Song:Dirty Man
Album:Love More Than Pride
Laura Lee is best known for the 1971 hit Women's Love Rights and her other recordings for Holland-Dozier-Holland's Hot Wax label. But before that Laura recorded for Chess. And though those recordings aren't as well known, songs like Dirty Man are soul classics. She was born Laura Lee Newton Mar. 9, 1945 in Chicago but she grew up in Detroit. Her mother Ernestine Rundless was a member of the gospel group The Meditation Singers led by Della Reese. Laura replaced Della in 1956. She started performing secular music in local clubs while still touring with The Meditation Singers. After a 1965 single for Ed Wingate's Ric-Tic label, Laura signed with Chess. They decided to send her to Muscle Shoals to record at FAME Studios with producer Rick Hall. Dirty Man was the first single and it reached #13 on the R&B Singles chart. The song was written by Chess staff songwriter Bobby Miller. Though some of her other singles charted, Laura left Chess in 1969. And after a couple of singles on Atlantic's Cotillion label, she had her greatest success on Hot Wax in the early 70s. That success led to Chess releasing an album of Laura's singles in 1972 called More Love Than Pride. This album is available on CD as a Japanese import. Dirty Man is incorrectly listed as Dirty Old Man. Laura left Hot Wax for Ariola in 1975. After several years of illness, Laura became an ordained minister. She occasionally records gospel but she mostly runs her church. Her Chess recordings are worth a listen. Here's a video of Dirty Man by Laura Lee.
No comments:
Post a Comment