Erma Franklin: Golden Classics ... plus (1961-1968)

Erma Franklin's musical accomplishments will forever be overshadowed by those of her younger sister Aretha, especially since she recorded very sporadically through the '60s. As a singer in her own right, Franklin is best known for recording the original version of ‘Piece of My Heart’, a Bert Berns song which became Franklin's first Top Ten R&B hit in 1967. Though Aretha went on to great fame, Erma - like her youngest sister Carolyn - was a struggling musician. Her own solo recording career was hampered by misfortune and by contracts with recording companies (Epic, Shout & Brunswick) who did not find the most suitable material for her husky voice. Although she did secure a minor 1969 hit with ‘Gotta Find Me a Lover (24 Hours a Day)’, her later work failed to match that early promise. From the ‘70s much of her time was spent working for Boysville, a child care charity in Detroit. Franklin died of throat cancer in September 2002. This compilation contains all of Erma’s Shout singles, recorded between 1967 and 1968 (A’s & B’s), considered Erma’s most soulful and best output. Included here are the classic ‘Piece of My Heart’, the blues-soul ballad - written for Erma by her sister Carolyn - ‘Don't Catch the Dog's Bone’, the sizzlingly funky ‘I'm Just Not Ready for Love’ and 'Open Up Your Soul', a song that recalls the kind of material Aretha cut in 1967. The second part of the set consists on six tracks from her earlier Epic years (1961-1963), most of which appeared on her first album Her Name Is Erma, released in 1962. As a complement I have added eight extra tracks from the same period: some more cuts from that debut album; her first single from 1961 ‘Don’t Blame Me / What Kind of Girl’; plus ‘Hello Again’ and ‘Love Is Blind’, which are the flips of ‘It's Over’ and ‘Abracadabra’, both included on the original release. Finally there is the floorfillin' anthem, and almost pro-feminist R&B song 'I Don't Want No Mama's Boy', from 1963. All in all, no less than 22 tracks from Erma Franklin’s Epic & Shout catalogues, which have been inexcusably forgotten for too long (this compilation dates from 1993 !!!) and should be given a properly remastered treatment straightaway. http://www.allmusic.com/, http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/, http://en.wikipedia.org/, http://www.oldies.com/