Shirley Brown - Diva Of Soul (1995) Malaco - Dome Expanded - Rare Soul (FLAC)

I,ve posted the Dome version of the album over the Malaco CD as it contains extra tracks. Shirley was born on in 1947, in West Memphis, Arkansas. In 1956 her family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and soon after that across the river to Madison, Illinois, a small town with a population only about 4,500. It was located five miles north of East St. Louis. Albert King, a premier blues guitarist and singer, was born Albert Nelson in Mississippi in 1923 (passed away in Memphis in 1992), but since the mid-50s he had been residing in the St. Louis area and worked there alongside Ike Turner and Little Milton, among others. In 1966 he moved to Memphis and signed with Stax, cut numerous albums for them and stayed with them till the demise of the company in the mid-70s. Shirley hooked up with Albert in the early 60s, and this is what she told Denise Hall (for the # 2/75 issue of UK Black Music Magazine) "When I was about fourteen, I would play hookey from school to rehearse with Albert's band… Prior to that, the only singing I had done was in church." Albert became Shirley's manager, and she worked not only with Albert's band, but also with such names as Little Milton and Johnnie Taylor. After nine years with Albert, in the early 70s Shirley switched from the Albert King Revue to Oliver Sain's Revue. Oliver was born in 1932 in Mississippi (passed away in St. Louis in 2003) and after working in many cities he finally settled down in the St. Louis region in 1959. A producer and a recognized saxophone player, he was also known for discovering new talent, such as Fontella Bass, Bobby McClure, Ann Peebles and Barbara Carr. Oliver scored biggest hits under his own name on Abet around mid-70s with such numbers as "Bus Stop" and "Party Hearty"....with King’s assistance Brown signed with Stax Records in 1974. Her initial single for the company, "Woman to Woman", was a hit. Written by James Banks, Eddie Marion and Henderson Thigpen, the song spent two weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart, reached No. 22 on the Hot 100 and sold over a million copies. Her full-length debut album, also titled "Woman to Woman", was likewise successful, charting at No. 11 on R&B Albums and No. 98 on the Billboard 200. Woman to Woman would also prove to be Stax’s last hit single, and the company folded in 1975. After releasing three albums on various labels, Brown signed with Malaco Records in 1989. Produced by Brown, Jim Stewart and Winston Stewart, "Fire & Ice" appeared later that year and reached No. 66 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart. Brown’s passionate duet with Bobby Womack on Brenda Lee Eager and Billy Osborne’s "Ain’t Nothin’ Like the Lovin" We Got also charted, rising to No. 46 on Hot R&B Singles. Other standout tracks include the yearning "Take Me to Your Heart", co-written by Brown with Winston Stewart, the rousing Homer Banks / Lester Snell ballad "Sowed to the Wind" and George Jackson’s stirring "I Wonder Where the Love Has Gone". "Timeless" followed in 1991, peaking at No. 63 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart. Jim Stewart was executive producer, with Brown, Winston Stewart and Bobby Manuel contributing production as well. Brown, Homer Banks and Lester Snell collaborated on the soulful "Three Way Love Affair", and Brown turned out a tender performance on Brenda Lee Eager and Robert Bowles’ "Let’s Make Love Tonight". Brown’s next release for Malaco was "Joy & Pain" in 1993. Frederick Knight joined Brown, Winston Stewart and Bobby Manuel as an album producer, with Jim Stewart again serving as executive producer. Brown and Knight co-wrote the spirited title track, and Knight also penned "Hearts Are Made to Be Loved" and "It’s a Pleasure Easin’ Your Pain". Brown composed "A Two-Way Thang", an answer song to "Three Way Love Affair", with Earl Randle and John Ward, and the poignant "It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To" with Winston Stewart. The backing musicians include the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and guitarist Will McFarlane, and Harrison Calloway contributed horn arrangements. Brown’s 1995 record "Diva of Soul" brought her back to the charts, reaching No. 67 on Billboard’s R&B Albums. Brown and Manuel co-produced the release and shared writing credits on "Good Loving Man" and "You Ain’t Woman Enough to Take My Man". The latter also proved popular and rose to No. 80 on the Hot R&B Singles chart. Full of fine ballads, including Brown’s own "Sprung on His Love", Living Blues critic Peter R. Aschoff asserted that Brown’s admirers would “find Diva of Soul to be one of the finest Southern soul/blues outings in recent memory.” Released in 1997, "The Soul of a Woman" features production from Brown, Manuel, Richard Cason, Tommy Couch and Wolf Stephenson. The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section again provided support, as did Will McFarlane and Lester Snell. "Why You Want to Love Me Like That", by Brown and Manuel, is masterful and funky, and their Female Player incorporates hip-hop elements into its slinky groove. Brown also wrote" Don’t Go Lookin’ for My Man" with Snell and Homer Banks and "You Left a Good Woman for a Good Time" with George Jackson. Cason penned four of the album’s tracks, including the anguished "Who Is Betty". Brown delivered Dottie Rambo’s "He Looked Beyond My Faults" with heartfelt fervor, and the Mississippi Mass Choir supplied the gospel song with soaring harmonies. Joined by several of the same studio personnel as her previous album, Brown’s 2000 release "Holding My Own" found her doing just that. Her own "sassy Sweet Lips2, "Big Hips" and Denise LaSalle’s regal "The Best Woman" are album highlights. Cason’s "How Close We Came" is heartbreakingly beautiful, and the Mississippi Mass Choir buoyed Brown a second time on Frederick Knight’s uplifting "Through the Storm". "Woman Enough" arrived in 2004, and Brown, Cason, Couch, Snell and Stephenson produced the release. Keyboardist Vick Allen was among the backing players, which included Brown session veterans such as David Hood and Clayton Ivey. The earthy "Poon Tang Man", composed by Brown and Snell, was a hit on southern soul radio, as were Frederick Knight’s "I’ve Got to Sleep with One Eye Open" and "Too Much Candy".
Brown’s last album for Malaco was "Unleashed" in 2009. Allen contributed production to the release alongside Brown, Cason, Knight and Stephenson. The blistering "(You Promised Me Heaven, But) You Gave Me Hell" by Larry Chambers, Raymond Moore and John Ward, is the apex of the set. “Brown is in typically awesome voice throughout,” declared Living Blues critic Lee Hildebrand, “her radiant mezzo pipes soaring with melismatic majesty.”..As you can gather i am a massive fan of her work that spawned 16 albums and 40 odd 45.s...to me she is a soul LEGEND!..Raw unapologetic Soul!

AMM 

                                                                          The Taster!

                                                                    Tracks Below (FLAC)