All Things In Time – a killer – and one of our favorite Philly International albums ever! This is the album that broke Lou Rawls back into the mainstream for the smooth 70s – retuning his incredible voice with waves of soul and strings in the Gamble & Huff tradition – and giving him a whole new voice than on his Capitol recordings! The album will forever be remembered for the seminal single "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" – but it's filled with other great bits, including"Groovy People", a wonderful jazzy groover, and "You're The One", and "Lets Fall In Love All Over Again". Unmistakably Lou is one of the greatest records ever by Lou Rawls – if only for one cut! That's the amazing "See You When I Get There", which starts with a Fender Rhodes riff over a hard thumping beat – while Lou does this little monologue about calling his woman at home. Then strings sweep in, the groove gets harder, and Lou sings a great song about the pride of being a middle class guy with a great home to come home to! Many other tracks are a bit more mellow – and titles include "It's Our Anniversary Today", "Some Folks Never Learn", and the wonderful two-stepper "Some Day You'll Be Old". When You Hear Lou is key proof that the move to Philly International did wonders for Lou's career – and there's no denying that the smooth soul sound of Gamble and Huff worked perfectly with his rich vocal style! The "classy" setting took Lou to a whole new level, while also providing a good force for his still-soulful vocals to work a lot harder than in earlier years. This album's got a few of Lou's best tracks from the era – including the semi-hit "Lady Love", and the nice groover "Dollar Green". Other titles include "That Would Do It For Me", "There Will Be Love", "Trade Winds", and "I Wish It Were Yesterday". Let Me Be Good To You is one of Lou's classics for Philly International – a warm mix of smooth soul and adult vocals, handled with some great arrangements by Dexter Wansel and Thom Bell. There's less standout singles on this set than previous Philly records, but Lou's class and quality makes nearly every track come out wonderfully – a masterpiece of soulful understatement and grace. Titles include "We Keep Getting Closer To Being Further Apart", "Time Will Take Care Of Everything", "What's The Matter With The World", "Bark Bite", and "Lover's Holiday".