Charlie, Last Name Wilson * - Charlie Wilson (R&B) (CD 2005)

His name might not be as recognizable as a Stevie Wonder or a Luther Vandross, but make no mistake, Charlie Wilson is an extremely influential vocalist.

The Tulsa, OK native first got props as a member of The Gap Band. If you were of age in the Eighties, you grooved to hits like "Oops Upside Your Head", "Burn Rubber" and "You Dropped A Bomb On Me". Charlie was the band's cowboy-hatted lead singer. Hell, he even rocked the banana hammock in the 1983 video for "Party Train".

Mr. Wilson's got a fairly long list of disciples. When Guy came out in 1988, most folks immediately assumed that "Groove Me" was a Gap Band record. Guy's lead singer Aaron Hall almost sounded like a Xerox copy of Wilson, down to imitating some of his famous runs and ad-libs. Then, half a decade, some cat out of Chicago named Kelly came out with "She's Got That Vibe" and folks were like "I thought Guy broke up". So, if you wanna draw a simple line, here goes:

Stevie Wonder--------->Charlie Wilson---------->Aaron Hall------------>R. Kelly--------------->every R&B singer out now who isn't imitating Michael or Luther.

At any rate, the Gap Band's time had come and gone by 1990, and in between reunions and shows on the oldies circuit, Charlie released a couple of solo albums that never caught fire, while at the same time battling drug and alcohol abuse. His name stayed afloat however, due to several things: the love of classic soul music, the sampling of the Gap Band's music ("Outstanding" is probably one of the ten most sampled records of all-time), and some key cameos with a couple of benevolent new artists. Key among them was Snoop Dogg, who has featured Charlie on several hits, including "Beautiful", and this year's "Signs".

So, here it is, 2005, and Charlie Wilson's got a brand new solo album, "Charlie, Last Name Wilson" on Jive Records. Should anyone care? The answer, given the man's voice, is an unquestionable "yeah". With a handful of big name artists and producers, it's a steaming slice of contemporary R&B, and perhaps more surprisingly, it's probably better than you think it might be.

One thing I will say is that it's pretty easy to spot the missteps here, and those occur when Charlie tries to get TOO current. Granted, Snoop & Uncle Charlie make a good pair. But "You Got Nerve" finds the two deviating from their usual playful pimpery to something that borders on misogny. Lines like "I'm a give ya something good just for runnin' your mouth" sound a bit too Ike Turner-ish for me. Along the same banal lines is "So Hot", a prototypical "club" track down to Charlie's singing in a rap cadence and referencing several brands of liquor. It's a wonder that this song was NOT produced by...

...R. Kelly. Now folks, I've given Robert a bad rap for quite a while. However, if his own songs (or the songs he worked on for others) were as good as the three songs he writes and produces here, I'd be almost willing to give the brother a reprieve. "Magic" and the title track open the album up, and immediately set a mood for the whole disc. "Magic" is a gentle, playful stepper's jam, while "Charlie..." finds our man trying to get with an attractive young lady, to a slower tempo. Good as these songs are, none of them is a match for "No Words", one of Kelly's best moments as a producer/songwriter. I'm not sure if Charlie is trying to school someone on how to get his woman to pay more attention to him or if he's playing the role of the fed-up woman himself. Either way, the song is thrilling, especially after the chord change, where Charlie rips off a rapid-fire stream of potential reasons why this particular relationship isn't working out. Hey, you gotta figure that anything that makes me want to reconsider my opinion of R. Kelly must be amazing, and this song is.

Now here's a mindf*ck for you. I wrote a little earlier about how Charlie directly influenced Aaron Hall (who paid Charlie tribute by remaking "Yearning For Your Love" on Guy's 1990 "The Future" album). So, on THIS album, Charlie does his own take on Guy's ballad "Let's Chill", which appeared on the same "Future" album. If you're not paying attention, you might forget which CD you put in the player, the versions are so similar. Charlie adds a slightly stronger beat and some creamy background harmonies, but damn! It's Charlie remaking Aaron trying to sound like Charlie. And it works, which is a testament to Charlie's vocals as much as it is to great songwriting.

I'm not sure whether I'm happy or not that 2/3 of this album is downtempo. I mean, The Gap Band were funky as hell back in the day. However, the earlier two uptempo songs left a bad taste in my mouth. Those are balanced out by the hypnotic, pulsating "My Guarantee", and the peppy "Floatin'". This cute, summery song boasts about 3 different choruses, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it vocal cameo from co-producer/drummer/keyboardist Justin Timberlake, as well as an actually tolerable 16 bars from co-producer/bassist/keyboardist will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas. So while the album's fine as is, there's nothing in that nasty/funky vein like the hits of The Gap Band's heyday.

As with most producer/songwriter-heavy albums, the best song is the one the artist wrote and produced themselves. "Cry No More", the album's closer is spiritual without being explicitly gospel. It's got a bit of a Brian McKnight/pop ballad feel to it, but it boasts Charlie's most electric vocals, and you can't be mad when the gospel choir comes in at the end, cliche as it may be.

The return of the long-dormant R&B legend isn't always a good thing. A lot of artists have trouble measuring up to the quality of their earlier work. For every Luther Vandross who successfully combined his old sound with a bit of a new flavor, there's someone like Ron Isley, who sullies his sterling reputation every time he goes back into the studio with R. Kelly. Thankfully, Charlie seemed to hit the right pocket on this album. Although a couple of tracks find Charlie trying a little TOO hard for someone who's approaching 50 (if he isn't there already), the majority of this album has enough pleasures for the older folks who will appreciate hearing some good sangin' on an R&B record as well as potentially attracting the new jacks who listen to R. Kelly records and want to know who did it first, and better.

"Charlie, Last Name Wilson"

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Repeat: "Cry No More", "No Words", "Floatin'"

Skip: "You Got Nerve", "So Hot"

Great Music to Play While: Wondering if Charlie's gonna bring back the cowboy hat and boots with Jheri curl ensemble that he was rockin' back in '82.