As a teenager, Hinton was employed by Alabama's Muscle Shoals studios to play guitar and write songs for such rising soul stars as Percy Sledge and Joe Tex. Subsequently, everyone from Dusty Springfield to UB40 recorded his songs. Hinton seemed destined for stardom, yet prolonged substance abuse and mental health problems found Eddie celebrated only as a cult figure before his death in 1995. The fabulous Dear Y' All (2002) focused on Eddie's demos of songs that would become soul classics. This CD mops up the rest-garage band demos, Muscle Shoals scribbles and three 1980 tracks as he attempted to relaunch himself. There are no new gems, but for aficionados of southern soul, this offers much joy.
As a teenager, Hinton was employed by Alabama’s Muscle Shoals studios to play guitar and write songs for such rising soul stars as Percy Sledge and Joe Tex. Subsequently, everyone from Dusty Springfield to UB40 recorded his songs. Hinton seemed destined for stardom, yet prolonged substance abuse and mental health problems found Eddie celebrated only as a cult figure before his death in 1995. The fabulous Dear Y’ All (2002) focused on Eddie’s demos of songs that would become soul classics. This CD mops up the rest-garage band demos, Muscle Shoals scribbles and three 1980 tracks as he attempted to relaunch himself. There are no new gems, but for aficionados of southern soul, this offers much joy.
