Search - Clydie King :: Imperial & Minit Years

Imperial & Minit Years
Clydie King
Imperial & Minit Years
Genres: Pop, R&B
 
Texan born singer Clydie King is better known as a backing singer, having worked for many of the great names, including Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Ray Charles (she was in fact a Rae-lett), Joe Cocker, Frank Sinatra, De...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Clydie King
Title: Imperial & Minit Years
Members Wishing: 3
Total Copies: 0
Label: EMI
Release Date: 11/5/2007
Album Type: Import
Genres: Pop, R&B
Style: Oldies
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaCD Credits: 1
UPCs: 5099950958122, 5099950958153

Synopsis

Album Description
Texan born singer Clydie King is better known as a backing singer, having worked for many of the great names, including Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Ray Charles (she was in fact a Rae-lett), Joe Cocker, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Crosby, Stills & Nash and many others. She was one of the most in demand backing vocalists during her decades of singing; yet she only released one album of her own. Her career began when she was still a teenage, fronting the band Little Clydie and the Teens. She then recorded a series of singles for various labels, including RPM, Minit, Imperial, Specialty, Phillips and Lizard. In 1966 she became one of the original Rae-Letts backing Ray Charles and later dueting with him on his album Love Country Style released in 1970. King sang on The Supremes song Nathan Jones as well as the Dylan project Dylan's Gospel. Around the same time her band the Blackberries signed to Motown where they recorded an album which was never released - King was too busy recording for other labels to find time to promote the release. Her next band was called Brown Sugar and in 1973 King had her first and only chart hit with Loneliness (Will Bring Us Together Again). This album features all of the singles released through Imperial and Minit Records between 1964 and 1968 in chronological order. The album includes the two duets she recorded with the equally under rated Jimmy Holiday; Ready Willing and Able is an up-tempo funky number reminiscent of the girl group sounds of the time. In addition there are 8 bonus tracks, recorded during the Minit and Imperial years which have never before been released on any format.
 

CD Reviews

First Class 60's Sweet Soul (But Only Three In Stereo)
oxxo | san francisco | 06/06/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)

"Of all the recent collections of lost R&B soulstresses (and I have most of them), this is one of my favorites. This set comprises all seven of Clydie's singles (A & B sides) released between 1965 & 1968 for Imperial & Minit, plus eight unreleased tracks from 1968. My Five Star rating is for the performances, not the mastering.



Track Listing:



1. The Thrill Is Gone

2. If You Were My Man

3. Missin' My Baby

4. My Love Grows Deeper

5. He Always Comes Back To Me

6. Soft And Gentle Ways

7. Ready, Willing & Able (with Jimmy Holiday) [Stereo]

8. We Got A Good Thing Going (with Jimmy Holiday)

9. One Of Those Good For Crying Over You Days [Stereo]

10. My Mistakes Of Yesterday [Stereo]

11. I'll Never Stop Loving You

12. Shing-A-Ling

13. One Part, Two Part

14. Love Now, Pay Later

15. Good Kind Of Hurt

16. I'm Glad I'm A Woman

17. If You Love Me Like You Say

18. Ode To Billie Joe

19. Something To Remember You By

20. The Way I Love My Man

21. When In Rome

22. You Can't Make Me Love You



Clydie King's voice is comparable to that of Barbara Lewis (Hello Stranger), and at times, Diana Ross. In fact, three tracks on this CD--"My Love Grows Deeper", "He Always Comes Back To Me" & "I'll Never Stop Loving You"--are as good as anything the Supremes were doing at the time. It's amazing that Clydie never really had a chart hit, especially with the Wall Of Sound-A-Likes "The Thrill Is Gone", "Missin' My Baby" & "My Love Grows Deeper", all penned by Jerry Riopelle.



The last eight tracks are unreleased songs recorded in 1968, and are more of a Muscle Shoals sound (except the oddly out-of-place "When In Rome", which is more of a pop arrangement.)



This CD is from the UK Stateside label, which unfortunately doesn't take the same care with mastering as rival Ace/Kent. As I noted in the track listing, only three tracks are stereo masters, which is disappointing. For example, the two duets with Jimmy Holiday; "Ready, Willing & Able" is a crisp stereo mix, while "We Got A Good Thing Going"--recorded at the same time--is a muddy mono version. The only track that might have been mastered from vinyl is the stellar "My Love Grows Deeper", which is so distorted that its almost painful to listen to.



Regardless, the music rates an easy Five Stars.



Two of these tracks are available on the Ace/Kent compilations "Phil's Spectre - A Wall Of Soundalikes"; "Missin' My Baby" is on Volume One, "Thrill Is Gone" is on Volume Two."