domingo, 13 de diciembre de 2009

Della Reese: Black Is Beautiful - The Avco Years (1969-1972)

Della Reese is a renowned gospel singer, working with Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward before becoming lead singer with the Meditation Singers. Her place was taken by Laura Lee when she left to join the Erskine Hawkins orchestra in 1956. Reese began a solo recording career with Jubilee in 1957, releasing the Top 20 hit 'And That Reminds Me' and a version of Cole Porter’s 'In The Still of the Night'. Now established as a gospel-influenced ballad singer, she signed to RCA Records in 1959 where Hugo And Luigi produced 'Don’t You Know', based on an aria from Puccini’s opera La Bohème. It reached number 2 and was followed by the Top 20 single 'Not One Minute More'. Later RCA singles included revivals of 'Someday (You’ll Want Me to Want You)' (1960) from 1946 and the '20s standard 'Bill Bailey' (1961). During the '60s and '70s, she worked frequently in cabaret, recording for Avco and ABC Records, where she had a minor dance hit with the Northern Soul tune 'If It Feels Good Do It', in 1972. Black Is Beautiful is one of the two fantastic albums Della released on Avco in the late-'60s to early-'70s. Nice stuff from a period when Della was forging a unique mix of country-soul, blues, gospel, funk and pop vocals into a sophisticated blend that transcended all styles. Produced by Hugo & Luigi, the record features some really nice moments, like 'Games People Play', a funky take on Eugene McDaniels' protest song 'Compared to What', a truly tip-top lick of The Impressions' classic 'Choice of Colors', Bobby Goldsboro's 'With Pen In Hand', the beautiful country soul song 'Comment' and 'Cycles'. One curious note is that Black Is Beautiful was the only album of the Avco label to ever reach a chart, peaking at #44 R&B, in 1970. I have added 14 bonus tracks from the same period, including a handful of singles, all but four of the cuts from her other album for the label, Right Now (1971), plus three songs which were not issued at the time. 24 tracks in all! http://www.oldies.com/, http://www.bsnpubs.com/ For obvious reasons this post is dedicated to one of my dearest blog followers, Della! ;-)
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10 comentarios:

Noelia Almenara dijo...

http://rapidshare.com/files/318623943/Della_Reese_-_Black_Is_Beautiful__1969_.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/319720767/Della_Reese_-_Black_Is_Beautiful_-_Bonus_Tracks__1969-1972_.rar

Vincent the Soul Chef dijo...

Another top notch diva... Thanks for this one and that phenomenal Hi compilation. Looking forward to checking them out.

Peace and blessings.

Bill dijo...

Thanks for this!

hooch dijo...

thanks nosi!

Marc dijo...

Love her version of "Choice Of Colors" -- elegant, funky and stirring. Thanks.

troods dijo...

An icon - such a wonderful duo of albums. Thank you.

pedro dijo...

if it feels good load it thanks nosi for another division one singer

HSB DaveB. dijo...

One of my favs!!!

D...

Daddy Squeeze Me! dijo...

HOW DID I MISS THIS POST AND ITS ABOUT ME! AWWWWW NOSI THANK YOU SO MUCH. YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE YOUR BLOG! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH NOSI!

Anónimo dijo...

I listened to "Black Is Beautiful" for the first time in the house of my friend Dominic. His father was at the viagra online national conference so I went to visit him. We played the album three times in a row. Powerful voice!