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Editorial Reviews

Delaney & Bonnie's brand of soul-rock was firmly in place by the time of this 1969 album, the only one they recorded for Stax. Their following albums would gain greater exposure, but there's not much difference between this record and those subsequent efforts, except perhaps that this is more soul-oriented and less rock-oriented. That's not too surprising considering that members of Booker T. & the MG's are playing on most of the cuts, though a few were done in Hollywood with Leon Russell on keyboards and Carl Radle on bass. The material was a mixture of original songs and compositions from top Stax writers such as Steve Cropper, Isaac Hayes, and David Porter, though generally the songs weren't as grittily powerful or memorably hook-laden at the best stuff to come out of Stax in the late '60s. The cover of "Piece of My Heart" was bound to pass relatively unnoticed in the wake of Janis Joplin's wrenching hit cover of the song (with Big Brother & the Holding Company), and "Hard to Say Goodbye" seems like an attempt to push their sound in a slightly poppier direction, though not at all a bad one. [The 2006 CD reissue resequenced the tracks and added six bonus songs, as well as historical liner notes. The reason for resequencing the order is uncertain, but the six additional cuts are welcome, as their sound and quality fit in fine with the rest of the record. If there's any difference between the bonus material and the songs that found a place on the initial release, it's that there's a greater emphasis on original compositions. Of those, "Get Ourselves Together" and "All We Really Want to Do" are both well up to the standards of the tracks that had been included on the LP. They also pointed a little more in a rock direction, and slightly away from the faithful adherence to the Stax sound that characterized the sessions.] Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

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