Artist Guide

Fat Daddy New 5-Star EP Review!

Originally published in Daddy B. Nice's Album Reviews.

July 27, 2025:

FAT DADDY: Perfect
Five Stars ***** Can't miss. Pure Southern Soul heaven.

Buy Fat Daddy's new PERFECT EP at Apple.

PERFECT Track List:

1. Got My Money Right
2. Thick Like 40 Weight Gravy
3. Perfect (feat. FPJ)
4. License To Steal
5. Good Vibes Only
6. I'm Him

Like Paul Atreides in the movie "Dune," the dreamer--Fat Daddy--has awakened. There is no musically measurable reason Arthur Young, for example, should have published a half-dozen albums in roughly the same span of time in which Fat Daddy has whiffed, recording only a similar number of singles. Yes, it's been six years since F.D.'s impressive 2019 debut album, Fat Daddy Gonna Love You Right. And while Arthur Young has exhibited the superior compositional genius and boasts a burgeoning catalog of worthy material, the two up-and-coming stars share the same powerful tenors and mahogany richness of tone. Moreover, as his new EP Perfect attests, Fat Daddy actually has the edge when it comes to the clarity, contrasts and panoramic scope of his vocals.

If you've ever listened to Fat Daddy singing "Mr. Nobody," his clone of Johnnie Taylor's "Mr. Nobody Is Somebody Now," you know that even Johnnie's son T.J. Hooker Taylor, who makes a living doing tributes to the godfather of southern soul, can't approach the eerie resemblance in vocal quality Fat Daddy shares with Johnnie. And then there's Fat Daddy's relationship with Tucka. They have a special bond (they're said to be related) and often tour together. But hanging out with a star of Tucka's magnitude and profiting from the celebrity access, albeit a choice any aspiring musician would be reluctant to forgo, could also explain some of Fat Daddy's inattentiveness to the progress of his own career.


Fat Daddy (who by the way is not "fat") is the performance name of Allen Turner, the son of blues legend R.L. Griffin, longtime owner of R.L.'s Blues Palace in Dallas, Texas. He first emerged with "The Blame," Daddy B. Nice's Best Debut of 2018, an outstanding southern soul anthem with a vintage-quality melody, a head-swiveling lead vocal, a sublime female chorus and a classic instrumental track. Fat Daddy's done some crazy stuff in his career, among other things kidnapping Jesse Graham's single "Mr. Mailman," instrumental track and all, and recording it as "Strong Woman," then turning around and recording an entirely new song called "Mail Man,"

In any case, Perfect is an eye-opening reminder of Fat Daddy's under-utilized talent only waiting to be tapped. "Got My Money Right," the opening track, was a #4-ranked single on Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 for July 2025. "License To Steal" is an exemplary cover of a not-well-known classic previously recorded by Clay Hammond and Vernon Garrett. The least original track on the set, ironically, is the title track, "Perfect". It's a threadbare melody and beat reminiscent of projects Fat Daddy has done with Tucka. Even guest artist FPJ's contribution seems unenthusiastic, not to mention woefully buried in the instrumental mix.

But the vibrant "I'm Him" and the gently-rocking "Good Vibes Only" more than make up for this solitary lapse. The sleeper of this EP---so daring, I suspect, that Fat Daddy himself is unsure and wary of its value---is the deftly-produced "Thick Like 40 Weight Gravy". With a scintillating acoustic guitar accompaniment, the song offers Fat Daddy plenty of space to take wing and soar, vocally speaking. And Fat Daddy can be rousing with such ease. It's a revelation of what marvelous paths to musical self-fulfillment beckon this performer if he only gains confidence and gets into the studio and works.

---Daddy B. Nice

Read Daddy B. Nice's Artist Guide to Fat Daddy.

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June 22, 2025: Originally published in "News & Notes" on Daddy B. Nice's Corner.

Fat Daddy has released a new six-tune EP titled Perfect, featuring his new hit single "Got My Money Right". (Watch Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 Singles for July 2025.) The title tune, "Perfect," features FPJ. Fat Daddy, whose real name is Allen Turner, is the son of blues legend R.L. Griffin, longtime owner of R.L.'s Blues Palace in Dallas, Texas.



July 4, 2019:

NEW ALBUM ALERT!:

Buy Fat Daddy's new GONE TO LOVE YOU RIGHT album at Amazon.

GONE TO LOVE YOU RIGHT TRACK LIST:

1
Fatdaddy's Gonna Love You Right
2
I'm Tired

3
Another Man's Wife

4
The Blame

5
Mr. Nobody

6
Party Rock

7
Right Hand Know

8
Mail Man

9
First Love

10
Mr. Bartender

11
Strong Woman

Daddy B. Nice notes:

I recognized the potential for greatness in Fat Daddy from the moment I heard "The Blame," and that's why an unknown from Texas scored the number one single of the year (scroll down to "About Artist").

Fat Daddy ransacks the past, the richest vein in recent southern soul history in fact, looking for inspiration in the turn-of-the-century recordings made in the Delta. If only more young artists did the same!

"Mr. Nobody" looks back to Johnnie Taylor's original, perhaps via Carl Sims' 2001 remake. (See Daddy B. Nice's Mailbag Looking For A Song Letter).

"Strong Woman" is based on Jesse Graham's "Mr. Mailman". And even the songs that don't cannibalize as brazenly as "Mr. Nobody" and "Strong Woman" are steeped in the musical sound of turn-of-the-century southern soul. That milieu thrived while the Internet was still young, before the music had anywhere but a few regional venues in which to market (insuring this music would remain obscure). Still, led by Jackson, Mississippi's Malaco/Waldoxy Records but also far-flung Suzie Q, Ichiban, Ace, Konkord, Mardi Gras and more, the early 00's remain the pinnacle of contemporary southern soul.

So, maybe as a penitential gesture, Fat Daddy gives his duet with Sir Charles Jones the title "Mail Man". "The Blame" and "Mailman" are examples of songs forged from a love of vintage contemporary southern soul. "The Blame's" #1 Song-of-The-Year honor was preceded by this write-up in July 2018:

Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . .

-------JULY 2018-------

1. "The Blame"------Fat Daddy

Who says the young people don't "get" southern soul? Fat Daddy's "The Blame Is On Me" is an unexpected gift. Excepting a couple of appearances on DBN's Concert Calendar (including R.L. Griffin's Blues Palace in Dallas) I know nothing about him, he's never contacted me, and to my knowledge he's never recorded before, but this ballad blows away the powerful likes of Vick Allen's "I Want You" and Rick Lawson's return with "I Done Found Your Good Thing," and your Daddy B. Nice will always acknowledge the talent, just like when Vick and Rick first appeared.

Listen to Fat Daddy singing "The Blame" on YouTube.

Buy Fat Daddy's "The Blame" at Amazon.
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And "Mailman" with Sir Charles Jones charted recently with this bullet review:

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Daddy B. Nice's Top 10 "BREAKING" Southern Soul Singles Preview For. . .

-------APRIL 2019-------

...6. "Mail Man"----Fat Daddy featuring Sir Charles Jones

Think of it. Your first southern soul single becomes the #1 Song of the Year. A dream come true. And the next year--2019--you have the King of Southern Soul, Sir Charles Jones, singing alongside you on a five-minute-plus stab at another number-one single. That's the fate of Fat Daddy, who has a deep well of southern soul inspiration behind his work.

Listen to Fat Daddy and Sir Charles singing "Mail Man" on YouTube.

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Listen to all the tracks from Fat Daddy's GONE TO LOVE YOU RIGHT on YouTube.

Listen to Fat Daddy's GONE TO LOVE RIGHT CD on Spotify.

Buy Fat Daddy's GONE TO LOVE YOUR RIGHT CD at Apple.

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2018 Multi-Award Winner

See Daddy B. Nice's Comprehensive Index!

--Daddy B. Nice

About Fat Daddy New 5-Star EP Review!

The Top 25 Southern Soul Songs of 2018

1. "The Blame"-------Fat Daddy

Power. Mystery. Immediacy. Slaking the unquenchable thirst of southern soul fans, "The Blame Is On Me" came out of nowhere from an unknown artist and an unknown producer, every bit as fully realized--if not quite as technically sophisticated--as the stone-cold classics produced by Harrison Calloway for Johnnie Taylor, Marvin Sease and Little Milton at Tommy Couch's Malaco Records two decades ago.

Listen to Fat Daddy singing "The Blame" on YouTube.

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