Marie "Queenie" Lyons
is the sort of artist
soul
collectors salivate over -- she paid her dues on the Southern chitlin' circuit, shared stages with the likes of
King Curtis
,
Jackie Wilson
, and
James Brown
, scored a record deal with the
King Records
subsidiary
DeLuxe Records
, and after a few singles cut an album, 1970's
Soul Fever
, that sank without a trace. As far as anyone can tell,
Lyons
never made another record after
, making her obscure enough to please even the most finicky British
R&B
archivist, and as luck would have it
was also a gifted singer whose sole LP is a fine piece of work.
manages to show a very Southern variety of passion and fire along with a big city sense of showmanship and control, and her vocals reveal an impressive balance of sass and skill, knowing when to play it subtle and when to open up and wail.
was well served in the studio on these sessions; the production and arrangements are solidly soulful but imaginative, with just the right amount of sweetening from string and horn arrangements that don't undercut the steady groove of the rhythm section. And while
didn't write her own material, she and her handlers knew how to pick songs that fit her talents, and from the lean
funk
of
"See and Don't See"
to the
gospel
-influenced Black Power anthem
"I Want My Freedom"
and the polished heartache of
"We'll Cry Together,"
every song on this set fits her like a glove.
is a better than average
obscurity that will please fans of the golden age of
, but while this is a good album, it's not a great one, and more casual observers may want to give it a listen before they invest. ~ Mark Deming