Track Listing

1. Things I Used To Do
2. Blues Music
3. Garbage Man
4. Eyes Have Miles
5. Baby's Got Sauce
6. Rhyme For The Summertime
7. Cold Beverage
8. Fatman
9. This Ain't Living
10. Walk To Slide
11. Shooting Hoops
12. Some Peoples Like That
13. Town To Town
14. I Love You

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #26387 in Music
• Released on: 1999-04-12
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Despite emerging in the same year that Beck released his Mellow Gold debut, G Love is still a relative unknown in the UK. It's a shame, because the Philadephian's take on slacker hip-hop deserves a wider audience, not just for the deep soul, funk and even country grooves that he entices the listener to embrace, but for the inventiveness of his format. Steeped in blues licks, the album was recorded practically live with just an acoustic trio of upright bass, piano and drums accompanying G Love's guitar. Admittedly the vocals, which veer too much toward a lounge singer trying to do a lazy rap, are an acquired taste, but several years on, this album sounds fresh and at the end of the day all it really lacked was a killer track like "Loser". --Tim Perry

From Amazon.com
With Beck's unexpected commercial breakthrough, everyone's suddenly interested in a new kind of music best described as "slacker-rap." Although it uses the sing-song cadences of hip-hop, it's the polar opposite of gangsta rap; in both its laid-back delivery and self-deprecating lyrics, slacker-rap acknowledges vulnerability and failure. It was done first and best by Washington's Basehead, but it gets an invigorating twist on "G. Love and Special Sauce," the eponymous debut album from this Philadelphia trio.

G. Love not only looks like Michael Stipe, but he has the same mealy-mouthed vocal delivery. If Stipe ever decided to record his first rap album with an unplugged blues trio, it'd probably sound a lot like "G. Love and Special Sauce." Recorded live with no drum machines, samples or overdubs, the album creates a fresh, distinctive sound with its odd blend of lazy rapping and funky acoustic blues. Unfortunately, G. Love's absurdist observations on life aren't as funny as those by John S. Hall of King Missle, and the laid-back minimalism of the music wears thin after a while. Only "Baby's Got Sauce," which boasts a pop hook and a valentine to a domineering woman, holds up on repeated listens. --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews

Laid back tunes for a Summer's day
I listened to this album first in 1996 at university. It belonged to a friend, but I went straight out and bought it, I liked it that much. Sat about on the grass on campus we, my friends and I, spent many a Summer afternoon doing very little, chilling out to the laid-back music of G. Love & his Special Sauce.
I like the album's catchiness, 'Baby got Sauce' immediately entered into my 'favourite tracks ever' list, but 'Cold Beverage' was the track of the holiday for us all. Lemonade & a double scoop...
I lent this album out and never recieved it back, annoyingly, but recently re-bought it and reacquainted myself with all my old favourites. This album makes me smile from the opening bars. Not just out of nostalgia, but because it is upbeat, funky and cheekily humerous. I fully recommend that you try it out...

Bought the cd yesterday
I read the above reviews and decided this is a record I wanted to buy. So I did.

The truth is it's not bad and, yes slacker-rap is a good way to describe their music. If they're original I would say no. I've heard too many bands with similar sounds. I guess it's one of those bands you have to see live first.

One thing has to be said, all connections to Beck have to be discarded: G. Love and Special Sauce are not as good and they don't sample (Beck does that all the time). The only connection that still stands is that they both released a record in the same year.

Don't think of Beck when you buy this record. Think of laid-back music, funky (allbeit slow) drums, raw slacker-rapping vocals, guitars. Believe me, that made the record sound better than it actually is.

Funked out
A fantastic album with a funky, bluesy, hip hopy sound, cool !.