It Ain’t Over      Paul Carrack

 

 

I love Paul Carrack. Always have. Always will. Who?

 

He sung How Long? (has this been going on….) as a member of ACE in 1975.  Also, Tempted (by the fruit of another….) with SQUEEZE in 1981.  Later, he fronted MIKE & THE MECHANICS and contributed many recognizable hit songs like The Living Years and All I Need Is A Miracle.  He’s toured with Eric Clapton and Elton John, written great songs like Love Will Keep Us Alive (famously covered by THE EAGLES), and has never lost his mojo in 54 years.  His CDs are consistently excellent – never wildly successful – but immensely enjoyable for discriminating music fans.  Carrack’s style is adult contemporary or blue-eyed soul or something (think Steve Winwood or Phil Collins or Robert Palmer, for example) – whatever you call it, it’s outstanding.

 

It Ain’t Over (2003) is his latest solo project.  And, not surprisingly, there’s nary a bad song on the whole CD.  Standout tunes include Happy To See You Again, Nothin To Lose, and the title track It Ain’t Over.  There’s a uniformly comfortable soundtrack with a top notch horn section and a nice mix of love songs and up-tempo rockers.  Honestly, the playlist on this CD could have appeared twenty years ago – his style is pretty well set.  And that’s not a bad thing at all.

If you’d like to sample his life’s work on one CD, try Twenty-One Good Reasons (1994).  It’s a splendid compilation for a journeyman singer – a blue collar Brit with soul to spare.  GD

 

dedicated to MFB