| Bang That Bell | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Melvin Taylor |
| Cover: | Bang That Bell.jpg |
| Released: | 1999 |
| Studio: | Ardent |
| Genre: | Blues |
| Label: | Evidence Music[1] |
| Producer: | John Snyder |
| Prev Title: | Dirty Pool |
| Prev Year: | 1997 |
| Next Title: | Rendezvous with the Blues |
| Next Year: | 2002 |
Bang That Bell is an album by the American musician Melvin Taylor, released in 2000.[2] [3] He is credited with the Slack Band.[4] Taylor supported the album with a North American tour.[5]
Produced by John Snyder, the album was recorded at Ardent Studios, in Memphis.[6] Though mostly blues, it is marked by more prominent jazz, funk, and rock influences.[7] [8] Eric Gales played guitar on the album; Sugar Blue played harmonica.[6] [9] "Trick Bag" is a cover of the Earl King song.[10] "If You're Goin' to the City" was written by Mose Allison.[11] "Even Trolls Love Rock & Roll" is a cover of the Tony Joe White tune; "A Quitter Never Wins" is by Tinsley Ellis.[12]
JazzTimes noted that "for sheer guitar heroics and fretboard flash, it’s hard to beat Melvin Taylor."[10] The Daily Herald opined: "With its cartoonish cover artwork and more party-oriented songs, it sounds specifically tailored to a rock audience impressed by more bland guitar technicians like Kenny Wayne Shepherd."[13] The Star Tribune determined that Taylor's "funk is fiery and fertile, his rock is about punch and substance rather than idle flash, and his jazz detours are potent and legit."[14]
The Toronto Star wrote that "a galloping four-piece group primes Taylor continuously, Norris Johnston making keyboards wail hard, and the boss ... is quick, uses the axe's full range and specializes in hard-bent notes."[15] The Detroit Free Press determined that "Bang That Bell sees him inching closer to Robert Cray territory, where blues meets soul for some serious storytelling."[16] The Dispatch–Argus opined that the Slack Band "are as tight as any band around."[17]
AllMusic wrote that "Taylor is undoubtedly blues-oriented, but his music is also fueled by bursts of jazz, R&B, funk, and distorted wah-wah-inflected rock."