Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
Rod the Mod finds his solo footing, headed for stardom, with the Faces in his wake.
6:00 AM GMT 22/06/2011
Features Disc of the day
Patti LaBelle
I’m In Love Again
(Philadelphia International, 1983)
What Patti did between Labelles Mark I and Mark II
The news that Labelle – Nona Hendryx, Sarah Dash and Patti LaBelle – had re-formed set one a-pondering as to the success, or lack of it, achieved by the three women during the hiatus. After Labelle, Nona made a brash, in yo face rock-soul album, Sarah a nondescript light soul album. And Patti? After the extraordinary collision of funk and glitz that was Labelle flared and fizzled by the middle of the ’70s, the outstanding soul singer who had first formed the group as Patti LaBelle And The Blue Belles back in 1962 recorded for CBS in the second half of the 1970s with moderate success and then, at the start of the 1980s, signed to Philadelphia International. On paper, the perfect match: LaBelle was a Philly native and knew many of the label’s main players. In practice, the liaison simmered but never really gripped the emotions. Hard to say why. A classically good singer, more in the mould of the great jazz ballad stylists than the soul screamers as her version here of Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be?) attests, LaBelle’s powerful voice will find the love in any melody. That her soaring flights of fancy (hear the end of If Only You Knew) perhaps became a template for the likes of Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and several hundred dreadful ’90s copyists is scarcely the messenger’s fault. On I’m In Love Again, the Philly A Team – Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, Bunny Sigler – share production. Aside from two dance tracks (Body Language and I’ll Never, Never Give Up) which are poor indeed, the title track, Lover Man and a version of Womack & Womack’s Love Bankrupt are all sound performances. The direction was to be a beacon to subsequent, more commercial recordings, with the Number 1 duet On My Own three years down the line. Still, it will be fascinating to hear the three reunited.
Geoff Brown
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 09/12/2008
Further Listening
Labelle – Nightbirds (Epic, 1974)
Nona Hendryx – Nona Hendryx (Epic, 1977)
Sarah Dash – Sarah Dash (Kirshner, 1978)
Previous Disc of the day
-
-
Earl Brutus - Larky
Last salvo of Ginsters Pasty-Warholism from Britpop ramraiders.
12:04 PM GMT 08/06/2011
-
Loudon Wainwright - T-Shirt
An overlooked small wonder from an unpredictable career.
6:00 AM GMT 03/06/2011
-
Landscape - From The Tea-rooms Of Mars… To The Hell-holes Of Uranus
Dry computer club Futurists, upon hitting implausible chart paydirt.
6:00 AM GMT 17/05/2011
-
-
Causa Sui - Summer Sessions Vol 1-3
Epic Danish jams, for when the neighbours get you down.
6:00 AM GMT 12/05/2011
end of body content back to top
Footer
Join us on:
© Copyright Bauer - all
rights reserved.
Reproduction of this
website, in whole or in
part, in any form or
medium without express
written permission from
Bauer is prohibited. All
use is subject to our
Terms of Use
|
|
Comments
Comment on this post
i love Ms.Patti LaBelle she has been singin her butt off to us at all of her concerts!!
Posted by Ray'Von at 10:32 PM GMT 23/01/2011 Report Abuse
Reply to this post
Comment on this post