A landmark album from Freda Payne! Freda had been knocking around a bit as a more jazz-oriented singer, and had cut one album for Impulse and one for MGM before this one – but when she hooked up with the hitmaking Holland-Dozier-Holland team for this record, her career really went over the top! The team take Payne's deep soulful voice away from the sophisticated pop of earlier years, and hook it up with a mix of fuzzy Detroit soul and sweeter southern styles. The album includes loads of great cuts – most notably the sublime crossover hit "Band of Gold", but also plenty of other lesser-known gems, like "The Easiest Way to Fall", "Unhooked Generation", "Deeper and Deeper", and "This Girl Is a Woman Now". Her best by far! CD

The tremendous debut of the great Millie Jackson – a new standard-setting deep soul record for the 70s, and one that's quite different than some of Jackson's work from later years! The record's got a heartbreaking southern female soul approach – similar to work by underground favorites like Ann Sexton, Doris Duke, or Shirley Brown – and even though the arrangements are done north of the Mason/Dixon line (in New York by Bert DeCoteaux, and in DC by Tony Camillo), the record feels like it was lifted off the pressing plant in Muscle Shoals or Jackson! Titles include "I Ain't Giving Up", "I Miss You Baby", "Ask Me What You Want", "My Man, A Sweet Man", "I Just Can't Stand It", and "Strange Things". CD version features a whopping 11 bonus tracks – many of which were never issued before – and titles include the MGM numbers "My Heart Took A Licking" and "A Little Bit Of Something", plus "Ask Me What You Want (unedited master)", "Untrue Men", "I Don't Wanna Talk About It", "Strange Things (alt mix)", "My Man A Sweet Man (unedited master)", and "You're The Joy Of My Life (alt take)". CD