Brenda Holloway: The Very Best (1999)

This 15-track collection gathers up the very best of Brenda Holloway's recordings for Motown. A peripheral figure in the company's history, Brenda made the trek from Los Angeles to Detroit to record, working with producers Smokey Robinson, Mickey Stevenson, Henry Cosby, Frank Wilson, and label boss Berry Gordy. Known as “the most beautiful woman ever signed to Motown”, she was one of several female Motown artists who never broke through to the top level of stardom, or even of the company's concern, partially because she was a bit too sophisticated and gritty for the label formula. Holloway's big hits ‘Every Little Bit Hurts,’ ‘I'll Always Love You,’ and ‘When I'm Gone’ are aboard, along with the original version of ‘You've Made Me So Very Happy,’ later appropriated by Blood, Sweat & Tears. Solid album material from the canceled Motown album Hurtin' & Cryin' makes up the majority of this collection, with ‘Hurt a Little Everyday,’ and ‘You Can Cry on My Shoulder’ being two of the highlights. Two previously unreleased tracks, ‘You've Changed Me’ and ‘Til Johnny Comes,’ round out the package. Holloway was a big-voiced gospel-style belter, and while not in the Motown front racks, this scintillating comp makes a welcome addition to any soul collection. Along with The Supremes, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles and Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, she is one of the Motown acts I like the most.~ http://www.allmusic.com/

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Brenda Holloway with King Curtis Band singing 'I Can't Help Myself', from opening-act for The Beatles' concert (Shea Stadium, 1965):

Dee Dee Sharp - The Best of Cameo Parkway (1962-1966)

A backing vocalist for the Cameo-Parkway labels, Dee Dee Sharp was the uncredited voice on Chubby Checker's ‘Slow Twistin'’ single. Her own debut, ‘Mashed Potato Time’, was recorded at the same session and, thanks to the power of Dick Clark's American Bandstand television show, this energetic, exciting song, which she delivered in a bright, soulful voice became an immediate success. Cameo sadly chose to milk its dance-based appeal and releases such as ‘Gravy (For My Mashed Potatoes)’ and ‘Do The Bird’ packaged her as a temporary novelty act at the expense of an untapped potential. Dee Dee resurfaced in the ‘70s on the TSOP/Philadelphia International labels. Married to producer Kenny Gamble, she enjoyed two minor soul hits with ‘I'm Not in Love’ (a 1976 cover of the 10cc hit, which I added as a bonus track) and ‘I Love You Anyway’ (1981). This release from the Cameo-Parkway catalogue generously collects the output of Dee Dee Sharp, including the biggest dance hits of the early ‘60s and her mid-‘60s work, the best of which ride sinuous, funky grooves. Other tracks boast early production work by Gamble and Huff -the duo who went on to help sculpt the legendary Philly Soul sound- and, not surprisingly, the strings and lush back-up vocals play like proto-TSOP. http://www.oldies.com/

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Dee Dee Sharp performing 'Mashed Potato Time':

Eula Cooper: Lost Queen of Georgia Soul (1967-1972)

Eula Cooper is a soul singer whose scant body of work lies in inverse proportion to its exceptional quality. It has been said that she is from Atlanta or Macon, Georgia (and even Birmingham, Alabama!), although nothing is known for sure. Anyway, Eula is best remembered for a small, singles-only discography on indie soul labels Tragar, Supersound and Note - with one, 1969’s hypnotic ‘Heavenly Father’, picked up for distribution by Atlantic. There were about a dozen songs, most of which were probably recorded at Muscle Shoals (?), circa 1967 and 1972. For whatever reasons she left the music business, but she re-emerged recently at Dig Deeper, with her first ever NYC appearance, in 2008. Here is almost her entire discography. I hope you enjoy it. http://georgiasoul.blogspot.com/, http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/, http://33and13.blogspot.com/

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01. Shake Daddy Shake
02. Heavenly Father
03. Try
04. Love Makes Me Do Foolish Things
05. I Can't Help If I Love You
06. That's How Much I Love You
07. Let Our Love Grow Higher
08. Have Faith in Me
09. Standing by Love
10. I Need You More
11. Mr. Henry
12. Beggars Can't Be Choosey

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Eula Cooper singing 'That's How Much I Love You' live at the Five Spot in Brooklyn:

Betty Everett: The Fantasy Years (1970-1975)

During a prolific recording career that spanned two decades, Betty Everett proved to be a producer’s dream, able to tackle all manner of material -be it blues, pop, or soul- with an uncanny combination of authority and vulnerability. Her diction was always crystalline, and her emotive, remarkably elastic mezzo-soprano tones had an aching quality that tugged at the heart-strings. Betty Everett began recording for Cobra in 1958, then joined Vee-Jay in the early '60s and started to land hit records. ‘The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss),’ was her first major release, peaking at number six pop in 1964. Her next success was the duet ‘Let it Be Me’ with Jerry Butler, a soul version of the Everly Brothers tune that reached number five R&B that same year. Everett's finest song as a solo act was 1969's ‘There'll Come a Time,’ which reached number 2 on the R&B charts and also cracked the pop Top 30 at number 26. Everett was now on Uni, where she remained until 1970. She continued recording for Fantasy Records until 1974 and made one other record for United Artists in 1978. This collection brings together the best of her work for Fantasy between 1970 and 1975, and finds Calvin Carter, Willie Mitchell and Carles Chalmers, Johnny “Guitar” Watson, and Gene and Billy Page taking turns in the producer’s seat. Included are the hits ‘I Got to Tell Somebody’, ‘Ain’t Noting Gonna Change Me’, ‘Danger’ and the sizzlingly funky ‘Sweet Dan’.

Candi Staton: Candi (1974)

Candi Staton may not have been as acclaimed as others, but for a time, she was one of the best and most consistent singers of Southern Soul and R&B. Candi sang with the Jewell Gospel Trio as a teenager, touring the traditional gospel circuit in the 1950s with the Soul Stirrers, C.L. Franklin, and Mahalia Jackson. They recorded several sides for Nashboro, Apollo, and Savoy Records between 1953 and 1963. In 1968 Staton launched solo career as a Southern soul stylist, garnering 16 R&B hits for Rick Hall's legendary Fame Studios and gaining the title of First Lady of Southern Soul for her Grammy-nominated R&B renditions of the country tunes ‘Stand by Your Man’ and ‘In the Ghetto.’ What we have here today is a rare 1992 Japanese reissue or her first LP for Warner Bros. Records, ‘Candi’, originally released in 1974, short after she left Fame. This album gave Ms. Staton a top ten R&B hit (#6) with ‘As Long As He Take Care of Home’ and it included fine songs that were recorded at Muscle Shoals in Alabama. However, it was not a huge success and Candi decided to change producers, because she felt that it would be best to move with someone who was producing more in the disco/urban soul area. With that in mind, in 1975 Staton began collaborating with producer Dave Crawford, who propelled her into a disco diva with dance songs such as ‘Young Hearts Run Free’ and ‘Victim.’ Later, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, she would garner considerable acclaim as a gospel star, but her tenure in the early '70s as an R&B belter was arguably her finest period, of which this album is a good example. Again, Candi is one of my favourite soul singers.

LaVern Baker: See See Rider (1963) / Blues Ballads (1959)

A versatile vocalist, LaVern Baker proved capable of melding blues, jazz and R&B styles in a way that made possible the emergence of a new idiom: rock and roll. The niece of blues singer Memphis Minnie, Baker had a stunning voice that, with little effort, could crack walls, and yet her ballad singing was wonderfully sensitive. During her time at Atlantic Records (1953-62), she cut half a dozen singles that rose to high positions on both the pop and R&B charts, including 'Tweedle Dee' and 'Jim Dandy.' Here are two of her best albums from the vaults of that label: ‘Blues Ballads’ and ‘See See Rider’, released in 1959 and 1963, respectively. The tracks are not presented in the original sequence, but the ones dating from 1963 are easily identifiable as they are in stereo and tend to feature prominent bass guitar, then something of a novelty. While the former is not all blues or ballads, there are some great sides here, all sung with the intensity and energy that made Baker's material so memorable, like 'I Cried a Tear', a major hit for her late in 1958. It also includes a solid version of the Edith Piaf hit 'If You Love Me' plus 'Love Me Right', 'I Waited Too Long', 'Humpty Dumpty Heart', 'St. Louis Blues' and others. "Rider" has a more pop oriented feel with strings on many cuts. Besides the hit 'See See Rider', it includes 'He's a Real Gone Guy', 'You Said', 'Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes' and more. LaVern fans will enjoy this, since it contains so many fine recordings that aren't available anywhere else. http://www.oldies.com/

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LaVern performing 'Substitute', Live on The Ed Sullivan Show (1958). Her dance partner is Harold "Stumpy" Cromer:

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Minnie Riperton: Perfect Angel / Adventures in Paradise (1974-75)

This release pairs Minnie Riperton’s 1974 Perfect Angel with the following year's Adventures in Paradise; two albums that brought the singer her most popular success. Minnie, who had been lead vocalist in the '60s band The Rotary Connection, had one of the finest voices in Pop and Soul music –with her amazing five-and-a-half octave vocal range!- and made a huge impact on the music business during her short life. Perfect Angel, produced by Stevie Wonder, turned out to be one of Riperton's best-selling albums. Included were the rock-soul anthem ‘Reasons’, the second single, ‘Take a Little Trip’, and the third single, ‘Seeing You This Way’. Sales of the album started out slow and Epic was ready to move on to the next record, but her husband Richard Rudolph convinced them to release another single. With the fourth single ‘Lovin' You’, the album caught on, and in April 1975 the song went to the top of the charts in the US and 24 other countries. It reached number two in the UK, and number three on the R&B charts. Perfect Angel went gold, and Riperton was finally revered as the "lady with the high voice and flowers in her hair". The album also featured the song ‘Every Time He Comes Around’, with Deniece Williams singing the background vocals. Adventures in Paradise is not quite as across-the-board hot, but songs like the irresistibly seductive ‘Inside My Love’ make for another engaging listen.

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Minnie Riperton singing live 'Loving You' (1975). Notice how beautifully she refers to her daughter Maya (Rudolph) near the end of the song:

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... Yes, you heard right: She really could do THAT with her voice!

The Blossoms: Shockwave (1972)

The Blossoms were probably the most successful unknown group of the '60s. They made a career of singing backup for scores of artists from Paul Anka to Elvis Presley with a versatility that allowed them to be a choral group one minute and a surf sound doo-wop group for Jan and Dean's hits the next minute. They were formed in Los Angeles in 1954 as the Dreamers, consisting of Fanita James, Gloria Jones, and the twin sisters Nanette and Annette Williams. By 1957, Nanette Williams had been replaced by Darlene Wright, who later took the name Darlene Love. They did extensive session work, and Love and James were members of producer Phil Spector's studio group Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans. Love also recorded with Spector under her own name and as part of The Crystals. The Blossoms had one pop chart entry in 1961 with ‘Son-In-Law,’ an answer record to Ernie K-Doe's hit ‘Mother-In-Law.’ In 1964, the group, now a trio consisting of Darlene, Fanita, and newcomer Jean King, were a featured part of the weekly Rock & Roll television program Shindig! They also scored an R&B singles chart entry with 'Good, Good Lovin' in 1967. The Blossoms resumed recording under their own name later in the 1960s for labels such as Reprise, Ode and MGM. They released their first and only album Shockwave, which I am posting today, in 1972 on Lion.

The Blossoms singing 'Tell Him'(1964):

Millie Jackson: Millie Jackson (1972)

Georgia-born, New Jersey-raised soul singer Millie Jackson is better known for her dirty mouth than her Gladys Knight-like voice, and she clearly doesn't mind, but she shouldn't be dismissed as an exploitative joke. At her best she's a canny writer/producer and an intelligent, passionate performer, and she did pioneer the raunchy "tellin' it like it is" patter for which she's infamous. Her 1972 debut is one of the freshest albums of her career, her style remarkably mature and the sound an infectious blend of '60s soul influences (from Motown to Stax to early Philly soul). Even though the arrangements are done north of the Mason/Dixon line (in New York by Bert DeCoteaux, and in DC by Tony Camillo), the record feels like it was lifted off the pressing plant in Muscle Shoals or Jackson. Millie is just as tough and aggressively honest here as she would be on her breakout, 1974's Caught Up, and songs like ‘I Ain't Giving Up’ and ‘I Miss You Baby’ are of the same high caliber. She injects the perfect measure of anger and genuine confusion into the hypocrisy fable ‘A Child of God (It's Hard to Believe)’ (her first R&B hit) and has no trouble switching gears for the affectionate ‘My Man, a Sweet Man,’ with a driving bassline and handclaps making direct connections to the classic Motown sound. The biggest hit here was another love song, the swinging ‘Ask Me What You Want,’ her second R&B Top Ten entry. Even though it never came together quite like Caught Up, Jackson's first LP introduced a major talent to the R&B world. ~ http://www.answers.com/
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Millie Jackson singing 'Hurts So Good' (Soul Train '73):

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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):