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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Diana Ross: Touch Me in the Morning (1973)

Although Diana Ross had enjoyed a hit single in 1971 with ‘I'm Still Waiting’ and a few other Top Ten singles during the ‘70s, it wasn't until the album Touch Me in the Morning that she showed her full potential as a solo artist. Historically, the timing for the release of the album was of significant importance. Diana had stunned the world with her Oscar nominated and Golden Globe Award winning performance in Lady Sings the Blues. It was time to return to the studios and the result was a collection of beautiful, timeless classics that have stood the test of time. The title track is a masterpiece itself and is one of Diana's most memorable and timeless classics. The rhythm builds to the exciting chorus which Diana tackles with style and finesse. After a sluggish start on the U.S charts, Touch Me in the Morning eventually catapulted into pole position, whilst gliding into the U.K Top 10. Another timeless ballad, ‘All of My Life’ became a Top 10 success in the U.K deservedly. This soul classic contains a fantastic, stirring vocal performance from its star whilst the mood quickly turns chilly on the yearning, ‘We Need You’. Of equally strong musical merit was the effective ‘Leave a Little Room’, where Diana glides through the verses and is joined by a gospel-influenced choir on the tracks chorus. Diana surprisingly makes The Carpenters’ ‘I Won't Last a Day Without You’ her own, but it is the latter half of the album that displays a lot of true artistic flair. Perhaps holding onto Lady Sings the Blues in some way, Diana delivers two Jazz/Blues numbers that are both startlingly atmospheric. Her performance is almost dreamy on ‘Little Girl Blue’, whereas the mood goes deeper and more sombre on the haunting ‘My Baby (My Own)’. Her striking vocal delivery virtually turns into a subdued howl at the climax of this track. She then delivers a magnificent, stylish and sophisticated reading of John Lennon’s' famous classic, ‘Imagine’, and then finally the album winds down to its peak with the startling medley ‘Brown Baby/Save the Children’. Both numbers are chilly and hauntingly atmospheric and both display Diana’s' versatile vocal expertise. All in all, Touch Me in the Morning is a fantastic, unique affair all round and was one of her most artistic efforts. http://www.amazon.com/

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The diva sings live 'Touch Me (In the Morning)':

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Performing 'Corner of the Sky', from the Broadway musical "Pippin", live in Copenhagen, 1973:

Lea Roberts: Lady Lea (1975)

Lea Robert's second LP for United Artists is mixture of smooth LA soul with some deeper tendencies, very much in the spirit of her previous album ‘Excuse me, I Want to Talk to You,’ released two years before, in 1973. This one was arranged by Reggie Lucas & Mtume, with one track arranged by Hubert Eaves and string arrangements courtesy of Jimmie Haskell or Gene Page. Unfortunately, I was not able to find any info about this gifted soul vocalist, whose unique gospelised vocal stylings are something like a cross between Aretha Franklin, Della Reese and Judy Clay, if such thing was possible! Her R&B recording of Neil Sedaka's 'Laughter in the Rain' went to #20 on the R&B charts.

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1. All Right Now
2. Laughter in the Rain
3. All Over Again
4. Lost in Your Love
5. I'm Going Left
6. Loving You Gets Better with Time
7. Don't Let It Mess Your Mind
8. She Will Break Your Heart
9. You're Gonna Need a Man
10. Chained to This Memory

The Ikettes: Soul the Hits (1965) ... plus

The Ikettes really should stand beside such as the Supremes, the Ronettes and the Shirelles as one of the greatest of girl groups in the ‘60s. That they have been largely overlooked could be due to a number of factors. Because they are best known as the glamorous backing singers and dancers for Ike and Tina Turner, their role as artists in their own right probably had less impact. Also, they lacked the focus of an identifiable lead singer, as their line-ups were in a state of constant flux as Ike Turner hired and fired them, or they chose to leave because of low wages or other reasons, and indeed it is hard to know who sang what on which record. Lead singers over the years included Robbie Montgomery, Jessie Smith, Venetta Fields, Dee Dee Johnson (aka Flora Williams), PP Arnold and Joshie Armstead. As well as the singles, the Ikettes had one album to their name, The Ikettes Soul the Hits, originally released in 1966 on Modern Records, which included a number of popular hits of the day as well as their own hits and some original material mostly written by Ike Turner. At that time The Ikettes were Robbie Montgomery, Jessie Smith and Venetta Fields. It only takes one listen to this album to realize how much better this trio was than many of the other girl groups around, working with a depth and tightness that's way more than simple girl pop. The voices of all three singers are wonderful, and many of the tunes have the same sort of energy as the best grooves of the time from Ike & Tina: upbeat and snapping, and almost with a trace of Northern Soul at times, but a grittier undercurrent at others. Tracks include the super ‘Peaches 'N Cream’, ‘Sally Go Round the Roses’, ‘I'm So Thankful’, ‘Lonely for You’, and ‘Not That I Recall’. This Japanese reissue expands the original 1965 album tremendously, from 12 tracks to 29, with the addition of lots more singles and material issued by some group members as solo artists. Bonus tracks include ‘How Come’, ‘Your Love Is Mine’, ‘Sha La La’, ‘You're Trying to Make Me Lose My Mind’, and ‘Fine Fine Fine’ by The Ikettes, plus ‘I'm Leaving You’, ‘You're Still My Baby’, ‘Give Me a Chance’, and ‘Through with You’ by Venetta Fields; ‘Blue With a Broken Heart’ by Flora Williams; and ‘Easy Living’ by Dee Dee Johnson. http://infoman16.tripod.com/, http://www.dustygroove.com/

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The Ikettes singing live 'Sweet Inspiration' and below, 'Everyday People':

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Linda Jones: Your Precious Love (1965 - 1972) ... plus

Linda Jones was more than just a singer, or even a great singer. She was, purely and simply, an experience; a young lady whom took soul to church and poured into the microphone. This Newark, New Jersey-born soulstress started in her family's gospel group the Jones Singers at the age of six. Her first recording was 'Lonely Teardrops' under the name Linda Lane, on Cub Records in 1963, and she had unsuccessful singles on Atco Records in 1964 and Blue Cat the following year. In 1967, she worked with writer/producer George Kerr and signed to Russ Regan's Loma label in 1967. This resulted in her biggest hit, 'Hypnotized', which narrowly missed the US Top 20. Here she used the vocal idiosyncracies that she displayed in her later recordings with greater subtlety - a warbling exhibition of vocal gymnastics unlike anything that anyone has ever done before or since. In fact, she's generally credited with really bringing the art of melisma (spreading a syllable over several notes) into popular music. The best example was 'Not on the Outside,' recorded for Turbo Records in Newark, NJ, perhaps the most over-the-top vocal performance ever released. Once cited by Gladys Knight as her favourite singer, Linda Jones was aptly described in Black Music magazine as "perhaps the most soulful singer in the history of R&B music". She makes Tina Turner sound like Judy Collins, achieving a level of intensity in the first 10 seconds that is infrequent even within the Deep Soul idiom. If you are not that familiar with Linda's output, I would genuinely recommend that you sample it in small doses - it's rather like getting into a hot bath... Take it a little at a time for comfort until complete immersion can be accomodated! This out-of-print Sequel compilation from 1991 is a fantastic assembly of Linda Jones' early-'70s Turbo recordings, with most of her classic readings: 'I Do' and Jerry Butler & the Impressions' 'For Your Precious Love' with her spoken intro. She also does solid remakes of 'Dancing in the Street,' and 'Doggin' Me Around' and, with her towering fury, transforms a ballad like 'Let It Be Me' in pure gospel. The original material is no joke either, like 'Stay With Me Forever,' which is a pleading love letter that Jones' litters with exclamation points. The set carries a disclaimer attributing the poor sound quality to the fact that compact discs enhance defects in the original analog recordings. It's hard to imagine any recording equipment, though, analog or digital, that would not have been distorted by the extraordinary power of Linda Jones's voice. I augmented the set from 18 to 30 tracks by adding 12 songs from her previous work for Blue Cat and Loma Records, some of which are more Northern Soul-oriented, including the original hit version of 'Hypnotized'. Unfortunately, Linda Jones passed away from a sugar coma in 1972, at the early age of 28. Taken from the liner notes. http://www.billyprice.com/, http://www.oldies.com/, http://www.allmusic.com/

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Koko Taylor, The Queen of the Blues: September 28, 1928 – June 3, 2009

As a friend of mine says, she's gonna pitch a wang dang doodle all eternity long ... bless her little cotton socks...

VA - The Return of the FunkSoulSisters (2005)

The second volume of Funk Soul Sisters repeats the formula of mixing sought-after and in-demand sister-funk records with well-known classics. The opener is Honey and the Bees' ‘Love Addict’, followed by Martha and the Vandellas’ ‘Easily Persuaded’, a Tamla Motown album track that sound like it could have been written for a blaxploitation movie. ‘Family Tree’ and ‘He's What I Need’ by Little Rose Little are brilliant slices of funk, while ‘Who Told You’ by Jackie Moore has a distinct latinesque feeling. The James Brown production ‘That's How It Feels’ by the Sisters of Righteousness allies a stomping beat with a gospel shout to impressive effect. James also produced the R&B/funk classic ‘Do You Really Want to Rescue Me’ by the larger-than-life Elsie Mae. Another soul great, Curtis Mayfield, was involved with Patti Jo's ‘Ain't No Love Lost’, which he produced and wrote. The next three tunes all have a deep southern flavour. Tommy Young's flute-laden ‘That's All a Part of Loving Him’ appeared on the Louisiana-based Soul Power label, which was part of the Jewel-Paula label that also issued Harolyn Montgomery's ‘Gotta Get Away’. Annette Snell's glorious ‘Love Connection’ is one of two fine featured from Nashville's Dial label, the other, ‘Jessie Joe (You Got to Go)’ by Jean Knight, is just as hot. Talking about the sound of the South, Millie Jackson recorded her breakthrough hits in Muscle Shoals, with Brad Shapiro. The wonderful ‘Hypocrisy’ is from those sessions. Jeannie Dee's ‘Two Heads Are Better Than One’ features some pounding piano at its entry point before Ms Dee gives us her words of wisdom. The Ebonettes provide us with a slightly odd sounding femme funk groove recorded up at Dave Hamilton's Detroit studio, whilst another Detroit singer, Gloria Taylor, gives us her club classic the frantic ‘Grounded’. TV Mama Jean's only Kent single is the slippery funk-with-a-message of 'Woman's Liberation', which is a similar concept to that delivered by Betty Moorer on ‘It's My Thing’. Inez Foxx is less politically right-on, but more scathing to her man on ‘Speed Ticket’, and the groove laid down is one of the hardest on the record. Leaving just room to mention Marie Adams, whose ‘Get Up And Do It Baby’ should be a manifesto for anyone who loves this music. http://www.acerecords.co.uk/

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Millie Jackson singing one of the tunes featured on this compilation, 'Hypocrisy’, on Soul Train, 1973:

VA - FunkSoulSisters (2003)

Funk Soul Sisters is a killer set of rare tunes and one of the best compilations of this type ever released. The SuperFunk crew at BGP went through the rich array of labels handled by the company taking things way past the obvious hits and girl group numbers, into hard and heavy-stepping territory. There is a great mix of northern and southern funk styles here that keeps things super-fresh; drums crackle, basslines pound, and the gals belt it out loud, clear, and funky. Some unreleased monsters include the wonderful Betty Barney, who leads out the Pazant Brothers on a track, 'Why I Sing the Blues', from an amazing live album recorded in 1970. Another of the unreleased cuts is by Lynn Varnado, who graces us with ‘Staying at Home Like a Woman’, and the rare Gator 45 ‘Tell Me What's Wrong’. As well as unreleased titles there is a bunch of cuts that only appeared on some soul comps first, like Betty Bibbs' ‘Pounds Of Soul’, Paula Lamont's ‘One Monkey Can't Stop the Show’ and the alternative version of Little Ann's ‘One Way Street’. Another great track is the most down-tempo on the album, Louise McCord's ‘Better Get a Move On’ from a rare gospel album on Stax's Gospel Truth label. It is intense, funky and extremely deep. Also included are some gems by Fontella Bass (‘Hold on This Time’), Millie Jackson (her funky debut 45 ‘My Heart Took a Licking (But It Kept on Ticking)’), the Genies (‘Know What to Do When You Get It’), Spanky Wilson (‘Sunshine Of Your Love’), Bonnie and Sheila (‘You Keep Me Hanging On’) and Thelma Jones (‘Mr Fix It’). Records that are absolutely busting out of their chains to make you move, either in the comfort of your front room, or on a night-club dance floor. Just make sure if it's at home you warn the neighbours that they'll be hearing some mighty fine music. http://www.acerecords.co.uk/, http://www.dustygroove.com/

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Irma Thomas: Something Good - The Muscle Shoals Sessions (1990)

Irma Thomas' brief liaison with Chess in 1967 saw her, like labelmates Laura Lee and Etta James, record in Muscle Shoals' Fame studios to tap into the southern/deep soul grooves that were one of the hottest tickets in soul music at the time. Commercially, these sessions weren't a success, though they were solid soul performances paced by Irma’s habitual excellent, committed vocals. Thomas recorded over a dozen tracks while backed by seasoned in-house rhythm and horn sections, plus Spooner Oldham on keyboards. Of the tracks she recorded, Chess released only three 45s. The first was a fine, Oliver Sain Jr. written, deep ballad called 'Somewhere Crying', backed by an average uptempo track, ‘Cheater Man’, written by Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn. It was, however, the next single that crowned Irma's Chess period, ‘A Woman Will Do Wrong’, a touching and memorable soul ballad, ranging from whispery to screamy and written by Paul Kelly and Clarence Reid. For some strange reason, none of these singles had much success, but her third, a reading of Redding's ‘Good to Me,’ was a minor R&B chart entry in 1968. Unimpressed - and despite some fine unreleased material, like Otis' ‘I've Been Loving You Too Long’ and ‘Security’ and and Goffin & King’s ‘Yours Until Tomorrow’- Chess decided Thomas was a poor seller and scrapped plans to release an LP by her. That none of Irma's Muscle Shoals releases connected with the public is puzzling (lack of marketing was only part of the problem). Even worse, most of her work for the label went unissued for over 20 years. The combination of her mature, soul-saturated delivery, coupled with a raw vocal grittiness, and the tight, could-only-happen-in-Mussle Shoals perfection of the band made for some of Irma Thomas' most satisfying performances. As she stated, even though the band may not have been from New Orleans, it delivered its own elegant, yet understated, funk and soul bravado to the songs, allowing Irma to connect with the material in a way most singers can only dream about. This is a must if you're an Irma Thomas fan, with 14 tracks that include several Chess singles and nine songs recorded for that album which was never released. http://www.artistdirect.com/, http://www.amazon.com/, http://www.answers.com/, http://www.soulexpress.net/

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Carol Douglas: The Carol Douglas Album (1975) ... plus

Though Carol Douglas was already an experienced performer of ten years - she started her professional show business career as an actress in the ‘60's doing TV commercials and theatre work before landing the role of lead singer for the reformed soul group The Chantels -, it was ‘Doctor’s Orders’ which claimed responsibility for the Brooklyn native attaining national recognition. That song, which was a remake of a popular British single by singer Sunny, began its climb to the top ten of R&B and pop charts in December, 1974, and arguably gave large definition to an imminent category of music called “disco.” ‘Doctor’s Orders’ alone would make her debut album a classic, but the quality is far from limited to that track. Earthy dance gems like 'A Friend in Need', 'A Hurricane Is Coming Tonight' and 'Baby Don't Let This Good Love Die' are a nice cross between the late-'60s sound of Detroit soul and late-'70s dancefloor soul. Meanwhile, the mellow ‘Take Me (Make Me Lose Control)’ and ‘I Fell in Love with Love’ show a calmer side, while still keeping the groove alive. Douglas has a sophisticated, understated approach that is fully soulful without any dramatic gestures, and she brings a rich vibe to each tune. The only drawback is the presence of somewhat formulaic melodies and lyrics at some points - an aspect usually overcome by the classy arrangements. On a few tunes, the singer lacks a certain warmth, perhaps because she's trying to play it a little too cool. Overall, The Carol Douglas Album is an impressive pre-disco effort which helped pave the way for many subsequent albums by dance-driven R&B acts. This reissue of the LP also includes an extended version of ‘Doctor's Orders,’ as well as the singer's '80s cover of The Three Degrees' ‘My Simple Heart.’ http://www.arenaproduction.com/, http://www.allmusic.com/