Inez Foxx: At Memphis (1973) ... plus

From 1963's ‘Mockingbird’ through the rest of the '60s, Inez Foxx and her brother Charlie scored a nice string of R&B hits for Sue, Symbol and Dynamo, including the ever-popular ‘Come By Here’ and ‘(1-2-3-4-5-6-7) Count the Days.’ By the early '70s Inez was working as a solo act and she eventually made her way to Stax Records, where on the Volt imprint she earned one album release, At Memphis, and a few 45s. She scored minor hits with a cover of Mitty Collier’s ‘I Had a Talk With My Man’ and ‘Circuit's Overloaded,’ a strident funky 45 that has been comped quite a few times. Inez does a great job on Jeanette "Baby" Washington's ‘The Time,’ and Bettye LaVette’s ‘Let Me Down Easy’, injecting new life into these timeless ballads. ‘You Don’t Want My Love (All You Want Is My Loving)’ rolls along at a brisk tempo and displays as much Detroit (it sounds as if it could have been an Invictus/Hotwax release) as Memphis. There’s a great vocal by Foxx as well and a very nice string arrangement (stylish but not overpowering). Inez herself penned ‘The Lady, The Doctor & The Prescription,’ a nice mid-tempo number that builds up steam as she layers on the verses, in which a visit to the doctor results in an interesting diagnosis. By the end of the record the tune is boasting a nice stepper's groove and Foxx's testifying gives it a nice finish. The last track, ‘Mousa Muse,’ is not a song, but a short interview of Inez about recording in Memphis for the first time by an interviewer named Mousa. This 1990 reissue of At Memphis adds 4 non album 45s, consisting on ‘Circuit’s Overloaded’, the 1972 single 'You Hurt Me For The Last Time / Watch the Dog (That Brings the Bone)', 'One Woman's Man' (B-side of 'The Time') and two previously unissued cuts, 'I Just Want To Know (Before You Go)' and 'He Ain't All Good, But He Ain't All Bad'. As a bonus, I added an extra song: her single 'You Shouldn't Have Set My Soul On Fire', released in 1970 on Dynamo. http://funky16corners.wordpress.com/, http://stepfatherofsoul.blogspot.com/, http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/

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