Peggy Scott & Jo Jo Benson - The Complete SSS International Recordings (2000) Shout-RPM (FLAC 465MB)

Only 3 albums and 20 45,s recorded but what an impact this duo made in the soul world!..like sam & Dave they were full of dynamic energy in their shows and recordings and the northern Scene took them immediatley to their hearts !... They were both born in Alabama,Peggy (maiden name Peggy Stoutemire) in 1948 & Passed in 2023 & Jo Jo (real name Joseph M. Hewell) in 1938 & passed in 2014. This CD captures both of their storming LP,s namely `Soulshake` & `Lovers Heaven` released in the USA on legendary label SSS Int..i still have both of these albums issued here in the UK on Polydor though now very well worn so the CD was a god send!...The former Peggy Scott born in Opp City, who toured with Ben E. King as a teenager and hit the Top 40 three times as a duet act with Jo Jo Benson in the 1960s, came back strong in the late ’90s after decades of inactivity with “Bill,” a wildly popular contemporary blues song about a woman whose man had been fooling around, with another man. Scott had been out of the music business since the late ’60s, working as a lounge singer in Pensacola until she moved to California and married a Compton city commissioner in 1988. Persuaded to return to the studio by songwriter/producer & good friend Jimmy Lewis, Scott-Adams (her married name) recorded `Help Yourself` in mid-1996. One of Lewis’ songs was a novelty track which twisted the common complaint of a wife keeping her man faithful. Released as a single initially just to blues radio stations, it also began getting airplay at urban radio and soon gained most-requested status at several larger stations. Help Yourself began selling well, prompting the release of Contagious later in 1997, and Undisputed Queen in 1999. Scott-Adams continued to belt out bawdy and topical contemporary blues in the 2000’s with Live in Alabama & More (2000), Hot & Sassy (2001) and Busting Loose (2003). In 2004, she balanced her hot-blooded topical repertoire with a gospel album, God Can, And He Will.As a solo artists she recorded 10 albums..........Hailing from Phenix City, Alabama, Jo Jo Benson began singing in church as a child and, by the age of 14, was sneaking into clubs to sing on-stage with local bands. Although he toured with Chuck Willis and met such acclaimed artists as B.B. King and Smokey Robinson, it was a recording from 1968, “Lover’s Holiday” (a duet with Peggy Scott), that resulted in Benson’s first hit single, eventually going gold. The duo would release two more hit singles over the next few years: “Pickin’ Wild Mountain Berries” and “Soulshake.” The pair went their separate ways in 1971, but would eventually briefly reunite in the mid-’80s for a now-forgotten reunion album. Little was heard from Benson until 1999, when he laid down a few traditional soul tracks in a Birmingham ALA studio, resulting in the release ` Reminiscing in the Jam Zone` the same year. The album (which was praised as “among the finest soul albums of the year — indeed, of the decade” by the Living Blues publication) combined acappella songs with full-band arrangements with horns to a stark piano/vocal setting, and even included a duet with Scott, “Dark End of the Street.” 2001 saw the release of Benson’s follow-up, `Everybody Loves to Cha Cha Cha`.Most soul fans know this great duo and their infectious tunes will live on with us anyway!..This is how soul used to be sang by these legends, its some album not to be missed guys!...FANTASTIC!

AMM

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