The Great Longing (Decca): B
For two spectacular tracks, it sounds as if journeyman songwriter Roy is about to make something much greater than a breezy album of soulful, off-the-cuff folk-rock on his major-label debut. But even if the rest of “The Great Longing” isn’t up to the standards set by the to-die-for choruses of “The Willow” and “I Love Everyone,” Roy is enough of a pro (having written songs for Ray Charles, Joe Cocker and others) with big enough ears (he grew up in Philly absorbing eveything from Gamble and Huff to John Coltrane) to make a breezy album of soulful off-the-cuff folk-rock sound pretty damned good. Download: “Without Conscience.”
