Wanna Go Back

Album Review

The '60s were arguably rock & roll's glory decade. The style had found its footing in the '50s, but the '60s were when all of its pop, R&B, blues, and country influences had blended into the perfect mix. You could hear all of these elements, but rock & roll had come into its own before splitting off into precise subgenres as the '70s loomed. With 2007's Wanna Go Back, no-frills rocker Eddie Money pays loving tribute to the '60s music that he and his fellow baby-boomers grew up listening to and performing in their teenage garage bands. (The album title is based on his bittersweet, nostalgia-themed 1986 hit "I Wanna Go Back.") Money is a hard-working veteran whose albums were often inconsistent but always included at least a couple of stone-cold knockouts, sometimes with their big singles and sometimes with lesser-known cuts. In a way, Wanna Go Back mirrors Money's career in that its cover songs include iconic hits and a few less obvious gems. Money and his daughter, Jesse Money, kick off the proceedings with Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." The father-daughter duo also team up on Inez Foxx and Charlie Foxx's "Mockingbird" (later recorded by Carly Simon and James Taylor) and Sam & Dave's "Hold On! I'm Comin'." The Foundations earn two spots on Wanna Go Back when Money takes on "Baby Now That I Found You" and "Build Me Up Buttercup." Money tackles some ballads including "You Don't Know Me" (the highest charting version was by Ray Charles) and the James Brown medley "Please Please Please/Baby Don't You Weep," but he's definitely more in his element when he dives into the rockers. Money's enthusiasm for this project is reflected in Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher," the Rascals' "Good Lovin'," Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels' "Jenny Take a Ride," and Chris Kenner's "Land of a Thousand Dances" (although Wilson Pickett recorded the best-known version). Money could have pushed his voice harder at times, but he's clearly having a ball on Wanna Go Back.