Pure, Granulated Soul!

Renaldo Domino - Not Too Cool To Cry



The soulful figure gracing the cover of Twinight's Lunar Rotation is Renaldo Domino (born Renaldo Jones and renamed because his voice was as sweet as Domino sugar), who, had Twinight put more effort into promotion side of things, may have been a major success at the dawn of the '70s. After unsuccessful prior records on Blue Rock in the late '60s, Domino came to Twinight via WVON jock Richard Pegue, who dabbled in production and promotion as a sideline to his radio gig. Although Domino cut several great 45s, including the notorious funk classic "Let Me Come Within," his soulful falsetto failed to make the big time and he eventually faded into obscurity. "Not Too Cool To Cry" is one of those "it's not eccentric, it's awesome" records that always grab me by the lapel when I listen to the Eccentric Soul comps. The atmospheric ballad finds Domino wailing most effectively while the awesome strings and even more awesome chorus work their magic around him. This is "sho' 'nuff" soul right here, and it is worth the price of the compilation all by itself.

A postscript - yesterday I mentioned that Kent had put out a single-disc Twinight comp over a decade ago. It is true that the Numero set includes most of the tracks from the Kent disc excepting the Syl Johnson tracks and a couple of others (see the Numero page for a full track listing and samples), the Numero set is worth buying, not only for the extra tracks but for the liner notes, which leave the scant (by usual Kent standards) liner notes from Twinight's Chicago Soul Heaven in the dust.