Long overdue single disc compilation by this salty, sassy and soulful vocalist who recorded for the labels Hot Wax, Chess and Invictus in the early '70s. She may not have become a household name, but Soul and R&B colle... more »ctors have known about this 'best kept secret' for decades. 15 tracks including 'It Ain't What You Do (But How You Do It)', 'Dirty Man', 'It's All Wrong But It's All Right', 'Are You Doing Me Wrong', 'Need To Belong' and more. Universal. 2006.« less
Long overdue single disc compilation by this salty, sassy and soulful vocalist who recorded for the labels Hot Wax, Chess and Invictus in the early '70s. She may not have become a household name, but Soul and R&B collectors have known about this 'best kept secret' for decades. 15 tracks including 'It Ain't What You Do (But How You Do It)', 'Dirty Man', 'It's All Wrong But It's All Right', 'Are You Doing Me Wrong', 'Need To Belong' and more. Universal. 2006.
CD Reviews
Lady Laura Lee...The Best of the Chess Years
C. A. Moore | Memphis, TN USA | 07/08/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Laura Lee is a soul music legend. She's another soulful singer from Detroit - that city that havs given the world so many soulful and talented singers.
collects her best chess sides, recorded between 1966 and 1969. and many of them recorded in Muscle shoals, at Rick hall's fame Studios. should have put her in the same as Aretha franklin and Etta james, who were doinbg similar material
would come later with Hot wax?invictus where she sassy womens love rights, rip off.
Lee's voice is deep, gritty and full of gospel emotion..it comes from years of hard gospel singing and living. sang aduultrelatiobnships, no girlish, sonmgs about the pains and ddeep deep soul is hoiw now refer to it. Dirty Man, .
unlike lavette who is enjoying a resurrection, lee is still resides in detroit, but is proofm, she hansnt been forgotten and still deserves to be heard. dont miss this one."
Underated R&B, Blues, Soul singer
M. Halterman | Sacto, CA USA | 08/12/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Laura Lee, must admit I've never really heard of her. I checked her out after reading an article that someone had written about obscure female singers. Took a chance, after hearing her voice, and found that I liked her delivery and style on her songs. If I were to compare her, I find myself thinking of a female Otis Redding. She has that gravelly female voice, and a great sense of feel when singing her songs. Must recommend to anyone who's a R&B, Blues, or Soul Fan. There's 20 tracks on this set,and I felt 17 of them were good to excellent. Also, If you like a more mellow and tender voice, you should give Betty Swann a listen-- She has a softer style and also an excellent feel for her material."
Missing a track but essential nonetheless...
P. Denny | Los Angeles | 12/03/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Laura Lee should have been as big as Aretha in the late 60's, she was that good! Any fan of the Stax/Chess sound will love this collection.
Note: the digipak's track listing shows 21 songs but there are only 20; track 4 ("She Don't Love You") is not to be found. Not a reason to postpone buying this disc!"
Deep Soul
Phil S. | USA | 12/26/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Ever since I heard LL's "Separation Line" on a vinyl collection, I've been interested in her career. That gospel-tinged tune is quite unusual - a statement of intent, of reaching personal goals - in an era when the recurrent themes were still relationships, partying, etc.
This Chess collection continues that mature musical stance, with several forward-thinking statements, in a very interesting musical setting: Muscle Shoals, Alabama, just before Aretha's arrival. Yes, the quality production team was up and running and there's alot of that joyous atmosphere of experimentation realized....and instrumentation ionized.
It's not fair to compare Laura Lee's work with Aretha Franklin's from a few months later, though it is fair to say that in some ways Laura's efforts set the stage for the new Soul explosion. Interestingly enough, "Stop Giving Your Man Away", another philosophical statement (apparently a Laura Lee rewrite of a James Cleveland song - almost identicle to an *unreleased at the time* Little Richard song called "You Better Stop"!), was recorded in *Chicago* yet has that syncopated 2/4 beat, out of Alabama...and out of the ordinary for that time when the Motown 4/4 was still hitting. I can imagine Aretha slowing it down and adding the Franklin sisters...well, it would have worked. But so does Laura's track.
The flipside of the popular "Dirty Man", is another Cleveland rewrite "It's Mighty Hard", seasoned with deep sea salt, without a doubt.
Speaking again of Little Richard, there's another track which might catch the eye of his fans, called "It Ain't What You Do (But how you do it)". Richard had two similarly titled secondary opuses, but this one is all Laura Lee.
Muscle Shoals became home for Laura, Etta James, Sugar Pie De Santo, and others, though Etta and Aretha, of course, made the most commercial noise with its' sonic byproduct.
The sound on this CD is clean and deep, packaging terrific. Nice photos of a true Diva.
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1