By James Calemine
Born during 1947, in West Memphis, Arkansas, Shirley Brown’s first single–“Woman To Woman”–sold a million copies in eight weeks. The Concord Music Group reissued this classic soul album with bonus tracks.
Brown sang in the church as a child. At 14, her luminous voice caught the attention of bluesman Albert King. In time, Brown signed with Stax Records. The band on this 1974 album include Al Jackson (drums), Bobby Manuel (guitar), Duck Dunn (bass), Marvel Thompson (piano), Lester Snell (organ) and The Memphis Horns.
Three of the songs on the original album–“It Ain’t No Fun”, “I Can’t Give You Up” and “Between You And Me”–were written by Frederick Knight. The title track was written by James Banks, Eddie Marion and Henderson Thigpen. “Woman To Woman” preserves the timeless communication between two women fighting for one man. It’s no accident Shirley Brown’s tunes inspired many female music lovers.
Jerry Ragovoy’s “Stay With Me Baby” remains a classic between wounded lovers. This reissue contains five previously unreleased Brown songs written by Carolyn Franklin, Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, which only verify the power and range of Brown’s voice. In the original album liner notes, Deanie Parker wrote something that still holds true decades later:
“Shirley Brown is fresh evidence that the fertile musical fields of the South have once again given bloom to a sensational singer.“