Overnight Sensational

by Sam Moore

Overview

Some sage told us years ago that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and Overnight Sensational is an album with enough good intentions to choke a horse. Sam Moore was one of the great men of 1960s soul as half of Sam & Dave, but like his former partner Dave Prater (who passed away in 1988) once the duo broke up, Moore had a hard time getting a solo career off the ground, and his star turned dim in the '70s. There's no arguing that Sam Moore deserves a second shot at the spotlight, and his voice is still in fine shape, but his wife and manager, Joyce Moore, decided that the best way to relaunch Sam's career was to create an "event" album around him, with a name producer and a gaggle of guest stars. On Overnight Sensational, the name producer turns out to be Randy Jackson, a session musician best known as one of the judges on American Idol, and Jackson has saddled Moore with some dubious choices in terms of material and duet partners (many of whom, judging from the credits, weren't even in the same room with Moore when they recorded their parts). If you ever dreamed of hearing Sam Moore sing songs made famous by Milli Vanilli, Garth Brooks, Seals & Crofts, and Conway Twitty, well, this is your lucky day, but while Moore gives each song his level best, the cheese factor on this album is woefully high. It's true that Moore has a long, rich tradition of singing with a partner, but Wynonna Judd, Paul Rodgers, Fantasia, and Zucchero blend with Moore about as well as oil mixes with water, with Mariah Carey's wordless melismatic wanderings on "It's Only Make Believe" slinking under the line as the album's low point. Fortunately, however, Moore, who must have some spiritual tie to New Jersey, does have a track apiece with Bruce Springsteen and Jon Bon Jovi, the artists who come off the best by a considerable margin here and consequently save this album's day. ~ Mark Deming

Product Details

Release Date:	08/29/2006
Label:	Rhino
UPC:	0081227761820
Rank:	124192

Tracks

1. I Can't Stand the Rain
2. Better to Have and Not Need
3. Blame It on the Rain
4. Lookin' for a Love
5. Ain't No Love
6. None of Us Are Free
7. It's Only Make Believe
8. Don't Play That Song (You Lied)
9. If I Had No Loot
10. Riding Thumb
11. We Shall Be Free
12. You Are So Beautiful

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Sam Moore   Primary Artist
Zucchero   Primary Artist
Paul Rogers   Primary Artist
Billy Gibbons   Primary Artist,Guitar,Guest Artist
Wynonna   Primary Artist
Vince Gill   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guest Artist,Vocals (Background)
Robert Randolph   Primary Artist,Pedal Steel,Guest Artist
Bekka Bramlett   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guest Artist,Vocals (Background)
BeBe Winans   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guest Artist
Paul Rodgers   Primary Artist,Vocals
Sheila E.   Primary Artist,Percussion,Guest Artist
Travis Tritt   Primary Artist,Vocals
Sting   Primary Artist,Vocals
Bruce Springsteen   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Guest Artist
Wynonna Judd   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guest Artist
Billy Preston   Primary Artist,Piano,Guest Artist,Organ (Hammond)
Sam Brown   Primary Artist
Jon Bon Jovi   Primary Artist,Vocals
Fantasia   Primary Artist
Steve Winwood   Primary Artist,Vocals,Organ (Hammond)
Nikka Costa   Primary Artist,Vocals
Van Hunt   Primary Artist,Vocals
Mariah Carey   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guest Artist,Vocals (Background)
Eric Clapton   Primary Artist,Guitar,Soloist,Guest Artist
Tabitha Fair   Vocals (Background)
Siedah Garrett   Vocals (Background)
Kenneth Crouch   Piano,Keyboards
Dan Needham   Drums
Lionel Cole   Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Crystal Taliefero   Vocals (Background)
Greg Phillinganes   Piano,Clavinet,Keyboards
Joel Derouin   Violin
David T. Walker   Guitar
John Shanks   Guitar
Jerry Hey   Trumpet
Randy Waldman   Keyboards
Mike Finnigan   Organ (Hammond)
Adie Grey   Vocals (Background)
Susannah Chapman   Violin
Dan Higgins   Saxophone,Sax (Tenor),Sax (Baritone)
Alyssa Park   Violin
Cornelius Mims   Bass
Tommy Sims   Bass
Josefina Vergara   Violin
James "Jamie" Gamble   Drums
Rudy Stein   Cello
Gary Grant   Trumpet
Dan Tobin Smith   Cello
Steve Richards   Cello
David Stenske   Viola
Vinnie Colaiuta   Drums
Jimmy Woods   Harmonica,Vocals (Background)
Tim Akers   Clavinet,Keyboards
Charlie Bisharat   Violin
Larry Corbett   Cello
Armen Garabedian   Violin
Randy Jackson   Bass,Vocals (Background)
Michael Hart Thompson   Guitar
Tommy Simms   Bass
Sherree Ford Brown   Vocals (Background)
Andrew Dickles   Viola
Karen Elaine Bakunin   Viola
Mario de Leon   Violin
Reggie C. Young   Trombone
Robert Bacon   Guitar
Gerry Hilera   Violin
Sonny Thompson   Bass
Michelle Richards   Violin
Shana Crooks   Vocals (Background)
Kenneth Lionel Cole   Fender Rhodes
Michael Bland   Drums
Michael Ripoll   Guitar
Sharlotte Gibson   Vocals (Background)

Technical Credits

Stephanie Davis   Composer
Ice Cube   Composer
James Alexander   Composer
Stuart Benjamin   Executive Producer
Jack Nance   Composer
Cynthia Weil   Composer
Donald Bryant   Composer
Eddie Floyd   Composer
John Colbert   Composer
Mike Engstrom   Product Manager
Jay Mitchell   Programming
Homer Banks   Composer
David Gorman   Design,Art Direction
Jerry Hey   Horn Arrangements
Raphael Saadiq   Composer
Matt Serrecchio   Assistant Engineer
Diane Warren   Composer
Thomas Bingham   Composer
Billy Preston   Composer
Ahmet Ertegun   Composer
Toby Scott   Engineer
Brian Garten   Engineer,Digital Editing
Brenda Russell   Composer
Brian "Big Bass" Gardner   Mastering
Paul Carrack   Composer
Steve Cropper   Composer
Suzie Katayama   String Arrangements
Conway Twitty   Composer
Barry Mann   Composer
Garth Brooks   Composer
Jim Seals   Composer
Betty Nelson   Composer
Bernard Miller   Composer
Jess Sutcliffe   Mixing
Neal Cappellino   Engineer
Randy Jackson   Producer
Keith Gretlein   Engineer,Assistant Engineer
Ann Peebles   Composer
Bruce Fisher   Composer
Glenn Pittman   Assistant Engineer
Harold Jenkins   Composer
Dash Crofts   Composer
Willie Harris   Composer
Zelda Samuels   Composer
Phillip Ramos   Assistant Engineer
Mario Lucy   Assistant Engineer
Shari Sutcliffe   Contractor
Mike Rew   Engineer
Suze Lanier   Photography
Michael Evans   Photography
Jaime Sickora   Mixing Assistant,Assistant Engineer
Michelle Breger   Photography
Neal Preston   Cover Photo,Photography
Rick Diamond   Photography
Arthur Nakata   Design,Art Direction
Valerie Ervin   Associate Executive Producer
Stephanie Gourley   Assistant Engineer
Jeff Kanan   Digital Editing
James Seals   Composer
Jonathan Alcorn   Photography
Roger Friedman   Associate Executive Producer
Holly Boynton   Assistant
James Towler   Engineer
Robert Cohen   Photography
Anthony Wheaton   Composer
Alan Douglas   Engineer
Obie O'Brien   Engineer
Kevin Guarnieri   Mixing,Engineer,Digital Editing