Best of Both Worlds

Product Description:

Personnel includes: Robert Palmer (vocals, various instruments); Chaka Khan, Gene Page (arranger); Carl Carlton (acoustic guitar, dobro); Alan Mansfield (guitar, keyboards); Paul Barrere (guitar, background vocals); Steve Stevens, T.J. Tindall (guitar); Joe Brown (banjo); David Snell (harp); Steve York (harmonica); Mel Collins (saxophone, horns); Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker (horns); Bill Payne (keyboards, background vocals); James Alan Smith, Wally Badarou (keyboards); Frank Blair, Guy Pratt (bass); Maura Spina, Allan Schwartzberg (drums, percussion); Richard Hayward (drums, background vocals); William "Smitty" Smith, Dony Wynn (drums); Cyro Battista, Brie Howard (percussion); Vicki Brown, B.J. Nelson (background vocals); UB40, The Meters, The Power Station.

Producers include: Steve Smith, Robert Palmer, Tom Moulton, Bernard Edwards,

John Grey.

Compilation producers: Mike Ragogna, Robert Palmer.

Recorded between 1974 and 2001. Includes liner notes by Scott Schinder.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Those who only associate Robert Palmer with singing "Addicted to Love" in the 1980s in front of black-clad models do both Palmer and themselves a great disservice. In fact, from the '70s on, Palmer credibly covered everyone from the Meters to Gary Numan, and successfully tackled blues, soul, reggae, rock, R&B, and even calypso. The British singer's smooth-yet-soulful voice was a rare and precious thing, and his knack for selecting material was peerless.

Perhaps most important to his career was an uncanny ability to adapt to changing times and musical movements, something made exceedingly clear over the course of the two-disc BEST OF BOTH WORLDS compilation. Hearing Palmer lend his unique tone to Toots & the Maytals' "Pressure Drop" and Little Feat's "Sailin' Shoes" in his early years is just as entrancing as listening to his shift into dance-rock with the supergroup Power Station ("Some Like It Hot") and straight-up, synth-driven R&B ("I Didn't Mean to Turn You On") in the '80s. Like his contemporary Bryan Ferry, Palmer was always a class act, stylish no matter the style, and BEST OF BOTH WORLDS is an ideal way to enter his eclectic world.