IRMA THOMAS: Sweet Soul Queen of New Orleans: The Irma Thomas Collection

The title of SWEET SOUL QUEEN OF NEW ORLEANS pretty much says it all. Irma Thomas was the first lady of R&B in the Crescent City throughout the 1960s. With a voice that rang out clear and strong and was full of feeling, she cranked out a long stream of soul classics for the Minit and Imperial labels during that decade, tunes that became benchmarks for a generation of rockers as well as R&B artists. It's surely her majestic delivery of "Time Is On My Side," for instance, that moved the Rolling Stones to record the song.

Backed by Allen Toussaint and a host of other top-flight New Orleans session men, Thomas spins out accounts of romantic triumph and travail with equal aplomb. From the yearning, devotional ballad "Ruler of My Heart," with its plaintive cry for love, to the triumph over heartbreak detailed in "I Done Got Over It," Thomas brings a commitment to her material that is as uncompromising as it is entrancing, and it's all captured on this definitive collection.

Tracks 1-5, 15, 20-22 are monaural. Tracks 6-14, 16-19, 23 are in stereo.

Personnel includes: Irma Thomas (vocals); Roy Montrell (guitar); Red Tyler, Nat Perrilliat (tenor saxophone); Allen Toussaint (piano); Chuck Badie (bass); John Boudreaux (drums).

Tracks:

1. Cry On
2. I Done Got Over It
3. It's Raining
4. Hittin' on Nothing
5. Ruler of My Heart
6. Wish Someone Would Care
7. Break-a-Way
8. I Need Your Love So Bad
9. While the City Sleeps
10. Time Is on My Side
11. Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)
12. Moments to Remember
13. Straight From the Heart
14. Take a Look
15. It's a Man's Woman's World (Pt. 1)
16. Long After the Night Is All Over
17. Times Have Changed
18. He's My Guy
19. What Are You Trying to Do
20. Nobody Wants to Hear Nobody's Troubles
21. Hurt's All Gone, The
22. I'm Gonna Cry 'Til My Tears Run Dry
23. It's Starting to Get to Me Now

Details
.. Year: 1995
.. Label: Razor & Tie Music
.. Country: USA
.. Bitrate: 192 kbps
.. Home-Page: www.irmathomas.com/
.. MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/irmathomasfanpage
.. Last.fm: www.last.fm/music/Irma Thomas
.. Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irma_Thomas
.. BUY ME 1: CD Universe http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=1114051&cart=784503161
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