TELL IT LIKE IT WAS

“ORCHID IN THE STORM.” Aaron Neville. Passport. Golden-voiced Aaron Neville, best known for his ’66 soul smash “Tell It Like It Is,” here puts his distinctive, high-pitched tremolo to work on a half-dozen slow-drag, doo-wop klassics. The result is the best make-out album of 1956. Trouble is, this is 1986, and even the sensitive string arrangements of Creole concertmaster Wardell Quezergue and Aaron’s own ruby-throated warblings can’t compensate for that. Yes, as it says on the liner notes of this under-20-minutes-in-length disk, Aaron Neville can sing anything. So next time, why not give him the material to match his pipes?