Reviewed by Tony Cummings

In Britain, the band ECHO are doing great things by taking the hits of '50s and '60s soul music and tweaking the lyrics to turn them into gospel songs. In the States, Bronx-born Walter Santos is doing a similar thing though in his case he's going even further back, taking the street corner harmony sounds of doowop and gospelizing them. It's a brilliant idea though considering that doowop is vocal group music this album presumably necessitated Santos singing all the vocal parts. It works very well. The Platters' "Only You" and the Five Satins' "In The Still Of The Night" are given the Jesus treatment and they, together with Santos originals "Street Corner Symphony" and "Shoo Doo Wop", make a charming retro sound. Things work less well when Santos goes outside doowop territory (Ben E King's "Stand By Me" is a mistake). But with some surprise guest appearances from Jon Gibson, Leon Patillo and the wonderful Anthony Gourdine (who any doowop buff will tell you was the lead singer of Little Anthony & The Imperials) this is an album with sufficient melodic appeal to connect with a bigger audience than doowop nostalgists like me.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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