Lea Roberts: Excuse Me, I Want to Talk to You (1973) ... plus

Unfortunately, it is not easy to find much info about Lea Roberts on the net (or elsewhere), which is quite hard to understand as she is such a gifted vocalist! Lea Roberts was born Leatha Roberta Hicks in Dayton, Ohio on 15 April, 1946 and she began to record in the late '60s-early '70s, when she issued two singles for Minit Records, 'Prove It' b/w 'When Something Is Wrong With My Baby' and 'Love on My Mind' b/w 'Stay with Me'. She signed to United Artists in 1970, recording eleven singles for the label between 1970 and 1975. She released a couple of albums on UA, too: the first one - and her best - was Excuse Me, I Want to Talk to You (1973) and the second, which I posted months ago, was Lady Lea (1975). Her debut, arranged by Wade Marcus, is a mixture of smooth and deep soul with some funky tracks. Highlights include '(If You Don't Want My Love) Give It Back', 'I Take My Fire with Me', 'I'm Losing My Mind', 'Maybe I Don't Show It', and 'Jeremy'. Roberts' R&B recording of Neil Sedaka's song 'Laughter in the Rain', which appears on Lady Lea, went to #20 on the R&B charts. As far as I know she released one final album entitled My Silent Place, on Skies Unlimited Records, in 1982. No need to say it would be more than appreciated if someone could share a copy of that one ... Lea Roberts' unique gospelised vocal stylings are something like a cross between Aretha Franklin, Della Reese and Judy Clay, if such a thing was possible. I am sure you are going to like this great soul singer, in case you din't know her. For those of you who already had this album, I have left a second link in the comments section with three extra tracks, consisting of two sides from her Minit years, plus one track of her 1982 album.

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