Yes We Can Can: The Best of the Blue Thumb Recordings

Pointer Sisters | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 15, 1997)
• Original Release Date: July 15, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hip-O Records
• ASIN: B000005KPD
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,233 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

This is the first domestic compilation of recordings that put the Pointer Sisters on the charts. Included are \Yes We Can Can

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best you can do -- original releases have been deleted, April 25, 2000

By 

Tyler Smith (Denver, CO United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Yes We Can Can: The Best of the Blue Thumb Recordings (Audio CD)

It's incredible to me that the Pointer Sisters' first three releases, from which these cuts primarily are drawn, are no longer available. This CD does an admirable job of cherry-picking key selections. Still, key cuts from the great first album, such as "Sugar" are missing, as are the title cut from the second album "That's a Plenty" and the powerful "Grinning in Your Face."

The four sisters could flat out sing, any style, with tremendous imagination and flair. This collection shows off their versatility.

There's the funk of "Yes We Can Can," the rockin' blues of Willie Dixon's "Wang Dang Doodle" (one of the greatest party tunes of all time, and the women simply wail it), the jazz harmonies and phrasings of "Salt Peanuts," the show tune flair of "Steam Heat," and for good measure a straight-ahead country tune, "Fairy Tale," which dispels any notion that African-American women from Oakland can't get on down to the honkytonk bars.

In my opinion, despite some commercial success in the '80s, the Pointer Sisters never got the credit they deserved, but they may have been a victim of their own versatility. After all, the music industry loves to pigeonhole, and the sisters simply resisted classification. How many groups can you name who could sing Springsteen and Ellington with equal ease?

If you're really hooked on the pinpoint harmonies and rich humor that these ladies delivered, a search for the self-titled first album (1973), in particular, is advised.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Early Pointer Sisters, December 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Yes We Can Can: The Best of the Blue Thumb Recordings (Audio CD)

I like this collection a lot: lots of jazzy-flavored type songs that will make you smile. I like "Jada" and "Black Coffee", very nice songs. Although they are best known for later hits like "Slow Hand" and the hits from the album "Break Out", this is a welcome edition for another side of the Pointer Sisters that some may not have thought existed.

If you purchased the 2-CD collection of hits "Fire: The Very Best Of The Pointer Sisters", then you may have noticed that only 4 of the 14 songs from this album are on that collection. Thus, the best of the Blue Thumb is NOT a supplement but an essential buy even for the casual fan.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This CD smokes!, December 24, 2000

By 

Ricardo X (North Chicago, Illinois USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Yes We Can Can: The Best of the Blue Thumb Recordings (Audio CD)

The early Pointer Sisters recordings are phenominal. The Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross influence is unmistakeable. Backing up the babes is an astonishing array of studio masters. Gaylord Birch (drums), Tom Salisbury (piano), and Ron McClure (basses) just cook their butts off. Willie Fulton's guitar and the amazing Hoodoo Rhythm Devils give the essential swamp voodoo groove behind the vocalists. They really don't make 'em like this anymore. Turn it up!