Track Listing

1. Do the 45
2. We Got Love
3. Nobody
4. I Am Your Man
5. Working On a Building Of Love
6. I Found a Love
7. I Do the Jerk
8. Lookin' For a Love
9. I'll Always Love You
10. I'll Be Satisfied
11. Mish Mash
12. Over & Done

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33283 in Music
• Released on: 2007-08-20
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
Ryan Shaw is a man with a mission. This 26-year-old singer/songwriter from Decatur, Georgia is out to revive the passion and soul of the Golden Age of Rhythm & Blues (1960-1972) for a new generation. His album, This Is Ryan Shaw, combines a powerfully expressive voice with a clutch of great songs both classic and new--and a state-of-the-art, in-your-face sound that makes it impossible to sit still. Working with player/producers Jimmy Bralower and Johnny Gale, Ryan dug deep into the "soul mine" for overlooked gems by obscure artists like the Combo Kings and the Sharpees along with more familiar songs made famous by Wilson Pickett, Jackie Wilson, and Bobby Womack. Ryan's original tunes--"Nobody", "We Got Love," and "Over and Done" --are most definitely of the moment but built on the old-school values of strong melodies and meaningful lyrics.

Ryan delivers every song with the kind of emotional commitment and vocal panache that have nearly vanished from the mainstream musical landscape. Compositional craft and studio technology blend in an album of irresistible appeal from the opening dance blast of "Do the 45" to the heart-wrenching ballad "I Am Your Man" and "Over and Done," the upbeat Ryan Shaw original that closes the set on a joyful, triumphant note.

On stage, Ryan brings it all together with a combination of Southern warmth and New York vitality. Using just a small rhythm section and two male backing vocalists, he's able to effectively reproduce the sound of his album while stretching some tunes into full-on vocal rave-ups. Ryan's thrilling voice and charismatic presence are all that he needs to get over with an audience. There's no posturing or mindless booty-shaking, no need for contrived antics: Ryan Shaw is the real deal.

Amazon.com
Just when you thought the 21st century retro-R&B revolution was grinding to a sunken-hearted halt, Ryan Shaw comes along and revives the revivalist moment: This Is Ryan Shaw, the 26-year-old's phenomenal debut, dazzles not just because he can sing a song like Bobby Womack's "Lookin' for a Love" without letting the rear-view mirror leach him of his own soul, but because his originals--first single "Nobody," "We Got Love," and set closer "Over and Done"--convincingly replicate the classic sound of such forebears as Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and Wilson Pickett. Here's a man who can plead, please, and play out love-struck dramas with his voice as though the '60s never ended; if his sound borrows heavily, it pays back what it owes with genuine contributions to the genre. Shaw's is real R&B without the raunch--a return to uplift too self-respecting and sincere to land on the retread pile. --Tammy La Gorce

Amazon.com
Just when you thought the 21st century retro-R&B revolution was grinding to a sunken-hearted halt, Ryan Shaw comes along and revives the revivalist moment: This Is Ryan Shaw, the 26-year-old's phenomenal debut, dazzles not just because he can sing a song like Bobby Womack's "Lookin' for a Love" without letting the rear-view mirror leach him of his own soul, but because his originals--first single "Nobody," "We Got Love," and set closer "Over and Done"--convincingly replicate the classic sound of such forebears as Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, and Wilson Pickett. Here's a man who can plead, please, and play out love-struck dramas with his voice as though the '60s never ended; if his sound borrows heavily, it pays back what it owes with genuine contributions to the genre. Shaw's is real R&B without the raunch--a return to uplift too self-respecting and sincere to land on the retread pile. --Tammy La Gorce

Customer Reviews

Jackie Wilson's Ghost
I bought this one on a whim. I wanted to pump up my collection with a sampling of young, new up and coming artists who understand where modern pop and good ol' R.& R. came from. Ryan can sing and with a good control of his range. A few cuts reminded me very much of Jackie Wilson. They made me harken back to the time that I was there at the Latin Casino then operating in Cherry Hill, N.J., now gone. Jackie was on stage in a Dick Clark R & R revival presentation. He goes for the absolute high note in "Higher and Higher", levitates vertically and falls to the floor felled by a stroke. Never to be heard again. When Ryan tries he can re-create Jackie's electric effect. About half of the tracks were overproduced. I'll keep a cut or two on my Ipod.

Homegrown Soul
O.k, so everyone is going to label this retro soul and they would be right. Like Amy Winehouse(and me and you), this young cat is obsessed with the classic soul sound of the mid sixties to early seventies and he has beautifully and accurately recreated it here but unlike Miss Winehouse, who is somehow current as well as retro, Mr. Shaw is kind of stuck in a time warp. This is not really a negative, it's just a truthful observation. He recreates an era the way say The Stray Cats recreated rockabilly but didn't really add anything to it but their music was no less enjoyable as a result. Does Ryan's version of I Found A Love top Wilson Pickett's? Not really, but it's still beautiful to listen to.Between Bobby Womack and J. Geils, I've heard Lookin' For A Love a 1,000 times at least, but Ryan's version is fresh and energetic(as is the whole album) and I can't stop playing it. His original songs sound like classic soul songs and are excellent. I'm not sure why real soul music died in the first place, but artists like this do my heart good by showing me there is hope that real singing and passion just might make a comeback. I mean how did we ever go from Respect and Mr. Big Stuff and and slow dancing to Dark End Of The Street and Slip Away to I'm Gonna Kill You And Skeet on Your face? People, please embrace this album and the positivity and true talent that it represents. In the name of James Brown and all things holy, embrace this man's talent and commitment to the music that we need to heal us as a people.

R & B Lives!
This CD may be the best music you have purchased in a number of years. Ryan Shaw sings like no other singer in the business today. He is oringinal and very talented. I purchased this CD about 6 months ago and I am still listening to it every week. I sing along, I dance to it, and I tell everyone I know about it. I saw him live at Summerfest in Milwaukee and this guy is the real thing. Amy Winehouse seems to be the Queen of bringing back the real R & B. Well, I am here to tell you that Ryan Shaw is the King. There is not a lot of great music out there these days, but this CD is great from the first song to the last. Take a chance, you will not be let down.