AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Esther Phillips

 Artist:Esther Phillips

Song:Set Me Free

Album:The Country Side of Esther Phillips/Set Me Free

Esther Mae Jones was born Dec. 23, 1935 in Galveston, TX. She was known as Little Esther when she recorded and toured with Johnny Otis in the 50s. She started calling herself Esther Phillips after she left Otis. She got the name from a gas station sign. She recorded for Federal in the late 50s with little success and she was also in and out of rehab for drug addiction. She was spotted by Kenny Rogers who signed her to Lenox Records which was owned by his brother. After Esther's 1962 cover of Release Me was a top ten hit, Lenox closed and Esther signed with the much larger Atlantic label. Of course the happy ending would have Esther as a big star. But it just didn't happen for Esther at Atlantic. They had her record all kinds of songs in different styles and none of it seemed to catch on. Plus Esther was still in and out of rehab with her drug addiction. Set Me Free is from her 1970 album Set Me Free. Atlantic released it as a single but the album wasn't released until 1986. I would describe it as country soul. It was written by veteran country songwriter Curly Putnam. Clarence Carter also recorded the song and Charlie Rich had a hit with it in 1968. Set Me Free was Esther's final album on Atlantic. Collectables has released Set Me Free on a twofer CD with the 1966 album The Country Side of Esther Phillips. It shows how versatile Esther was as she could sing any kind of music in any style. Soon after she signed with CTI's Kudu label and score the biggest hit of her career with the 1975 disco cover of What A Difference A Day Makes. I will look at that song some other time but her Atlantic recordings are worth checking out. Here's a video of Set Me Free by Esther Phillips.