Ann Peebles – Straight From The Heart (Speakers Corner)

Of course, there is nothing to be felt of the acoustic mildness of old age in the 1972 album: pointed and soulful, the vocals here fire from the open heart ("Slipped, Tripped And Fell In Love"). Youthful, fresh beat salvos ("What You Laid On Me") and rolling groove ("How Strong Is A Woman?") press and throb. The arrangements seem sophisticated and well dosed, but they don't shy away from hard brass attacks or the lustful use of the contemporary keyboard electronics of Hammond and Hohner. Airy but finely woven interlinked parts of vocals, singers and big band ("Somebody's On Your Case") and the melt of soft swinging and jagged sharpness ("I Pity The Fool") round off this mix of feeling, body and soul

Recording: August 1971 at the Royal Recording Studios, Memphis, by Willie Mitchell

Production: Willie Mitchell

"Recommendation!" (Good Times, December /

January 2012)

"The Hi-Rhythm-Section lets the sparks fly as always, Willie Mitchell's production perfectly balances power and elegance." [Rolling Stone, April 2014]