Betty Harris - Soul Perfection (2024 Remastered) (1969/2024)

Soul singer Betty Harris – mainly known for her Jubilee and Sansu recordings – was born in 1939 in Orlando, Florida. As a teenager she worked as a mate for Big Maybelle who encouraged her to start singing. First recording was released in 1962, her major hit was a cover of Solomon Burke’s “Cry To Me” in 1963. Taken at a slower pace, Harris’ rendition turned the song into a Billboard Hot 100 number 23 hit and soon became a deep soul classic. A total of three further singles including a reissue of “Cry to Me” were released on Jubilee with “His Kiss”, which was released on January 4, 1964, another deep soul ballad, reaching the lower part of the Billboard Pop and R&B charts. In 1964, Betty Harris switched record labels to Sansu, a New Orleans label, where she was produced by Allen Toussaint. Her recordings with Sansu produced ten singles and Toussaint raw yet sophisticated Southern soul arrangements behind Harris’ rich, distinctive vocal, are considered prime specimens of the classic soul era. Soul Perfection, originally licensed on UK label Action in 1969 , was in fact a collection of her previous works on Sansu, a rare groove affair rapidly in demand between a crowd of obsessive fans all over the world. Harris retired from performing in 1970 to raise a family and made an occasional return in 2007 with the album Intuition.

Subtitled "complete Jubilee, Sansu, SSS International masters, 1963-1969," this is a thorough retrospective of the minor but quality soul singer's 1960s work. The Jubilee sides, all from 1963 and 1964, are decent New York pop-soul, several of them written by top NYC songwriter-producer Bert Berns, and most of them produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. "Cry to Me" (also done by Solomon Burke, and covered by the Rolling Stones) was the only hit from this batch, but if you like the style you'll like what's here; "His Kiss," for instance, sounds a lot like the songs Burke was doing at the same time. From 1965 to 1969 Harris recorded under the direction of the great New Orleans producer and songwriter Allen Toussaint, who wrote every last one of the 20 Harris sides on this disc that were cut during the collaboration. The presence of an ace producer-songwriter is often what's needed to make a good, but not great, vocalist like Harris into something special. While the Toussaint material here is satisfying New Orleans soul, it didn't get Harris over the hump commercially (although "Nearer to You" was an R&B hit), or endure as top-line classic soul. The tracks certainly cover a lot of territory, from the good commercial pop-soul of "What a Sad Feeling" and arching soul balladry of "Can't Last Much Longer" to numbers whose arrangements recall the New Orleans bounce of Lee Dorsey (who duets with Harris on a couple of songs). Some of the later tracks move into the kind of funk associated with the Meters, not a surprise as musicians from the Meters are supposed to have supplied the rhythm section for at least some of these sides.

Soul Perfection Review by Richie Unterberger

Tracklist
01. Ride Your Pony (2024 Remastered) 3:11
02. What a Sad Feeling (2024 Remastered) 2:21
03. I'm Evil Tonight (2024 Remastered) 2:23
04. I Don't Want to Hear It (2024 Remastered) 2:07
05. Sometime (2024 Remastered) 2:36
06. What Did I Do Wrong (2024 Remastered) 2:50
07. Nearer to You (2024 Remastered) 2:55
08. 12 Red Roses (2024 Remastered) 2:32
09. Bad Luck (2024 Remastered) 2:33
10. Can't Last Much Longer (2024 Remastered) 2:40
11. Hook Line 'n' Sinker (2024 Remastered) 2:42
12. Mean Man (2024 Remastered) 2:41
13. I'm Gonna Git Ya (2024 Remastered) 2:20
14. Show It (2024 Remastered) 3:02
15. Lonely Hearts (2024 Remastered) 2:56
16. Trouble With My Lover (2024 Remastered) 2:49