Music

I fight this heritage, but you can only escape so far. Now I don’t exactly look for bargains. I seek value. Like, in music, a CD full of greatest hits that isn’t a greatest hits compilation.

 

“I Can't Stand the Rain,” the 1973 release by Ann Peebles, is like that. Look below. Six videos. From a single record. Each a classic. (Listen. You’ll be stunned.) And there could be more than six here --- from start to finish, this is an exceptional collection of songs.

 

 

I thought that when I first heard this music, all those years ago. My view is unchanged. It will never change. And while the fact that Ann Peebles remains pretty much unknown may be sad for her, it means that anyone who owns and enjoys this CD is part of a very sharp cult. [To buy the CD from Amazon, click here.]

 

 

Who is Ann Peebles?

 

How simple is this: “the female Al Green.” She was signed by Hi Records (of Memphis ) shortly before Green. The great Willie Mitchell, who would supervise all of Green's hits, was her producer. And he used the same band that would back Green.

 

 

You can understand why Mitchell signed the tiny --- "99 pounds of natural born goodness, 99 pounds of soul" --- 20-year-old singer from St. Louis. She had what is, for soul music, a classical background. Her father was a minister, her mother was a singer; from early childhood, Peebles sang in her father's church choir, as well as with the Peebles Choir, a family-centered gospel group founded by her grandfather. And then, in her teens, she performed on the St. Louis club circuit; she knew early how to overlay the passion of gospel onto songs of love and loss.

 

 

You've heard many of these ten songs; they get covered a lot, especially the title track, “I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down” and “One Way Street.” But the songs you've never heard are just as strong --- there's not a weak cut on the CD.

 

 

Amazon is currently selling this CD for $11.99 --- it’s cheaper to buy the CD than download each song (which you can’t). You have nothing to lose…and an instant favorite to gain. Do not tarry.