Ann Peebles This Is Ann Peebles LP

A diminutive singer with a powerful voice and an even stronger attitude, Ann Peebles was one of the artists who defined Willie Mitchell's legendary Memphis soul label Hi Records, along with Al Green and, later, O.V. Wright. Easily the best female singer in the Hi stable, Peebles ranked among the finest deep Southern soul singers of the decade, notching an instant classic with her 1973 hit "I Can't Stand The Rain". She co-wrote a generous share of her own material with husband Don Bryant, and while she cut plenty of love and heartbreak tunes, her persona was built on the grit and resilient strength she displayed on songs like "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down." Peebles wasn't always as appreciated on the charts as her work often merited, especially among pop listeners, but her best recordings hold up among the best of their era.

Peebles was born April 27, 1947, in East St. Louis, Missouri. Her father was a minister and her mother a singer, and naturally Peebles began singing at a young age in her father's church choir. She also sang with the family group, the Peebles Choir, which had been touring the gospel circuit since Peebles' grandfather founded it a generation earlier. As a teenager, she sang secular music on the St. Louis club circuit, supported and accompanied by her father. There she met blues bandleader Oliver Sain, a local legend, and eventually joined his revue. Peebles caught her big break in 1968 on a trip to Memphis, where she asked to sit in on a club set by trumpeter Gene "Bowlegs" Miller. Miller was already signed to Hi Records at the time, and duly impressed with Peebles' voice, he brought her to Hi house producer Willie Mitchell for a tryout. Mitchell, who was still in the process of shifting the label from country to R&B (and had not yet discovered Al Green), immediately offered Peebles a contract; she was still shy of her 21st birthday.

Mitchell teamed Peebles with singer and house songwriter Don Bryant, seeking a bit more seasoning in her R&B phrasing. Peebles and Bryant soon began writing together (and would also end up dating). In the meantime, Peebles recorded her debut single, "Walk Away", a song written by Sain that just missed the Top 20 on the R&B chart in 1969. The follow-up, "Give Me Some Credit", was also a minor hit. Both songs were featured on the singer's debut album, This Is Ann Peebles.

Ann Peebles was all of 22 years old when she cut her debut album for the great Memphis R&B label Hi Records, but she sure didn't sound like a novice once she stepped into the studio. This Is Ann Peebles is the work of a strong and confident artist who sounds thoroughly assured even when she's covering Aretha Franklin, and though Peebles doesn't quite take 'Chain of Fools' away from the Queen of Soul, she gives it a taut but weary reading that lends that tale of romantic betrayal a flavor unique to Peebles' rendition. That's not the only instantly recognizable cover Peebles was saddled with on her first LP, but she sounds even more assured on 'It's Your Thing' and 'Rescue Me,' and on fresh material like 'Crazy About You Baby,' 'Make Me Yours,' and 'Give Me Some Credit,' her clear but resonant voice and emphatic readings establish her as a seasoned professional right out of the box. It doesn't hurt that Peebles was working with some of the best talent in Memphis on these sessions; the Hi Records rhythm section lays down a lean and indelible groove on every selection, the Memphis Horns punctuate the melodies with gale-force soul, and producer Willie Mitchell brings it all home with subtle but fiery results. It would be 1974 before Ann Peebles finally got the breakthrough hit she deserved with 'I Can't Stand the Rain,' but This Is Ann Peebles should convince anyone with a taste for classic rhythm & blues that she had the goods long before the rest of the world caught up with her.