Sidney Joe Qualls: "I Enjoy Loving You"

This is the best Chicago soul record Al Green never made.  Confused?  I was too.  Qualls’ vocals sound so much like Green on some of these tracks, you’d swear Al was in the studio recording these under an AKA.  But no, Sidney Joe is a real person, one who owes an enormous debt to the oft-praised (and praising) soul legend.  Still, Qualls does manage to do his own thing, as on the title track, which certainly sounds more Chicago-bluesy than it does Hi Records-polished.  It’s in his vocal inflections where the resemblance becomes almost too much to believe, a fact not lost on other reviewers of this album.  I suspect the similarity comes from both men’s origins in the Baptist church, and some accounts even have it that the two were born in the same town, in Arkansas.  Whatever the case, this is a great soul record, comparisons aside.  “Shut Your Mouth” is as tough as its name indicates, a condemnation of double-speak and hypocrisy that seemed to be a common thread in early ‘70’s soul.  “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love” nearly—nearly—beats Green and Mitchell at their own game, and it’s funny to hear what are likely Chicago session musicians sounding all Memphis-like.  “Run To Me” has more of an uptown sound a la Curtis Mayfield, at least in the music, though Qualls still yowls and pleads like you-know-who over the top of it.  The cover of Gamble and Huff’s “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” made famous by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, adds an entirely different perspective to the well-known tune, even switching the modulation in the chorus a bit.  “Please Help Me” comes off like a more minimally-arranged Impressions track, with the strings extremely low in the mix, as a cascading, glowing electric piano leads the groove.  Qualls is a talented, gifted singer, and his selection of material here is exemplary.  Though it is unquestionably difficult to get past the Al Green-isms in his voice, one will find that it does not really matter in the grand scheme of things, and in fact reinforces the intriguing nature of this whole project.  Veering wildly between Hi Studio imitations and lovely, delicate Windy City intricacies, it is inconceivable to not be fascinated by the weirdness of Sidney Joe Qualls, quite possibly the world’s only “other Al Green.”