40 Year Itch: A Binder Full of Women

We just realized we didn't have enough great music here from the women of 1972 so we went to a number of women's groups and said: ‘Can you help us find folks,’ and they brought us whole binders full of women.

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Some women sing soft. Others sing hard. And then there are those who can do both. Though best known for the softer 1973 Top 40 hit "I Can't Stand The Rain", Ann Peebles could sing up a storm. Her 1972 Hi Records album Straight From The Heart is full of gritty vocals over smooth Willie Mitchell production. "Slipped, Tripped And Fell In Love" only made it to #42 on the R and B charts but the album scored an A- for its "pre-ideological feminist rage" from the dean of rock critics, Robert Christgau.

 

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In October of 1972 Rita Coolidge released her third album,  the laid-back and charming This Lady's Not For Sale. The following year she married Kris Kristofferson who wrote the title track.In a move far more progressive than you'd ever expect,  Rita streams all of her albums on her website.

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Nicknamed "the female preacher", Lyn Collins was part of the James Brown revue in 1972. The Godfather of Soul produced her album Think ( About It) with the JB's playing back up. The album features the oft sampled hit title track. We dig a little deeper for "Wheels of Life".

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Feel Good is gaining momentum as a cult fave but I found listening to the whole thing in one sitting a little tiresome. Tina sings in her full blown funky style all the way through. That's All. The. Way. Through. Check out "The Chopper"

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The "Queen of Swedish Hammond Folk Groove" (at least that's the title of one of her albums), Merit Hemmingson interprets old Swedish folk tunes by scatting them over jazzy arrangements featuring -what else?-a Hammond organ.