Search - Irma Thomas :: Straight From the Soul

Protest Vote

Stephen Espinola | Brooklyn NY | 01/27/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"OK, there aren't really any bad tracks here....because Irma Thomas recorded very few duds between 1960 and 1966. So I _could_ give this CD 4 or 5 stars. But this collection is random and meaningless. It is missing "It's Raining", "I Done Got Over" and "Ruler of My Heart" so it can't be called a "best of". It's just simply _another_ Irma Thomas collection, baited with a few tracks that collectors might have had trouble finding when it came out.



This is my protest: Everything Irma Thomas recorded from 1960 through 1966 --on Ron, Minit, Bandy and Imperial/Liberty, including alt takes-- could fit on 2 CDs.* Yet, if you are a fan and collector and want to get all of those performances, you need to buy 7 CDs, many of which have only 1 or two unique songs. (even then, two alt takes have not been released on CD.) With the recent twofer release of her two Imperial albums, this particular collection is not even among those 7.



Let's have a definitive collection! Enough!











*If you were to include all the mono, vintage stereo, and 1992 stereo remixes, it might fill 5 CDs....but most of the mono mixes are unavailable right now, which is a pity.



PS, the 7 CDs you need to get for a nearly complete collection:



-Time is On My Side, (Kent)--In my opinion, the best overall intro

-Ruler Of Hearts (Charly)--Her complete Minit/Bandy singles (middling to poor sound, but great songs, and some alt mixes)

-Sweet Soul Queen, Irma Thomas Collection (Razor and Tie) vintage mixes, some rare B-sides

-Time is On My Side, Best of Vol 1 (EMI)--excellent 1992 remixes w/ rare tracks

-Wish Someone Would Care/Take a Look twofer (Collectibles/EMI)--her 2 Imperial albums on 1 CD, vintage mixes

-New Orleans Ladies (Rounder) contains her 4 sides for Ron records

-Wish Someone Would Care (EMI Japan)--contains the only appearance of the completely different (and superior) single version of "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)" and one super-rare B-side ("It's a Man's Woman's World pt. 2"), plus a few other nice mono mixes.



(There's also an alternate, inferior take of "Ruler of My Heart" which I've only heard on a vinyl Bandy LP called "Irma Thomas Sings". I don't know if it appears on the CD version.)"

Sixties R+B from New Orleans

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 07/07/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Written in 2004, the liner notes begin by extolling the virtues of the vibrant New Orleans music scene, with its infectious good-time spirit. Since then, New Orleans has become famous for an event that destroyed that spirit, but while we all hope that the city can eventually recover, we can at least enjoy the musical legacy, including the brilliant music recorded by Irma Thomas in the sixties, a selection of which is featured on this CD.



Irma Thomas grew up fast, having three children and two marriages while still in her teens. Through it all, she was determined to pursue a musical career and eventually became successful. The tracks here were recorded during a six-year period from 1961 to 1966, the three oldest tracks being recorded for the Minit label with the remainder being Imperial recordings. Irma continued her recording career into the new millennium, but these early recordings are particularly interesting.



Irma sometimes wrote or co-wrote her own material, including three songs here (Straight from the heart,, Wish someone would care, You don't miss your good thing until it's gone) but mostly relied on other songwriters to provide her with great songs. Allen Toussaint was foremost among them, though he credited his mother, Naomi Neville, instead of himself. Pick of Allen's songs among those included here may be Take a look, which opens this compilation.



Break-a-way (a Jackie DeShannon song) was one of Irma's B-sides, which Brits may recognize via Tracey Ullman's huge UK hit of the early eighties. Another of Irma's B-sides, Time is on my side, attracted the attention of the Rolling Stones, who recorded their own version, which gave them their first American hit but wasn't a UK hit for them. Irma also recorded a couple of Bacharach-David songs (Live again, Long after tonight is all over) that weren't released at the time, but might have been successful for Irma had they been released at the time. Irma was among the first singers to discover Randy Newman's song writing talents. Two of his songs (While the city sleeps, Baby don't look down are featured here.



Within the overall sixties R+B sound, there is plenty of variety here, proving that Irma could sing just about any type of song within the genre, from bouncy up-tempo songs to sad ballads and everything in between. One curiosity is the omission of Ruler of my heart, which the liner notes writer (who also apparently selected the tracks) suggests is one of her best known songs. Still, I'm happy with everything here so I have no hesitation in recommending this compilation."