I Learned The Hard Way

Description

I Learned The Hard Way, the fourth album by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, marks a significant advancement for a group that has almost single-handedly influenced the return to a more traditional sound in today's soul music. Produced by Bosco Mann and recorded on an Ampex 8-track tape machine by Gabriel Roth at the House of Soul, the studios of Daptone Records, the album exudes a warmth and spontaneity rarely found since the golden age of Muscle Shoals and Stax studios. Sharon Jones's raw vocal power, along with her rhythmic dexterity, sensuality, and melodic command, places her alongside Tina Turner, James Brown, Mavis Staples, and Aretha in the pantheon of soul music. From the blazing horns that open "The Game Gets Old," the album's opening track, to the stripped-down Sam Cooke style of "Mama Don't Like My Man," which closes the record, the Dap-Kings elegantly navigate between rich, elaborate arrangements and simpler themes interpreted with subtlety and precision. I Learned The Hard Way elevates the Daptone sound to its peak.