Ann PEEBLES - I Can't Stand The Rain 1974

Ann PEEBLES - I Can't Stand The Rain 1974
SHU8468

Blues

This wonderful album, originally released in 1974 on the Memphis-based Hi Records label, deserved a wider audience than it ended up getting at the time. It played to Ann Peebles' great strength, her poised and sultry voice, and surrounded by the sparse, easy funkiness of the trademark Hi rhythm section and producer Willie Mitchell's perfect use of horns and strings, she sings like a resilient but disappointed angel on this impressive set of songs about the darker side of love. Her best song is here, the eccentric but brilliant "I Can't Stand the Rain," along with a marvelous version of Joe Simon's "(You Keep Me) Hangin' On," and perfect readings of a pair of Earl Randle songs, "If We Can't Trust Each Other" and "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down." Peebles sings her heart out, and with those somehow bright-sounding Hi grooves behind her, it all comes together to make a classic album of dark, bouncy, and beautiful Southern soul.
By Steve Leggett, All Music Guide.
**
Easily our favorite album ever by Ann Peebles -- not just for the beathead title track, but also because it seems to be the one record where she brings a bit something extra to the studio! The sound is certainly in the classic Hi Records mode here -- thanks to production by Willie Mitchell -- but there's also a deeper groove overall, a stronger burning bottom, and an all-soul sound to most tracks that goes way beyond simple cliches of southern soul. Ann's vocals are tremendous throughout -- sometimes sweet, sometimes mean -- and titles include the sublime "I Can't Stand The Rain", plus "Run Run Run", "One Way Street", "You Keep Me Hangin On", and "If We Can't Trust Each Other".
From Dusty Groove.
**
I can't stand the rain 'gainst my window
Bringing back sweet memories
Ican't stand the rain 'gainst my window
'Cause he's not here with me
Hey window pain do you remember
How sweet it used to be
When we were together
Everything was so grand, yes it was
Now that we've parted
There's one sound that I just can't stand...
Alone with the pillow
Where his head used to lay, yeah
I know you've got some sweet memories
But like a window you ain't got nothin' to say
I can't stand the rain 'gainst my window
Bringing back sweet memories, hey
I can't stand the rain, ooh
'Gainst my window, oh no no
'Cause he's not here with me, uh
Alone with the pillow uh uh
Where his head used to lay, yeah
I know you've got some sweet memories
But like a window you ain't got nothin' to say, hey hey
Uh, uh, I can't stand the rain...
(I can't I can't I can't can't stand the rain)...
Baby, uh, uh, uh, hey hey
Ooh, ooh, uh, uh, hey
Don't you know, 't you think...
No no ooh oooohh hey hey hey hey hey, no
Dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum
Oohh !... Get off my window...
(I can't I can't I can't can't stand the rain)...
Get off my window now, get off my window
Get off my window nah, I can't stand the rain
I can't stand the rain, ooh, can't stand the rain, oh
**
Ann Peebles- Vocals
Archie Turner- Piano, Keyboards, Organ
Chalmers & Rhodes- Vocals (Background)
Memphis Sanctified Singers- Horn Section
James J. Mitchell- Baritone Sax
Howard Grimes- Drums
Jack Hale- Trombone
Charles Hodges- Organ, Piano,
Leroy Hodges- Bass
Mabon "Teenie" Hodges- Guitar
Wayne Jackson- Trumpet
Ed Logan- Tenor Sax
Andrew Love- Tenor Sax
**
A1. I Can't Stand The Rain 2:29
A2. Do I Need You? 2:32
A3. Until You Came Into My Life 3:10
A4. (You Keep Me) Hangin' On 2:39
A5. Run, Run, Run 2:34
B1. If We Can't Trust Each Other 2:50
B2. A Love Vibration 2:45
B3. You Got To Feed The Fire 2:20
B4. I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down 2:44
B5. One Way Street 2:51
**

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Ann PEEBLES – Straight From The Heart 1971

Ann PEEBLES – Straight From The Heart 1971
SHL 32065

Blues

Ann Peebles sings straight from the heart on this classic early set for Hi Records -- a record that's to female vocals what Al Green's work of the time meant to male soul! As with Green's Hi Records of the time, Willie Mitchell is firmly in charge of production and backings -- working with that warmly glowing Memphis soul style that carved whole new territory in soul music for the 70s -- a maturing and mellowing of earlier southern modes, in a way that helps Peebles hit some fresh and uncliched sounds with her vocals. At a time when so many other singers were trying to copy Aretha, Ann's approach is mighty fresh -- as you'll hear on tracks that include "I Take What I Want", "Slipped Tripped & Fell In Love", "What You Laid On Me", "Trouble Heartaches & Sadness", "99 Pounds", "I've Been There Before", and "Somebody's On Your Case".
From Dusty Groove.
**
A lean, tough set that was not only a triumph for Peebles, but illustrated how the Hi label had surpassed its crosstown Stax rival for quality Memphis soul in the early '70s. The guitars are spare, funky, and bluesy, the horn section punchy, and the material far earthier and down-home than the increasingly formulaic grooves at Stax. There were three modest R&B hits on the album ("Slipped, Tripped and Fell in Love," "I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home," "Somebody's on Your Case"), much of which was penned by Peebles or her husband Don Bryant. Peebles' vocals were convincingly biting, and she never, unlike many other singers of the era, tried too hard for her own good. The main flaw of the record is its length (26 minutes), which was short even by early-'70s standards.
By Richie Unterberger. AMG.
**
I was blessed with a copy of this from Paul Taylor, who had worked on some graphic design for a Syl Johnson album. The album features the same Hodges Bros./Hi-Rhythm Section that was behind Al Green, various other Hi-Records recording artists, and even recently the indie act, Cat Power. Ann Peebles voice, while complemeted immensely by the Hodges Bros. tight and thick 70's funk/soul soundings, offers up an album as strong as any Al Green album released around the same period. Definitely a missing "must have" among the many exhaustive lists of "must haves," "Straight From the Heart" reveals the power of an awesome rhythm section when pushed and challenged by an accomplished singer. While this album is relatively short by today's album standards, it satisfies none the less.
By Brandon Buckner.
**
James Mitchell- Bass, Bass (Vocal)
Ann Peebles- Vocals
Charles Rhodes- Vocals (Background)
Sandra Chalmers- Vocals (Background)
Howard Grimes- Drums
Jack Hale- Trombone
Charles Hodges- Organ, Piano
Leroy Hodges- Bass
Mabon "Teenie" Hodges- Guitar
Wayne Jackson- Trumpet
Ed Logan- Sax (Tenor), Tenor (Vocal)
Andrew Love- Sax (Tenor), Tenor (Vocal)
**
A1. Slipped, Tripped, Fell In Love 2:25 
A2. Trouble, Heartaches & Sadness 2:37 
A3. What You Laid On Me 2:22 
A4. How Strong Is A Woman 2:57 
A5. Somebody's On Your Case 2:22 
B1. Breaking Up Somebody's Home 2:28 
B2. I've Been There Before 3:06 
B3. I Pity The Fool 2:53 
B4. 99 Pounds 2:15 
B5. I Take What I Want 2:30
**
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