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Fontella Bass (July 3, 1940 – December 26, 2012) was an American R&B soul singer best known for her 1965 hit, "Rescue Me".
Her interest turned from gospel to R&B when she was a teenager and she began her professional career at the Showboat Club in north St. Louis at age 17. She eventually auditioned for Chess Records and landed a recording contract, first as a duet artist. Her duet with Bobby McClure, "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing," reached No. 5 on the R&B charts and No. 33 on the Billboard Top 100 in 1965.
She co-wrote and later that year recorded "Rescue Me," reaching No. 1 on the R&B charts and No. 4 on the Billboard pop singles chart. Bass' powerful voice bore a striking resemblance to that of Aretha Franklin, who often is misidentified as the singer of that chart-topping hit.
She haggled over royalty rights to "Rescue Me" for years before reaching a settlement in the late 1980s, Mitchell said. She sued American Express over the use of "Rescue Me" in a commercial, settling for an undisclosed amount in 1993.
Rescue Me has been described as the best record Aretha Franklin never made. This is a somewhat backhanded compliment to Fontella Bass, whose insistent gospel-tinged vocals graced the 1965 single. As none of her other records emulated Rescue Me's commercial success.
If Fontella Bass' "Rescue Me" is the best soul single that Aretha Franklin never made, then Free is the lost classic that deserves space in any record collection. Reuniting Bass with producer Oliver Sain, who helmed her classic mid-'60s sides for Chess, Free draws on the singer's gospel roots to forge a deeply spiritual and moving examination of post-civil rights America. Cuts like "To Be Free," "Talking About Freedom," and "My God, My Freedom, My Home" showcase the remarkable power and poignancy of Bass' vocals, couched beautifully by Sain's nuanced, blues-inspired arrangements. This excellent, well-annotated reissue includes the original 1972 Free LP in its entirety along with four bonus tracks -- excellent stuff from a singer unjustly dismissed as a one-hit wonder.
Tracklist:
01. To Be Free (Bass/Sain) 3.59
02. Hold On This Time (Banks/Jackson/Davis, Jr.) 2.28
03. I Want Everyone To Know (Bryant) 3.05
04. I Need to Be Loved (Sain) 2.31
05. Talking About Freedom (Bowie) 3.23
06. I Need Love (Bass) 2.33
07. Wiping Tears (Bass) 2.24
08. Now That I've Found A Good Thing (Bass) 2.46
09. Who You Gonna Blame (Bass/Sain) 2.46
10. It Sure Is Good (Bass) 2.49
11. I'm Leaving The Choice To You (Bass) 3.06
12. Home Wrecker (Patterson) 3.32
13. It's Hard To Get Back In (Patterson) 2.54
14. My God, My Freedom, My Home (Dollison) 3.43
15. Rescue Me (new version) (Miner/Smith) 2.46
Media Info:
Bitrate: 256 kbps
Channels: stereo
Samplerate: 44100
Encoder: LAME 3.96
MPEG-1 layer 3
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