Queen of Soul is right! Heck, on these early albums, Etta practically invented soul – or at least invented a deep soul style of singing that would be taken up by countless other female singers during the 60s, but rarely matched with this kind of brilliance. Straight up beautiful stuff! The arrangements are uncredited, but we think they're probably by Riley Hampton – who did so much of Etta's other wonderful work in the early 60s. The recordings for sure took place at points between '62 and '64, mostly in Chicago, with couple in New York and one in Nashville. One other thing that is crystal clear about the sessions is that she had access to the very best musicians and the best sound possible – all you need is a listen to know that! The album's an all-solid, all-soul record with loads of obscure tunes and not a bit of filler! Titles include "Flight 101", "Bobby Is His Name", "Breaking Point", "Mello Fellow", "Do Right", and "Somewhere Out There". This first ever proper CD release is loaded with excellent bonus material – recordings from the same early-to-mid 60s period – 13 of them "You Got Me Where You Want Me", "Only Time Will Tell", "Pushover". "You Can't Talk To A Fool", "Would It Make Any Difference To You", "Pay Back", "Tomorrow Night", "I Can't Hold It Any More" and more. 23 tracks in all! CD

An amazing collection of work from Jackie Ross – a singer who was arguably the greatest female soul artist in Chicago during the 60s! Jackie's got a really wonderful approach – sweet on top, but with a hard punch below – very much at the best level of some of Motown's heavyweights of the same period – but not nearly as well-known! That aspect makes this set a really fresh discovery – not just Jackie's few hits, but lots of other rare album and single material too – including a few unreleased tracks that really round out the collection wonderfully. And as you'd guess from Ace/Kent, the packaging and presentation is wonderful – not just crystal-clear quality to the recordings, but really rich notes and images that make the whole thing sparkle way more than any previous collection of Ross' work for Chess. Titles include "Everything But Love", "Selfish One", "Misty", "Wasting Time", "You Really Know How To Hurt A Girl", "Honey Dear", "My Square", "Stick To One", "Dynamite Lovin", "Take Me For A Little While", "I Dig His Style", "Trust In Me", "It's Going All The Way", "Jerk & Twine", "I've Got The Skill", and "Haste Makes Waste". CD

Sublime female sounds from the 60s – mostly soul, but a bit of rock too – all handled by landmark Cali producer Gary S Paxton! Paxton was a great talent at the time – not only for finding new aritsts, but also bringing them into their best light – coaching young solo singers and girl groups on some of their first trips into professional recording studios in some cases, so that the performances are remarkably assured and strong – girlish or naive-sounding only when the theme of the song calls for it, and more often surprisingly powerful for the early 60s period! As usual with Ace Records, the sound and the package are wonderful – crystal-clear remastering, and notes that show the whole underground world in which Paxton was a key! Includes "Just A Little Bit More" by The Idols, "Losing Control", "It's A Lonely World" and "A Tear" by Mary Saxton, "Keep A Hold On Him" and "Operator Operator" by Beatrice Lee, "I Won't Be Hurt Anymore" by Josephine Sunday, "Reap What You Sow" by Linda Mackey, "Why Mist I Cry" by The Idols, "Yosemite Sam" by Judy & The Jades, "It Kinda Picks Me Up" by Tanya Marie and more. 24 tracks in all. CD