Bill Black's Combo - Black With Sugar (2020) [Hi-Res 192kHz]

After a series of LPs for Hi, the Bill Black Combo moved to CBS for Black with Sugar, but the label change does little if anything to alter the band's basic approach -- their hard-edged, soulful instrumentals still surge with the energy of funk. The sweetness promised in the title comes in the form of pop and Motown covers including "Hey Jude," "California Dreamin'" and "For Once in My Life," but the music retains its mutant rockabilly weirdness regardless of the material at hand. You can only imagine Bill Black himself was rolling over in his grave in response to the slick "Soulfully Yours" or the slow-burning jam "All Cows, No Bull," and to be fair, Black's name shouldn't even be on a record issued four years after his death, but fans of Willie Mitchell-inspired Southern soul grooves will find much to their liking here.