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Pointer Sisters - Live At The Opera House (74, 71:46 ^ 163mb)
As children the girls (Anita, Bonnie, June and Ruth) were encouraged to sing gospel music by their parents Reverend Elton and Mrs Sarah Pointer, but in their household they were told rock and roll and the blues were "the devil's music". After leaving school it was Bonnie who sought a show business career, and she convinced June to join her to form a duo, "Pointers, A Pair". Shortly after this, Anita quit her job to join the group. They began touring and performing and provided backing vocals. The sisters were signed to a recording deal with Atlantic Records in 1971. The resulting singles failed to win an audience but the sisters were enjoying themselves, and the temptation to join them finally overwhelmed Ruth. Before they began to record their first album, the trio had become a quartet, in which afterwards they signed with David Rubinson's Blue Thumb record label. Upon signing, they agreed that they did not want to follow the current trend of pop music, but wanted to create an original sound that combined jazz, scat and be-bop music. In searching for a visual style they used their experience to assemble a collection of vintage 1940s clothes from various thrift shops, that would comprise their costumes and give them the distinctive look they were searching for.
Their self titled first album, was released in 1973 and received positive reviews, with the group being lauded for their versatility and originality. The first single from it, a funk cover of "Yes We Can Can", reached number 11 on the pop charts, their second single was a cover of Willie Dixon's Blues stomper "Wang Dang Doodle". It reached the R&B top 40 and the group's thrift shop style began to catch on with fans.
The following year they released their second album titled That's a Plenty. It continued in the jazz and be-bop style of its predecessor but provided one exception that caused a great deal of interest. The song "Fairytale" written by Anita and Bonnie was a country song, and reached number 13 on the pop charts, and number 37 on the country charts, subsequently the group was invited to Nashville, Tennessee where they achieved the rare distinction of becoming the first black female singers to perform at the Grand Ole Opry.Their third album, and arguably best, was released in 1975. Steppin' produced their Grammy-nominated number one R&B single, "How Long (Betcha Got a Chick on the Side)", which was later sampled by female rap icons Salt 'N' Pepa a decade later. They also scored another R&B hit from the album with "Going Down Slowly", a further Allen Toussaint cover, and in 1976 appeared in the classic blaxploitation film Car Wash.Their last album as a quartet was the Jazz/Funk album Having a Party, released in 1977. The group fell apart, Bonnie went solo the remaining three came back together a year later to start off the second and highly succesful phase of their career with a Springsteen cover, Fire.
This 1974 offering presents the multi-faceted talents of the Pointer Sisters in a live setting with a full orchestra under the direction of the ladies concertmaster and keyboardist Tom Salisbury. They were the very first pop act given permission to do their proverbial thang at the San Francisco Opera House, which they did on April 21, 1974. While the entire program provides an ample spotlight for the siblings' remarkable vocal prowess, the show commences with a lengthy (seven-plus-minute) instrumental "Overture: Prelude to Islandia." Once they hit the stage the real action begins, led off by a suitably hypersonic reading of Dizzy Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts." The extended ensemble adds a further dynamic quality to the hot-steppin' bop revival. Hearing the vocalists pull off the performance with such aplomb is a treat for those familiar with the Sisters' similarly blistering take fromthe Sisters' mercurial delivery is a fast and furious ride and the quartet certainly seem to be having a good time bringing it to life. The moody "Black Coffee" is a highlight, as the emotive torch ballad is given a scintillating workout that easily outshines the studio version. The latter half of Live at the Opera House (1974) is notably grittier with a rousing cover of Willie Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle" that simmers into a churnin' hunk of burnin' blues.Saving the best for last, the Allen Toussaint classic "Yes We Can Can" is a funk free-for-all that prominently features the Sisters' usual quartet of Tom Salisbury (piano/organ/clavinet), Gaylord Birch (drums/percussion), John Neumann (bass) and Chris Michie (guitar). The jam linking to "Love in Them There Hills" climaxes with the Sisters wailing into a faultless a cappella ending. Live at the Opera House is by all accounts and measures an essential entry from the Pointer Sisters in their prime.
01 - Overture (Prelude To Islandia) (7:24)
02 - Walk-on (1:01)
03 - Salt Peanuts (4:17)
04 - Shaky Flat Blues (5:09)
05 - Fairytale (4:18)
06 - Cloudburst (2:42)
07 - Jada (5:38)
08 - Black Coffee (5:43)
09 - Let It Be Me (4:16)
10 - Hands Up / Wang Dang Doodle (5:15)
11 - Old Songs (Medley) (That's A Plenty / Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen) (6:44)
12 - Steam Heat (3:55)
13 - Yes We Can Can (5:57)
14 - Love In Them There Hills (9:27)
diet version
Pointer Sisters - Live At The Opera House (74, 71:46 * 99mb)
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The Staple Singers - Be What You Are (74 ^ 99mb)
The Staples' story goes all the way back to 1915 when patriarch Roebuck Staples entered the world. Roebuck quickly became adept as a solo blues guitarist, entertaining at local dances and picnics. He moved to Chicago in 41 and a decade later Pops Staples (as he had become known) presented two of his daughters, Cleotha and Mavis, and his one son, Pervis, in front of a church audience, and the Staple Singers were born. The Staples recorded in an older, slightly archaic, deeply Southern spiritual style , Pops and Mavis Staples shared lead vocal chores, with most records underpinned by Pops' heavily reverbed Mississippi cotton-patch guitar.
In 1968 the Staples signed with Memphis-based Stax. The first two albums, Soul Folk in Action and We'll Get Over, were produced by Steve Cropper and backed by Booker T. & the MG's. The Staples were now singing entirely contemporary "message" songs. In 1970 Pervis Staples left and was replaced by sister Yvonne Staples. Even more significantly, Al Bell took over production chores, and things got decidedly funky. Starting with "Heavy Makes You Happy (Sha-Na-Boom Boom)" and "I'll Take You There," the Staples counted 12 chart hits at Stax. When Stax encountered financial problems, Curtis Mayfield signed the Staples to his Curtom label and produced a number one hit in "Let's Do It Again." The Staples went on to continued chart success, albeit less spectacularly, with Warner, through 1979. One more album followed on 20th Century Fox in 1981. After a three-year hiatus, they signed a two-album deal with Private I and hit the R&B charts five more times, once with an unlikely cover of Talking Heads' "Slippery People (club)" Pops passed away on December 19, 2000, shortly after suffering a concussion due to a fall in his home
01 - Be What You Are (4:58)
02 - If You're Ready (Come Go With Me) (4:24)
03 - Love Comes In All Colors (4:37)
04 - Tellin' Lies (4:06)
05 - Touch A Hand, Make A Friend (3:45)
06 - Drown Yourself (4:34)
07 - I Ain't Raisin' No Sand (6:29)
08 - Grandma's Hands (2:39)
09 - Bridges Instead Of Walls (4:00)
10 - I'm On Your Side (3:53)
11 - That's What Friends Are For (4:05)
12 - Heaven (3:32)
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Ann Peebles - If This Is Heaven + The Handwriting Is On The Wall ( 77/79 * 97mb)
Ann Peebles (born April 27, 1947, in St. Louis, Missouri) is an internationally acclaimed singer and songwriter best known for her popular Memphis soul albums of the 1970s on the Hi Records label.
Peebles was discovered as a talent by Gene "Bowlegs" Miller of Hi Records during a 1968 trip to sit in singing with him at a Memphis, Tennessee, nightclub. A popular local bandleader, Miller was known for also helping other musicians, such as members of the Hi Rhythm Section, get their starts in the Memphis music industry. He brought her to Hi house producer Willie Mitchell for a tryout. Mitchell, immediately offered Peebles a contract; she was still shy of her 21st birthday.
Mitchell teamed Peebles with singer and house songwriter Don Bryant, seeking a bit more seasoning in her R&B phrasing. Peebles and Bryant soon began writing together, and would also end up dating in 1972 and married in 1974. 1973's I Can't Stand the Rain, which many critics still regard as her finest work. "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" was a decent-sized hit, and the brilliant title cut -- written by Peebles, Bryant, and disc jockey Bernard Miller -- became her biggest hit, peaking at number six R&B and famously becoming a favorite of John Lennon. Peebles released a number of commercially successful and critically well received albums produced by Willie Mitchell on Hi Records throughout the 1970s, until the rise of disco music in the late 1970s took her music out of the limelight.
By 1977, straight-ahead Southern soul had stopped selling in big numbers and disco had taken over the R&B market, and like many of her peers, soul diva Ann Peebles tried to make the best of matters by turning up the groove quotient on her album of that year, If This Is Heaven. Peebles, one of the best and most underrated soul songbirds of the 1970s, had already demonstrated she could work wonders with a dance-friendly track on her previous set, 1975's Tellin' It, and If This Is Heaven's first two cuts, "A Good Day for Lovin'" and the title number, find her and producer Willie Mitchell leaning toward disco while still leaving a taste of their classic-style Memphis groove in the mix, Peebles still sings her tales of love both good and bad with the passion, force, and clarity that made her a legend.
If This Is Heaven, Ann Peebles' 1977 attempt to merge her Southern soul influences with the disco grooves that were dominating the airwaves and the charts, proved to be a commercial disappointment, for her next album, Peebles and longtime producer Willie Mitchell took a grand step backwards. Released in 1979, The Handwriting Is on the Wall boasted some high-powered funk backdrops, but for the most part the album finds Peebles taking on a set of straight-ahead soul numbers in which she was usually either taking a man away from some woman who didn't know how to hold on to him, or was warning the ladies why they should stay away from her significant other. Willie Mitchell pairs Peebles up with some full-bodied soul and funk arrangements for these songs, and while unfortunately most of the great Hi Rhythm Section were unavailable for this record, the players on board do fine work, even if the groove lacks the ineffable touch of Peebles' finest work. The Handwriting Is on the Wall was Ann Peebles' last album for Hi, and the last new set she would release until 1988, but it captures one of the great R&B singers of the 1970s doing what she does best, and here she bows out on a high point.
Ann Peebles - If This Is Heaven (77 ^ 70mb)
01- If This Is Heaven (3:07)
02 - A Good Day For Lovin' (2:49)
03 - I'm So Thankful (4:01)
04 - Being Here With You (2:31)
05 - Boy I Gotta Have You (2:44)
06 - When I'm In Your Arms (3:03)
07 - You Gonna Make Me Cry (4:36)
08 - Games (2:59)
09 - Lovin' You Without Love (2:59)
10 - It Must Be Love (2:50)
Ann Peebles - The Handwriting Is On The Wall (79 ^ 74mb)
11 - Old Man With Young Ideas (3:06)
12 - Bip Bam Thank You Mam (3:09)
13 - The Handwriting Is On The Wall (3:16)
14 - I Didn't Take Your Man (3:59)
15 - You've Got The Papers (I've Got The Man) (2:49)
16 - Lookin' For A Lovin' (3:00)
17 - You're What I Need (But More Than I Can Stand) (2:59)
18 - Livin' In, Livin' Out (2:48)
19 - If I Can't See You (4:00)
20 - Let Your Love Light Shine (3:46)
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