james hunter in concert w chris isaak! in CT ~
i just had the pleasure of seeing James Hunter open for Chris Isaak in BPT CT __ OMG !! Phenomenal~~ amazing get up & dance music ~~

style class comedy & songs & wow ~ i had never before heard of james until tonite & now i am going to see about getting the rest of his albums & keeping a close eye on his touring scheduale in USA & UK !!

Rock on James you have made an impact on the music scene in USA ~

Sheri B Wilton CT USA
Sherib1166@yahoo.com

James Hunter brings back sweet, honest soul
I heard a snippet of James Hunter on NPR while driving and was immediately intrigued. Unfortunately, my mental note got overwritten by something else! Fortunately, I was visiting a friend in Long Beach who was playing his usual eclectic mix of music and had both of James' latest CDs in the party mix. Perfect for the party, James' music brought back such wonderful memories for me of listening to the music my parents would play and enjoy; music with fun, thoughtful lyrics of love, heartbreak, pain and joy. Add in James' guitar work and the amazing brassy punch of the saxophone duo anchored with solid bass, drums and occasional strings and keyboards recorded with clean, simple production the music is soulful, fun and catchy. I find this CD and its follow-up (The Hard Way) easy to keep on my rotation in my car, on my Ipod, in my house... For some reason the music industry has forgotten the sassy, brassy punch of the saxophone (James' arrangements don't let the horns dominate; they just add heat and cool as needed) - here's hoping a renaissance is in the making. I'm not going to name any tracks, I like them all. Don't stress over the color of James' and his band's skin color - ease up, blue-eyed soul is cool, listen to the music and revel in the sweet soul sound. These guys are real and play from the heart!

The Hard Way
After seeing Mr. Hunter at a Blues Festival in California and purchasing People Gonna Talk. I was sold that he would be a major icon in the music industry. The Hard Way is perfect evidence of that. Especially the fact that the album was recorded live in the studio with an anolog system, which is unheard of these days. I can't wait to see him again in Santa Barbara where I have tickets to that concert.
In my opinion there's not enough stars to hand out to this guy.It is a must buy album to every R&B fan in the world.

Really smooth, bluesy and very, very cool
I have never written a review for Amazon before, but this CD is good enough for me to try my hand. I was lucky enough to see James Hunter last month at the Tampa Bay Blues Fest. Three days and fifteen bands later, I bought one CD, and this was it. He blew the crowd away, and was the talk of the weekend. I have seen all the reviews comparing James Hunter to Sam Cooke, and with good reason. But he is more than just a good singer. He put on a fun show, very entertaining. He has quite a sense of humor. He is a really good writer, his band is incredible, and he is no slouch as a guitarist either! I hope to be lucky enough to catch another of his live shows in the near future.

"Great," you say, "glad to hear he is a performer I'd enjoy seeing." But we've all had that experience of buying a CD and then finding it just not-quite-as-good-as-we-had-hoped? Well, not this time. The husband and I have played and played this CD, and have shared it with anyone who will listen. If you are reading reviews trying to decide of you should buy this album I can only say "Go for it!" Whether you will enjoy it as a great contemporary soul album, or as a blast from the past..I can't tell. But if you have gotten as far as coming here to check this out and are hedging your bets until someone convinces you? Take the plunge. You won't be sorry! (PS...I can't wait for James Hunter's next release..I hear it is slated for June 2008. No brainer...it's mine!)

Smokin'!
People Gonna Talk is a decidedly retro album- released in 2006, it feels and sounds like a 60s soul platter, complete with skintight horns, hip-grindin' rhythms, tube-shredding guitar runs, and the like. Now, this may seem like nothing more than a glorified vanity project, some white square's Otis Redding dress-up fantasy and nothing more. And that is undoubtedly what some people will denounce it as. And they'd be right if James Hunter wasn't so f***ing talented. He's an incredible performer, with a gift for raw, smoldering vocals and nerve-jangling guitar runs. He can preach the blues with the best of `em, at times channeling Wilson Pickett and Sam Cooke. Plus, he's a hell of a songwriter. These tunes sound so authentic, so firmly rooted in the juke joints and nightclubs of mid-century America, that it's hard to believe that everything on this album is a Hunter original. And he doesn't rely on cliché or convention, either; this guy has obviously spent a lot of time around a whole heap of Bobby "Blue" Bland, Ray Charles, Al Green, and Rufus Thomas records, digging deep into the essence of their sound, mapping out every irresistible nook and cranny, and translating his findings into pure musical gold. Plus, he's got a first rate band (love that mini horn section!). The result is an engrossing, exciting, rollicking, and unbelievably fun record, an album that drips with joy and rage and rawness and sex. If it had been released back in the 60s, we'd all be calling it a masterpiece of the genre.