This 1976 Kudu date under Esther Phillips' name is notable for two major reasons, and both of them are Joe Beck.
While Creed Taylor produced the date, all of the sets arrangements were done by Beck, who wove an entire band's sound around the smoking, soulful grooves of his guitar.
His playing is the other reason this set is so memorable: Beck is at his most inspired and fluidly funky; he is present everywhere in the mix but nonetheless crafts the strengths of the ensemble around Phillips' unusual voice.
Other players include the Brecker Brothers, Don Grolnick, Fred Wesley, Will Lee, Bobby Lyle, Steve Khan, and many others.
The band winds around Phillips, setting her up as "Soul Sister Number One," hitting the funky grooves and elongating her clipped trademark delivery.
Highlights include the title track -- one of the greatest disco tunes never played in a disco -- her up-tempo rave-up of "Unforgettable," with killer breaks by Beck and Michael Brecker, the dirtiest, funkiest version ever of Jackie DeShannon's "Pure Natural Love," and a Latin-tinged read of "Goin' Out of My Head.".
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UnforgettableIrving Gordon | Esther Phillips | Play | 03:41 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | For All We KnowJ. Fred Coots, Sam M. Lewis | Esther Phillips | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Pure Natural LoveJackie DeShannon | Esther Phillips | Play | 05:21 | 12 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Fools Rush InRube Bloom, Johnny Mercer | Esther Phillips | Play | 04:27 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Going Out Of My HeadT. Randazzo, Teddy Randazzo, Bob Weinstein | Esther Phillips | Play | 07:52 | 18 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | FeverE. Cooley, Eddie Cooley, J. Davenport, John Davenport | Esther Phillips | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | CaravanDuke Ellington, Irving Mills, Juan Tizol | Esther Phillips | Play | 05:43 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 34 mins | 78 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patti Austin | Vocal Arrangement, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 2 | Seymour Barab | Cello |
| 3 | Joe Beck | Arranger, Conductor, Guitar, Soloist |
| 4 | Rube Bloom | Composer |
| 5 | Peggy Blue | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 6 | Michael Brecker | Sax (Tenor), Soloist |
| 7 | Randy Brecker | Trumpet |
| 8 | Carl Carldwell | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | Robin Clark | Vocals |
| 10 | Harold Coletta | Viola |
| 11 | E. Cooley | Composer |
| 12 | Eddie Cooley | Composer |
| 13 | J. Fred Coots | Composer |
| 14 | Ronnie Cuber | Sax (Baritone) |
| 15 | J. Davenport | Composer |
| 16 | John Davenport | Composer |
| 17 | Jackie DeShannon | Composer |
| 18 | Arnaldo DeSouteiro | Digital Mastering, Liner Notes, Reissue Supervisor |
| 19 | George Devens | Congas, Percussion |
| 20 | Max Ellen | Violin |
| 21 | Duke Ellington | Composer |
| 22 | Paul Gershman | Violin |
| 23 | Harry Glyckman | Violin |
| 24 | Irving Gordon | Composer |
| 25 | Emanuel Green | Violin |
| 26 | Don Grolnick | Piano, Piano (Electric) |
| 27 | Hilda Harris | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 28 | Theodore Israel | Viola |
| 29 | Steve Khan | Guitar (Electric), Guitar (Rhythm) |
| 30 | Gary King | Bass, Bass (Electric) |
| 31 | Harold Kohon | Violin |
| 32 | Will Lee | Bass, Bass (Electric) |
| 33 | Sam M. Lewis | Composer |
| 34 | Bobby Lyle | Piano (Electric) |
| 35 | Ralph MacDonald | Congas, Percussion |
| 36 | Nicky Marrero | Percussion, Timbales |
| 37 | Charles McCracken | Cello |
| 38 | Johnny Mercer | Composer |
| 39 | Irving Mills | Composer |
| 40 | Susumu Morikawa | Reissue Producer |
| 41 | David Nadien | Violin |
| 42 | Andy Newmark | Drums |
| 43 | Chris Parker | Drums |
| 44 | Leon Pendarvis | Piano (Electric) |
| 45 | Esther Phillips | Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 46 | John Pintavalle | Violin |
| 47 | Max Polikoff | Violin |
| 48 | T. Randazzo | Composer |
| 49 | Teddy Randazzo | Composer |
| 50 | Barry Rogers | Trombone |
| 51 | Rene Schumacher | Design |
| 52 | Alan Shulman | Cello |
| 53 | Anthony Sophos | Cello |
| 54 | Maeretha Stewart | Vocals (Background) |
| 55 | Maretha Stewart | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 56 | Creed Taylor | Producer |
| 57 | Tasha Thomas | Vocal Arrangement, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 58 | Juan Tizol | Composer |
| 59 | Rudy Van Gelder | Engineer |
| 60 | Frank Vicari | Sax (Tenor) |
| 61 | Bruce Weber | Photography |
| 62 | Bob Weinstein | Composer |
| 63 | Fred Wesley | Trombone |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |