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Midnight Drive (The Kinsey Report album)

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Midnight Drive
Studio album by
the Kinsey Report
Released1989
StudioStreeterville
GenreBlues, rock
LabelAlligator
ProducerBruce Iglauer, Donald Kinsey, the Kinsey Report
The Kinsey Report chronology
Edge of the City
(1987) 		Midnight Drive
(1989) 		Powerhouse
(1991)

Midnight Drive is the second album by the American band the Kinsey Report, released in 1989.[1][2] The band supported the album with a North American tour.[3] At the time of its release, Midnight Drive was one of Alligator Records' best selling albums.[4] Issues with patriarch Big Daddy Kinsey, among other problems, led to changes in the Kinsey Report's lineup on subsequent albums.[5]

Production[edit]

Midnight Drive was produced by Bruce Iglauer, Donald Kinsey, and the band.[6] The Kinsey Report incorporated more of a rock and funk sound on the album.[7] They wrote eight of its ten songs.[8] "Nowhere to Go, Nothing to Lose" is about a steel worker who loses his job due to automation.[9] "Free South Africa", an anti-apartheid song, reflected Donald Kinsey's admiration for the hopeful messages in many blues and reggae songs.[10] "River's Invitation" is a cover of the Percy Mayfield song.[11]

Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Chicago Tribune[12]
The Cincinnati Post[7]
MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide[13]
The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings[14]
St. Petersburg Times[15]

The Chicago Tribune wrote that "Donald Kinsey, without benefit of special effects, puts on a guitar clinic on the Report's second album that should give pause to better-known gunslingers such as Eddie Van Halen and Stevie Ray Vaughan."[12] Newsday concluded that "the title track, a barrelling number adorned with tight, sharp guitar figures, and 'See Her Again', with its similar power, show what the Kinsey Brothers are made of: blues with rock influences (particularly Jimi Hendrix for the guitarists), not a blues-influenced rock band."[16] The Washington Post opined that "most of the songs seem to offer little more than a flimsy excuse to wail on guitar."[17]

The St. Petersburg Times praised Donald Kinsey and stated that "not since Jimi Hendrix has a black guitarist so effectively blended elements of blues and rock."[15] The Edmonton Journal said that "Kinsey approaches the blues from a devil-may-care stand point—we're almost talking brash, '60s British era Chicken Shack, or forsooth, Fleetwood Mac."[18] The Daily Herald determined that Midnight Drive is "an attempt to take the blues form one solid step farther, and, in doing that, it displays smashing originality and stays close the basics, too."[19]

Track listing[edit]

No.TitleLength
1."Midnight Drive" 
2."Big Time" 
3."Nowhere to Go, Nothing to Lose" 
4."See Her Again" 
5."Can't Stop Thinking About You" 
6."Love's Overdue" 
7."Hit Woman" 
8."River's Invitation" 
9."Get Outta Here" 
10."Free South Africa" 

References[edit]

  1. ^ Herzhaft, Gérard Herzhaft (1992). Encyclopedia of the Blues. University of Arkansas Press. p. 191.
  2. ^ McLeese, Don (23 July 1989). "The Kinsey Report: The family that plays together, stays together". Show. Chicago Sun-Times. p. 1.
  3. ^ Heaton, Michael (24 June 1989). "Hard-edged urban blues gets 'down' in Flats". The Plain Dealer. p. 6E.
  4. ^ Point, Michael (Aug 18, 1989). "It's a family affair at Antone's with Kinseys old and young". Austin American-Statesman. p. D3.
  5. ^ Iglauer, Bruce; Roberts, Patrick A. (2018). Bitten by the Blues: The Alligator Records Story. University of Chicago Press. p. 216.
  6. ^ Armstrong, Gene (Jul 28, 1989). "Pure blues or not, 'Midnight Drive' is a Kinsey Report pressure cooker". Arizona Daily Star. p. F20.
  7. ^ a b Nager, Larry (Jul 15, 1989). "Records". The Cincinnati Post. p. 6C.
  8. ^ DuPre, Chris (Jul 30, 1989). "Album Reviews". Eau Claire Leader-Telegram. p. 3F.
  9. ^ Barr, Greg (14 July 1989). "Singing the Blues at the Jazz Festival". The Ottawa Citizen. p. B3.
  10. ^ Robicheau, Paul (Jul 19, 1989). "Kinsey Report: 'Music that you feel'". The Boston Globe. p. 76.
  11. ^ White, Jim (Jul 27, 1989). "Kinsey Report storming frontier of blues". The Pittsburgh Press. p. D7.
  12. ^ a b Kot, Greg (6 July 1989). "The Kinsey Report Midnight Drive". Chicago Tribune. p. 11E.
  13. ^ MusicHound Blues: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1998. p. 217.
  14. ^ The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings. Penguin Books. 2006. p. 369.
  15. ^ a b Hall, Ken (11 Aug 1989). "Kinsey Report Midnight Drive". Weekend. St. Petersburg Times. p. 16.
  16. ^ Anderson, John (9 July 1989). "'Midnight Drive', The Kinsey Report". Part II. Newsday. p. 17.
  17. ^ Joyce, Mike (14 July 1989). "Midnight Drive' in Low Gear". The Washington Post. p. N23.
  18. ^ Campbell, Rod (22 Oct 1989). "Midnight Drive The Kinsey Report". Edmonton Journal. p. D6.
  19. ^ Kelton, Jim (Jul 16, 1989). "Kinsey Report's 'Midnight Drive' muscles in on closed blues club". Daily Herald. p. 5F.
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