Lula Reed - I'll Drown In My Tears - The King Anthology 1952-55

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• Kunto Uusi
• Tyyppi CD
• Julkaisija Ace Records
• SKU 29667198424
• Artisti Lula Reed
• Lyhyt kuvaus The first ever legal CD anthology of Lula Reed, featuring every important recording by King's First Lady of Chicago R&B - including the original versions of 'Rock Love' and '(I'll) Drown In My Own Tears'. By Tony Rounce Ace has enjoyed its own 'special relationship' with the good people at King Records for many years now - and, earlier this year, several of my A&R colleagues and I had the pleasure of spending time at King's Nashville-based tape archive, reviewing and transferring masters for future Ace releases. You will have already seen (and, hopefully, enjoyed) the first 'end products' of our visit last month, in the shape of Rob Finnis' King Rock'n'Roll set and my own Complete King-Federal Platters + Linda Hayes package. This month we are delighted to add two more first class, King-derived releases to our catalogue, both of which draw further on the stockpile of masters we transferred back in May 2003. My colleague Peter Gibbon can be found elsewhere in this issue of RT, rightfully extolling the virtues of Ace's first multi-artist dip into the vast quantity of King doo wop recordings - an absolute must for every group collector's selection, in my opinion. And on behalf of my friend and co-compiler Billy Vera, I'd like to say how happy both of us are that we can finally welcome I'LL DROWN IN MY TEARS - the definitive anthology of Lula Reed's 50s King sides - to an Ace compact disc near you. Like many UK R&B/Soul fans I first encountered Lula - miscredited as 'Lulu' - in the mid 60s, when Pye International released her stellar Argo recording (and original version) of Anything To Say You're Mine on one of the many R&B compilations they put out during the period. I immediately wanted to hear more - and, as luck would have it, shortly thereafter found a copy of Ember's "Rhythm And Blues Blue Beat Style"" EP, which contained her Federal duet with Freddy King on It's Easy Child (so, apparently, did Birmingham's Moody Blues, who subsequently recorded the song and put it on the flip of their version of Go Now!) These were the only two Lula Reed records I knew and owned, then sometime at the end of the late 60s, a friend hipped me to the Sonny Thompson original of a Ray Charles classic I'd been crazy about for years. Once I heard Lula sing I'll Drown In My Tears I knew I had to have everything she'd ever cut. Decades later, it's still a privilege to be extolling its virtues, and to be instrumental in bringing it, plus 23 of Lula's other great King sides, to what is in every way an ace CD! For one who made a considerable number of recordings, which include at least two certified R&B milestones in the original takes of Drown In My Own Tears and (not included in our set, as it wasn't a King recording) Let Them Talk, Lula sadly remains an obscure artist. Of, it must be said, largely her own volition - like so many of her contemporaries she now leads the Christian life and has no wish to discuss her pre-God finding activities with the world. Thus we only have her recordings to judge her on. And what recordings they are, for the most part! It was very difficult to omit even one of her King recordings from the period covered by this CD, and it was only with extreme reluctance that Billy and I forced ourselves to select just what we felt were the best two dozen. We hope that Lula, if she ever gets to see and hear a copy, will feel that we've done her full justice with what we chose. "
• Julkaisuvuosi 2 003