Barbara Mason: Oh, How It Hurts (1997) plus...

An underrated soul singer, Mason initially focused on songwriting when she entered the music business in her teens. As a performer, though, she had a huge hit in 1965 with her self-penned ‘Yes, I'm Ready’ (number five pop, number two R&B), a fetching soul-pop confection that spotlighted her high, girlish vocals. One of the first examples of the sweet, lush sound that came to be called Philly soul, she had modest success throughout the rest of the decade on the small Arctic label, reaching the pop Top 40 again in 1965 with ‘Sad, Sad Girl.’ In the early and mid-'70s, Mason toughened her persona considerably, singing about sexual love and infidelity with a frankness that was uncommon for a female soul singer. Sweet soul continued to be her groove, and she continued to write some of her material, but the production, as it was throughout soul in the '70s, was more funk-oriented. This 1997 compilation on the Bear Family label of the original, and increasingly difficult to get, Arctic recordings (1964-1969), is simply sublime. It includes hits like 'Oh, How It Hurts', 'I Don't Want ToLose You' and 'Happy Girl', plus numerous rarities from the period. To make it more complete, I added 9 bonus tracks consisting on some of the hits that appear on ‘Yes, I'm Ready’ (1997), the first part of this 2-CD anthology, that are not on the second part 'Oh, How It Hurts', including 'Yes I'm Ready', 'Sad, Sad Girl' and 'Girls Have Feelings Too'. Also there's a few early-'70s Buddha classics like 'Yes, It's You', 'Give Me Your Love' 'and 'Child of Tomorrow', from the 1973 blaxploitation film Gordon's War. Perfect pop songs that surely must be re-mastered and re-released! .~ http://en.wikipedia.org/

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A shy Barbara Mason performing 'Yes, I'm Ready' (1965):