The Best of Esther Phillips (1962-1970) (1997)

About this title: Although former child R&B star Esther Phillips really hit her mature peak in the '60s, commercially she had a hard time finding a niche. "Release Me," her uptown R&B version of a country song, made the pop Top Ten in 1962. But she only dented the charts occasionally over the course of the next decade, despite recording frequently in a number of styles, usually (but not always) for Atlantic. This two-CD, 40-song set is an excellent distillation of work that isn't well known even by R&B devotees, drawing from about half a dozen albums and numerous singles, mostly from Atlantic, but also ... read more

Tracks:

1. Release Me [McCall/Miller/Pebwo]
2. Am I That Easy to Forget? [Belew/Singleton/Ste]
3. I've Forgotten More Than You'll Ever Know About Him [Null]
4. No Headstone on My Grave [Rich]
5. Hello Walls [Nelson]
6. Mojo Hannah [Williams/Paul/Paul]
7. I Saw Me [Davis]
8. Double Crossing Blues [Otis]
9. It's Too Soon to Know [Chessler]
10. Out of the Blue [Nemo/Jason]
11. Makin' Whoopee [Donaldson/Kahn]
12. Shangri-La [Maxwell/Malneck/Sig]
13. 'Tis Autumn [Nemo]
14. Moonglow/Theme from "Picnic" [Allen/DeLange/Dunin]
15. And I Love Him [Lennon/McCartney]
16. Some Things You Never Get Used To [McCoy]
17. Let Me Know When It's Over [Weinstein/Randazzo]
18. I Could Have Told You So [VanHeusen/Sigman]
19. The Party's Over [Comden/Green/Styne]
20. As Tears Go By [Jagger/Richards/Old]
21. Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye [Porter]
22. Crazy He Calls Me [Russell/Sigman]
23. When a Woman Loves a Man [Lewis/Wright]
24. Try Me
25. When Love Comes to the Human Race [Bailey/Nothern]
26. I'm Sorry [Albritton/Self]
27. Please Send Me Someone to Love [Mayfield]
28. Cry Me a River Blues [Traditional]
29. I'm Getting 'Long Alright [Sharp/Singleton]
30. It Could Happen to You [Burke/VanHeusen]
31. Set Me Free [Putman]
32. Brand New Day [Morrison]
33. Crazy Love [Morrison]
34. All God Has Is Us [Crawford/Martin]
35. Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry [Dexter]
36. I'm in the Mood for Love (Moody's Mood for Love) [Fields/McHugh]
37. Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You [Dylan]
38. Sweet Dreams [Gibson]
39. Nobody But You [Sims/Smith]
40. Too Much of a Man (To Be Tied Down) [Kingston]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.