Best of the Hi Records Years

Ann Peebles | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 23, 1996)
• Original Release Date: July 23, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: The Right Stuff
• ASIN: B000002UFO
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #114,777 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Walk Away

2. Give Me Some Credit

3. Part Time Love

4. I Pity the Fool

5. I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down

6. I'll Get Along

7. Slipped, Tripped and Fell in Love

8. I Can't Stand the Rain

9. (I Feel Like) Breaking up Somebody's Home

10. Somebody's on Your Case

11. (You Keep Me) Hangin' On

12. A Love Vibration

13. 99 Pounds

14. Do I Need You

15. Come to Mama

16. Dr. Love Power

17. Beware

18. Fill This World With Love

19. Old Man With Young Ideas

20. If This Is Heaven

See all 21 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Rise and Fall of Ann Peebles, July 15, 2000

By 

Sasha "lampic" (at sea...sailing somewhere) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Best of the Hi Records Years (Audio CD)

Althought largely forgotten now,"I Cant Stand the Rain" singer Ann Peebles was once one of the most promising souls singers.Throught 70-ies she sparkled via excellent song choice - not gifted vocally as Aretha,but nevertheless convincing singer,she had luck to be backed by producer Willie Mitchell who provided famed Hi-sound around her (her male counterpart being Al Green).Listener also have to notice her adult lyrics,songs are all recorded through 70-ies but lyrics are fresh as always.As this single CD overwiew shows,she started strongly (several songs here are real killers) but unfortunatelly once when she hit big with "I Can't Stand the Rain",it was obvious that production team wanted to follow the formula and her succes eventually vaned,later part of CD shows why - you can't repeat same sound,hoping to find hit again.Ann Peebles didnt change,her voice stayed expressive as always,but songs became sound-alike.Excellent liner notes by author David Nathan ("Soulful Divas") follow her rise but he is very tactfull in explaining why she dissapeared from the top ("Ann's hit-making power seemed to diminish") - in truth,Peebles didnt change her style and her songs started to sound too similar.This is very good CD and it has everything you need to own from Ann Peebles,one of Soul's music legends who were later overshadowed by better-selling names.Althought she started to sound repetative eventually,she didnt sell out and this CD is surprisingly often in my player.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ann Peebles is the best, February 9, 2003

By 

Gary Morris (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best of the Hi Records Years (Audio CD)

I was lucky enough to see Peebles when she toured in the mid-'90s (in San Francisco) and have to say, though I missed the incredible background singers (those *white* Chalmers-Rhodes-Chalmers girls) and Willie Mitchell's crackling arrangements, she was still in great form.
Simply one of the most underrated soul singers of her era, and her style is well showcased in this sampling from her glory days with Mitchell's Hi Records. Peebles is not a flashy singer with unbelievable chops like Aretha or Mavis Staples, but she has a grit and an absolute authority that puts her in their class. It's impossible not to believe every word she says. A MUST for fans of classic soul. It didn't hurt that she was associated with one of the great soul producers in Mitchell, whose best arrangements ("I Can't Stand the Rain," e.g.) are unique in the genre.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If You've Ever Heard Christina Aguilera Sing "At Last", June 5, 2006

By 

R. Mix "Funkingroovin" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Best of the Hi Records Years (Audio CD)

...and wondered if 'understated' was still a word, 'The Best of Ann Peebles: The Hi Records Years' is for you. It's guaranteed to restore equilibrium to your musical universe.

Loved by r&b fans and rock musicians alike (Bob Seger covered "Come To Mama", and Graham Parker did likewise with "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down"), Ann Peebles is a master of simmering restraint. What her sublime delivery is able to convey is a thing of beauty--even without the yelping so many female singers think is 'emoting' in these, the days of Patti Labelle, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera and their 'American Idol' clones.

Her signing with Hi Records was an act of celestial confluence, her unadorned delivery a perfect fit for the Hi Records house band's lean, spare chops. "Part Time Love", "I Can't Stand the Rain", "A Love Vibration" and "Come To Mama" are bare-bones, propulsive funk, the sister to recordings by Al Green and Syl Johnson.

There's nothing fancy about the music here, or the broad, flat flood plains of west Tennessee from which it sprang. But like the deceptively relaxed current of the Mississippi, this music will grab you and won't let go.

Take the plunge.