Alive Records
2007
Why Don't You Give It To Me
About This Album
Fans of both Nathaniel Mayer's doo wop days and his funk conversion were in for a bit of a surprise when the singer returned to action with 2004's I Just Want to Be Held album. Gone were the sweet/exhilarating tones of yore, replaced by a rasp that only hinted at his previous full-throated soulfulness. The brass-filled, musically eclectic set sounded great, but wasn't the best backdrop for the artist. Why Don't You Give It to Me?, though, suits Mayer to a T. The production is gawdawful and the sound subpar, so much so that the entire album feels like it was taken off a (deteriorated) tape recording of a 40-year-old live show, except Mayer was a totally different artist back then. Yet the very rawness of the sound and the rough feel of the atmosphere that the producers worked hard to create perfectly complement Mayer's vocals, as do the fabulous blues-based arrangements. In a way, the album almost erases the singer's actual past, reinventing Mayer as a blues legend and muddying the waters between yesterday and today. It's an inspired concept, and Mayer and his backing band (three of whom double as producers), led by Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach, pull it off brilliantly.
Track List (try tracks 2,4,5,6 and 9)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.