Clarence Carter DR CC

Personnel: Clarence Carter (guitar, horns, keyboards, synthesizer, bass, drums, percussion); Lenny LeBlanc, Cindy Richardson, Ava Aldridge (background vocals).
Recorded at Broadway Sound Studio, Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Personnel: Clarence Carter (guitar, horns, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, drums, percussion); Cindy Richardson, Lenny LeBlanc, Ava Aldridge (background vocals).
Recording information: Broadway Sound Studio, Muscle Shoals, AL.
Photographer: Andrew Wilson .
Clarence Carter's albums since the mid '80s have had one great theme--what used to be referred as X-E-S spelled backwards--and this one, in his best one man band mode, is no exception. Here, however, he more or less goes pro for the first time, as in the title tune, where he announces in no uncertain terms that he "specializes in love-ology" and he'd "be happy to take your case."
Fans of Carter's late-'60s soul albums will be gratified that at least one song here--"I Stayed Away Too Long"--is an old fashioned Otis Redding-esque ballad. It is, however, an anomaly; the album's overall tone is set by the concluding "Strokin'," a cult hit down South in which its auteur basically talks dirty for four minutes.

• Format: CD
• Genre: Pop