the dope report

Vinyl heads, warm your needles. One of the greatest singers and performers alive today, former Rikers Island corrections officer and soul singer Sharon Jones will release I Learned the Hard Way May 4, 2010.

The long-awaited fourth Daptone LP from Jones “marks a bold step forward for a band who almost singlehandedly stewarded today’s return of soul music to its more traditional sound,” the press release states.

You might’ve heard the Dap-Kings backing Amy Winehouse, or some dudes named Al Green, NAS, or Bebel Gilberto. If not, no matter. Go pick up her Stax-style classics Dap-Dippin’ with the Dap-Kings (2002), Naturally (2005), or 100 Days, 100 Nights (2007). More details when you click the more button.

I Learned the Hard Way was produced by Bosco Mann and recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine by Gabriel Roth in Daptone Records’ House of Soul studios.

From the lush Philly-Soul fanfare that ushers in “The Game Gets Old” at the top of the record, to the stripped down Sam Cooke-style “Mama Don’t Like My Man” at the tail, the Dap-Kings dance seamlessly through both the most crafted and simple arrangements with subtlety and discipline. I Learned the Hard Way is the “Daptone Sound” at its finest.

“I Learned The Hard Way” Track Listing:

1. The Game Gets Old

2. I Learned The Hard Way

3. Better Things

4. Give It Back

5. Money

6. The Reason

7. Window Shopping

8. She Ain’t A Child No More

9. I’ll Still Be True

10. Without A Heart

11. If You Call

12. Mama Don’t Like My Man