01. Tears of the World (2:54)
02. Please Mr. Foreman (2:44)
03. Jewels (4:31)
04. Living in the Key of G (3:26)
05. Que Sera Sera (4:43)
06. Friends (5:23)
07. Too Proud (5:15)
08. Apples Don't Fall Far from the Tree (4:43)
09. I Wish I Had a Girl Like You (3:01)
10. Somebody Help Me (3:41)
11. Things Aint What They Used to Be (3:50)
12. Promised Land (5:49)

Mighty Sam McClain - Vocals
Knut Reiersrud - Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Vocals (5)
Bjørn Holm - Guitar
David Wallumrød - Hammond Organ, Wurlitzer Piano & Prophet (5)
Nicolai Hængsle Eilertsen - Bass
Håkon Kornstad - Saxes & Flute
Andreas Bye - Drums
Martin Horntveth - Timpani & Tubular Bells

One of the great Soul preacher who died in June 2015 Mighty Sam McClain, together with Norway's guitar virtuoso Knut Reiersrud. Classics and his own songs. A wild snarling Hammond B3 and other keyboard instruments, razor-sharp or funky gospel drunk acting brass plate, soulful strings and celestial backing singers stood ready beside the floor grooving rhythm section for the arranger of Reiersrud and his bandmates. The guitarist himself also takes time for blues harp and divided in 'Que Sera, Sera' singing with Sam McClain. --- bear-family.com

Mighty Sam McLain suffered a stroke and left this world on June 15th of 2015. He has collaborated with Norwegian guitarist Knut Reiersrud for several years prior to his death. A great supporter of those less fortunate, Sam’s legacy with the Give Us Your Poor Project will help them to continue on.

This album was put together just prior to Sam’s death and was released in September 2015. He and Knut selected the songs which created Sam’s final album. It’s a damn good one.

The title track starts things off. It’s a soulful and hopeful cut where Sam tells us, “Tears of the world keep fallin’, oh one day you won’t have to cry any more.” The organ and bass supplement the guitars and make this a big and cool intro. “Please Mr. Foreman” is an assembly line blues where McClain gives us a very traditional rendition of slow blues in an AAB format. The organ takes us to church a bit as the duo and band give us some cool blues. “Jewels” gives us a down tempo and mournful songs with some poignant harp by Reiersurd. “Living in the Key of G” has Mighty Sam singing to us again about hope in the face of Armageddon. Nice guitar picking and an upbeat tempo are featured here. Can you take a song by Doris Day and turn it into a blues and soul masterpiece? Well, with “Que Sera Sera” Knut and Sam do that! Suffice it to say that the soulful slow blues that they turn it into will make the hair on your arms standup! Knut does the verses and Sam wails on the choruses. Beautiful stuff!

“Friends” offers up a funky mid-tempo beat and Sam testifying to us as few can. And a flute is added for an interesting bit of spice. “Too Proud” brings things down again. June Carter’s daughter Carlene wrote this country song; Sam turns it into a minimalistic spiritual of sorts. With “Apples Don’t Fall Far from The Tree” takes a bit of a Gospel approach with a big choir behind Sam, although the topic is not Gospel-like. “I Wish I Had a Girl Like You” follows on the same topic of women. Another funky cut with Sam doing his thing. “Somebody Help Me” is a a bit of a slow country ballad with thoughtful guitar and vocals. “Things Ain’t what They Used to Be” is a full frontal soul and funk assault. The album closes with “Promised Land” with a full scale musical production and a huge intro that turns into a long, slow, mournful soul blues song. The conclusion builds with all the players and church-like bells and then song ends with a big flourish.

The players in addition to Sam and Knut (who does some piano along with harp and occasional vocals) are Bjorn Holm on guitar, David Wallumrod on organ and keys, Nikolai Haengsle Ellertsen on bass, Andreas Bye on drums, Hakon Kornstad on saxes and flute and Martin Horntveth on timani and tubular bells. Strings and backing vocals were also added here and there.

Sadly, we lost Sam as this was in production. Oddly, the tone of he album often seems to be a tribute by Sam to a life passing by. This is a beautiful and well done album. If you are a fan of Sam’s you will love this. If you like bluesy soulful stuff this will be right up your alley. If you want to listen to beautifully done songs with emotion and feeling, this needs to be in your CD player. Most highly recommended! ---Steve Jones, bluesblastmagazine.com

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01. Give It Up To Love
02. Too Proud
03. What You Want Me To Do
04. Here I Go Falling In Love Again
05. Got To Have Your Love
06. Child Of The Mighty Mighty
07. I'm Tired Of These Blues
08. I Feel Good
09. Love Me If You Want To
10. Don't Turn Back Now
11. Lonesome Road

Bass – Mike Rivard
Drums – Lorne Entress
Guitar – Kevin Barry
Piano, Organ – Bruce Katz
Tenor Saxophone – Bennie Wallace (tracks: 5)
Vocals – Mighty Sam McClain

McClain sings soul with incredible power -- he knows when to pull the punches and when to cool it down. "Give It Up to Love," the title track, acknowledges his gospel roots; he performs it as a vocal prayer to God asking for wisdom, love, and strength. Bruce Katz's contributions on B-3 Hammond organ expands McClain's sound, particularly on the "Green Onions"-influenced "What You Want Me to Do." The sparsely effective arrangement on "Here I Go Falling in Love Again" brings McClain up front as he cries of being a soul stripped to the bare bones. Kevin Barry's funky bass blows while McClain declares himself as a child of God in "Child of the Mighty Mighty." ---Char Ham, AllMusic Review

Mighty Sam McClain's new CD is a best of, 11 tracks that have been on his last four studio albums plus two unissued tracks, make up this welcome release for anybody new to Sam. A lot of smaller record companies have to try to make ends meet, so after about 4 albums, they bring out a "Best of," which is an excellent way to catch up with an artist or get to known a artist.

In the case of Mighty Sam who has been making some of his best music during the nineties, not that he hasn't in the past. Sam's "Live in Japan" from 1988 and "Your Perfect Companion" from 1986, are both worth seeking out. The nineties has seen Sam relocate to Boston where he has linked up with some first class musicians, which is shown to great effect on this "Best of" album.

The CD starts with "Too Proud," which was originally on his 1993 release "Give It Up To Love," and is a Carlene Carter song which has some terrific B-3 Hammond playing from the gifted Bruce Katz. Also to be fair it has some great guitar work from Kevin Barry and is well supported by Drummer Lorne Entress and Bass player Michael Rivard. "Too Proud" tells the tale of the pitfalls of pride and shows the quality of what is to come on the CD. The one thing that Sam is good at, is the ability to convince an audience of his pain and hopes for the future which he does so well on the gospel flavored "New Man In Town" with a good horn section, playing to good effect. Sam also has a great ability to describe the hurt and the joys of falling in love as he does so well on "Here I Go Again Falling In Love Again." I once had the pleasure of talking to Sam over several days and he told me that he had been to the bottom and that he had made a promise, that if God got him through to better things he would praise God everyday. This explains why on Sam's albums he sings the praise of the lord as in "Hanging on The Cross" and "Lord Will Make A Way," which see's Sam in a spiritual mood. "Lord Will Make A Way" is an Al green song which sounds like it was written for Mighty Sam. "Who Made You Cry?" is a song dedicated to women and is sung with a soft passion which builds up nicely into a great vocal performance.

The two unissued songs "Honey Chile" and "I'm Gonna Love You" are both uptempo and one wonders why they never made it on to the "Journey" album, as they were both recorded at the sessions for that album, and see the band playing well together. Special mention again to the wonderful piano playing of Bruce Katz on "When The Hurt Is Over" and slide guitar from Kevin Barry gives this song a wonderful steamy swampy Louisiana sound.

Sam comes up trumps with the gorgeous "Give It Up To Love" to finish this wonderful overview of Sam's last 4 studio albums. The strength in this album is the wonderful playing of the musicians and the quality of the songs, many of which Sam wrote himself, which give this CD the real meaning of "Best of". If you've not been tempted to buy a Mighty Sam album before now is the time to acquaint yourself to a quality performer. Also if you ever get the chance to see Sam live do, as he has got one of the best touring bands in the world behind him. ---Dave Thomas, mnblues.com

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01. I'm a Man (McClain / Giftos)   5:43
02. Thank You (McClain / Giftos)   4:49
03. Change Is Gonna Come (Sam Cook)   6:51
04. New Man In Town (McClain)   5:40
05. No More Tears (McClain / Giftos)   5:20
06. Mr. So & So (McClain)  3:33
07. Time Is Running Out(Jack Perricone)   3:51
08. I'm Yours (McClain / Platt)    3:40
09. Other Side Of The Tracks (Sandra McClain / Peter Giftos)   7:27
10. Prove It To Me (McClain / Perricone)   4:42
11. Hanging On The Cross (McClain / Katz)   5:44
12. Somebody Help Me (McClain / Papageorge)   4:29

Mighty Sam McClain, vocals
Julien Kasper, guitar
Bruce Katz, piano & Hammond B-3
Tim Ingles, bass
Zac Casher, drums
Walter Platt, trumpet and horn arrangements
Joe Casano, trumpet
Ted DeCola, tenor sax
Kenny Wenzel, trombone
+
Peter Giftos, guitar (2), Rhythm guitar (1)
George PapaGeorge, additional keyboards (3,5,9,11,12)

Singing praises to God and sharing his love for others despite having faced tragedy and setbacks in his past, McClain is rather reminiscent of the Biblical character, Job (who despite losing everything, still praised God, and then was blessed with twice as much wealth and a bigger family than before). McClain's life journey has often been rocky; he has faced rejection by his family, survived substance abuse, and been ignored by the music industry despite his hard-working attempts to gain attention. But turning to God, he remained faithful and is now blessed with a critically acclaimed career and a loving family. This album shares all of this, and his honest, retrospective outlook wins hands down. Take a look at "No More Tears," twhere he takes the familiar line of "walking the backstreets," translating it to his life experiences -- feeling frustrated, moving from place to place without seeing his situation improve. This honesty transcends to the supporting musicians, who give from-the-bottom-of-the-heart solos without sounding mushy, from bassist Tim Ingles' funky jazz feel on "I'm Yours," to Bruce Katz thumping the ivories or the B-3. ---Char Ham, Rovi

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1.	All We Need Is Love	   play
2.	Dark Side of the Street
3.	Love One Another
4.	Going Back to New Orleans	
5.	No One Can Take Your Place	
6.	Jesus Got the Blues
7.	Sweet Lady
8.	Battlefield of Love
9.	Mighty's Prayer        play
10.	Sing Me Some Blues	
11.	Can't Stand It	
12.	Not I

Personnel: 
Mighty Sam McClain (vocals); 
Kevin Belz (guitar); 
Bruce Katz (piano, Hammond B-3 organ); 
Barry Seleen (Hammond B-3 organ); 
Tim Ingles (bass); 
Jim Arnold (drums).

The Mighty Horns: 
Chuck Langford (tenor saxophone); 
Walter Platt, Joe Casano (trumpet); 
Kenny Wenzel (trombone).

All those young up-and-comers who think they know how to sing R&B and soul should really get themselves a dose of Mighty Sam McClain. The man waited years to record any albums (though there were a few singles in the 1960s), but it's been worth the wait. „Blues for the Soul” is McClain's first for Telarc Records, and it's a near-perfect debut. The slower, lazier songs are ideal for the heat of summer, but one could just as easily imagine listening to McClain in a dark, smoky nightclub in November. His voice is strong, but so smooth that at first you don't notice, and his backing band knows exactly how to support him; they're tight and on the money, but never overwhelming. McClain's perspective is quirky, yet mature, as exemplified by "Jesus Got the Blues" and "Sweet Lady" (in the latter, he sings the praises of smart women--recognizing that beauty's a transient thing, but brains last a lifetime). While there's no doubt he's passionate about his music, McClain's solid record is all the more appealing for its unassuming presentation. --Genevieve Williams

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