I've been playing the first disc of The Dells Anthology (Hip-O Records) since I got the news, and it's a wake up call: Mr. Junior never really got his due. Perhaps that's because the Dells alternated lead singing between bass vocalist Chuck Barksdale, the high tenor/falsetto of Johnny Carter and Junior. Perhaps it's because another great Chicago soul group, the Impressions, managed to reach a larger audience than the Dells. But
ultimately, it really has to do with soul music not receiving the appreciation it should, unless your name happens to be Aretha or Otis.
Junior had the ability to keep the interest level high even on long, slow songs (the second version of "Stay In My Corner" that the Dells waxed); he also turned what seemed like a mismatched medley of "I Can Sing a Rainbow" and "Love Is Blue" into a gem of dramatic tension. And the Dells did something else with doo wop, which was deemed unhip by the mid-'60s: They found the similarities it had with smooth soul, and they worked it--"The Glory of Love," propelled by Marvin Junior's monologue and his powerful singing, is proof. He will be missed greatly.
No problem knowing about the Dells, because my ears were absolutely glued to the radio growing up. By 1974, when Shirley Brown's "Woman to Woman" hit, I was in college and a lot more was going on--namely, life. I remember that song had a lot of talking in it, because Brown is addressing "the other woman." There's little that stuck with me concerning her singing.
Well, what a shock to hear the 2011 reissue of Woman to Woman (Stax/Concord). For some unearthly reason, Shirley Brown never became a star; there is no justice. Pardon me for previously having my head in the sand, but can this woman sing! Backed the Stax session pros (including the late Al Jackson, Jr. on drums), she takes Lorraine Ellison's "Stay With Me Baby" (no "Baby" in the original title) and turns it into a straightforward, accomplished statement, a far cry from everyone who tries to outdo Ellison's already melodramatic version. In the same way that vocalists want to prove they can conquer "O Holy Night" when it's the holiday season, that's how "Stay With Me" usually works, but not in Shirley Brown's case. Once again, less is more.
If the original Woman to Woman album is superb, four-star soul, two of the album's bonus tracks are astonishing. Brown's version of "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" is done as a slow, steamy groove before kicking into Stevie Wonder's familiar arrangement. And if you haven't heard what she does with Aretha Franklin's "Rock Steady," it's an aural omission you really don't want to make. Just as transcendent as the best known version, Brown matches Aretha for pure vocal power--this version knocked me on my butt because it's all about discovery. "I like this kind of thing!," exclaims the singer, almost as if she didn't know herself. Even before the brief homage to Sly & the Family Stone as the track is boiling, Brown gets into the groove so deeply that when she yells, "TO THE BRIDGE!!!," the effect is electrifying.
Woman to Woman and Shirley Brown are hardly new, but this is my soul music discovery of the year. Highly recommended.