Second X-pensive Winos record, beautifully repackaged with previously unheard show.
After the liberating triumph of 1988’s Talk Is Cheap marked the end of his feud with Mick Jagger and the return of the Stones, Keith Richards had nothing more to prove on the second album in his Virgin solo deal. Rather than retaliatory killer shot, Main Offender sounded more like Richards having a blast relishing his increased vocal confidence and unfettered rhythm guitar excursions with the band of his dreams.
At the album’s core are the R&B sensitivity and heavyweight grooves baked by Richards and his X-pensive Winos co-producer and drummer Steve Jordan (inadvertently presaging his replacing Charlie Watts in the Stones nearly 30 years later). Instinctually created tracks were worked up with co-producing guitarist Waddy Wachtel, bassist Charlie Drayton and keyboard player Ivan Neville, with incantatory chorales added by the wonderful (now sadly departed) Sarah Dash, Bernard Fowler and Babi Floyd as a subtly secret weapon.
Recorded in California and finished in New York, still conjures the gritty city at the time it was, and , humping slow-burning soul vamps for , and , or via ’s shadowy reggae skank. On the gentler side, there’s Richards and Dash’s playfully sensual grind on and gorgeous Motownflecked ballad standing as the heart-barbecuing highlight.
