Andre Williams and The New Orleans Hellhounds - Can You Deal With It? (2008)

1. Can You Deal With It?
2. Hear Ya Dance
3. Never Had A Problem               play
4. Pray For You Daughter
5. If You Leave Me
6. Rosalie                           play
7. If It Wasn't For You
8. Your Woman
9. Can't Take 'em Off

Andre Williams has led a roller coaster life that has taken him from the major-label studios of Motown to homelessness and drug addiction in Chicago. His new album, Can You Deal With It?, evokes these different lives with images of sex and drugs mixed with upbeat soul and rock tempos. Plus, the album was recorded in New Orleans, which undoubtedly contributed to the naughty nature of this 72-year-old’s work. Don’t let Williams’ age fool you; this isn’t something to listen to with your grandparents. Partnering with the New Orleans Hellhounds, who are known for their hedonistic lifestyle and out-of-control shows, Williams takes gritty lyrics and layers them over his combination of classic rock and hip-swinging soul. Some lyrics are as vulgar as Three 6 Mafia, but the rhythms — a far from hip-hop — mash country blues reminiscent of Lynyrd Skynyrd and Tom Waits. The title track begins the album but fails to deliver. It seems Williams was looking for a hit that radio listeners would love, but it’s not there. The female backup singer is annoying; she just keeps yelling “Yeah!” Move on. “Hear You Dance” and “If It Wasn’t For You” are lonely drinking songs, and are more suited to his organic, hearty style. They sound vintage, with slow melodic rhythms, a hint of electric guitar and slow cymbals bringing the beat. The female chorus crooning behind Williams reminds us of his Motown days, despite the rockers providing the backdrop. The album ends with “Can’t Take ‘Em Off,” which is the kind of song Williams does best. Suggesting elements of a smoky New Orleans’ blues club, rough guitar rifts are coupled with Williams’ bark. The song peaks when high-pitched female vocals join the party. Although there are some big flubs on Can You Deal With It?, Williams doesn’t completely miss the mark. Sure, being in the music business since he was 16 might dull the thrill of making a new album for him, but he’s not down for the count. And if nothing else, it’s refreshing, albeit slightly creepy, to see a senior citizen still rockin’ out and singing about sexy broads. –Julie Terry

In 1998, at the age of 62, Andre Williams launched a new career as the Dirtiest Old Man in Rock & Roll with the gloriously lewd album Silky, and ten years later Williams just keeps getting dirtier, and just as importantly he seems to be having even more fun with it as he follows the good groove into his eighth decade. Many years of hard living are clearly audible in Williams' voice on the album Can You Deal with It?, which pairs him up with a band of ragged but right R&B mavens called the New Orleans Hellhounds, but if his instrument is a bit rough around the edges, the spirit is not just willing but raring to go, and this set manages to fuse the crazed, hallucinogenic rent-party vibe of Silky and The Black Godfather with full-strength soul and old-school funk backdrops that bring Williams' music of the '60s and '70s into the present day. Williams has made plenty of albums that are louder and crazier, but it's been a long time since he grooved as hard as he does on "Your Woman" and "If You Leave Me," and the rowdy country-soul vibe of "Pray for You Daughter" and "Rosalie" sounds downright playful, a quality that hasn't always been at the forefront of Mr. Rhythm's work. "Never Had a Problem" blatantly borrows its hook from "Should I Stay or Should I Go," but it manages to rock even harder than the Clash's variation on this theme, and "Can't Take 'Em Off" would make the ideal theme song for some particularly kinky and imaginative exotic dancer. The band (which includes whacked-out keyboard genius Mr. Quintron) grooves with gusto on these sessions, but it's Andre Williams who really brings this show to life, and whether he's moaning, laughing, scolding, or pleading, he's the raunchiest senior citizen on the face of the Earth and he's inviting you to one wild party on Can You Deal with It? The AARP ain't got nothin' on this man. -–Mark Deming

Amerykańska legenda rhythm'n'bluesa, soulu i funku spuszcza swoje nowoorleańskie piekielne psy z uwięzi i wraca do garażowego punk-rocka.

Andre Williams, znany również jako "Black Godfather" nie należy do najmłodszej generacji muzyków amerykańskich, bywa porównywany z Jamesem Brownem i Screaming jay Hawkinsem, współpracował min. ze Stevie Wonderem, Ike & Tina Turner, Parliament, Funkadelic, Edwin Starr, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Dirtbombs czy nawet z Jackiem White'em. Najnowszym albumem udowadnia, że wciąż liczy się na rockowej scenie. Ze swym wściekłym głosem, napędzany przez muzyków młodszej generacji z New Orleans Hellhounds (min. ze słynnym Quintronem na organach) wypełnia lukę między Jamesem Brownem i Jonem Spencerem. Jego naładowany energią soul-funk-punk-rock to istny dynamit. Niech nikt nie mówi potem, że nie był ostrzegany: ta płyta ma więcej grindu i kopa niż litr najmocniejszego espresso.

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