Fontella Bass
Band members Related acts
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line-up 1 (1962-2012) - Fontella Bass -- vocals, keyboards
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- none known
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Genre: soul Rating: *** (3 stars) Title: The New Look Company: Checker Catalog: LPS-2997 Year: 1966 Country/State: St. Louis, Missouri Grade (cover/record): VG/+VG+ Comments: still in torn shrink wrap Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5648 Price: $30.00
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Born into a musical family (her mother Martha Bass was a member of The Clara Ward Singers), by the time she was five Fontella Bass was playing piano and organ. Until she was in her teens her only musical training was in gospel. That changed in the late 1950s when she began to sneak out of the house to play local nightclubs. In 1961 Little Milton's band leader Oliver Sain discovered her performing with the Leon Claxton Show and brought her to the attention of Milton. Milton quickly invited Bass to join his touring band. Accepting the offer as a keyboard player/backing singer, Bass spent the next couple of years touring the States and overseas. While Milton kept Bass in a supporting role, St. Louis radio station manager Bob Lyons heard her sing a couple of numbers at a show. Impressed, he gave her a chance to record a pair of obscure singles on his Bobbin label:
Given her secular background, the single 's always struck me as being surprisingly risque. Nice vocal and the anonymous lead guitar was awesome. Urban legend has it Ike Turner provided the solo. Shame it didn't gain some attention:
- 1962's 'Honey Bee' b/w 'Bad Boy' (Bobbin catalog number 140)
Her rollicking cover of Hank Snow's 'I Don't Hurt Anymore' unleashed some of her vocal power and ssimply crushed the country original and even out-shown Dinah Washington's cover.
- 1962's 'I Don't Hurt Anymore' b/w 'Brand New Love' (Bobbin catalog number 134)
Having served as Milton's longstanding bandleader, 1964 saw Oliver Sain split to pursue a solo career. He took Milton's supporting band, including Bass with him, performing as The Oliver Sain Review. Unlike Milton, Sain was more than happy to push Bass into the spotlight, offering her a chance to record a single for Ike Turner's small Prann Records.
- 1963's 'I Love the Man' b/w 'My Good Loving' (Prann catalog number 5005)
Written by Sain and featuring backing from The Oliver Sain Orchestra, the "A" side featured a stark, heartfelt ballad that again showcased the depth of Bass' voice. A little short on melody, the 45 was co-produced by Ike and Tina Turner. Turner continued his partnership with Bass, subsequently signing her to his Los Angeles-based Sonja label.
Another track written by Sain and produced by Ike and Tina, powered by a cool little guitar riff, 'Poor Little Fool' remained bluesy, but upped the melodic content. Bass finally seemed comfortable in the studio, as if she didn't have to try to impress anyone.
- 1964's 'Poor Little Fool' b/w 'This Would make Me Happy' (Sonja catalog number No. 2006)
- 1965's 'Don't Mess Up a Good Thing' b/w 'Jerk Loose' (Checker catalog number 1097)
Not sure when or where it was filmed, but YouTube has a grainy, black and white television lip-synching performance of the song at: Fontella Bass and Bobby McClure " Don't Mess with a Good Thing" 1965 (youtube.com) (For some reason, every time I hear the song I think of Gregg Allman and Cher's painful duet - Cher - Don't Mess Up A Good Thing (with Gregg Allman) (The Cher Show, 05/11/1975) (youtube.com).)
Mining the same musical and lyrical niches, a follow-up single showcased the pair's easy-going vocal tradeoffs. The melody might have actually been stronger than their debut. To be honest Bass' vocals actually blew McClure away this time around.
- 1965's 'You'll Miss Me (When I'm Gone)' b/w 'Don't Jump' (Checker catalog number 1111)
Later that year she was given the chance to record a Carl Smith and Reyner Miner composition entitled 'Rescue Me.' Released as a single, the track became a major pop and soul hit and for the next year Bass was in high demand with appearances on a variety of television programs - Ed Sullivan, Dick Clark's American Bandstand, etc. As was standard marketing practice, in an effort to cash in on her hit, Checkers rushed her into the studio to record a supporting LP. Overlooking the album cover which sported a photo of a modish looking Bass complete with boots and a large whip, 1966's "The 'New' Look" came as a major surprise to my ears. Anyone expecting a collection of 'Rescue Me' styled up-tempo soul was bound to find the set mildly disappointing. While Bass had a wonderful voice, most of the album surrounded her with pedestrian MOR material. No matter how good her performances, there simply wasn't any way to overcome the limitations imposed by conventional material such as 'Our Day Will Come', 'How Glad I Am' and yet another cover of 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'.' That wasn't to imply the set wasn't worth hearing. In addition to the classic title track, Goffin-King's 'Oh No, Not My Baby', 'I'm a Woman' and the Gospel-flavored 'The Soul of the Man' were all top notch. It was just unfortunate Bass wasn't allowed to record a more contemporary soul album. Admittedly even the best mid-'60s Motown albums had their share of MOR filler, but with so much MOR, this set just left Bass to hang out to dry.
Propelled by
the hit, the parent album proved her only pop hit, peaking at # 93 on the US
album charts. 1.) Our Day Will Come (M. Garson - Bob Hillard) - 3:45 rating: ** stars Ruby
and the Romantics previously had a hit with this one. Why folks
thought it would be a good idea to have Bass cover it with punchy horns and
orchestration remains a mystery to me. Bass certainly gave it her all, but
the horns and xylophone essentially blew her off the stage. Nancy
Wilson owns this one and the hyper-speed refrain and MOR flute accompaniment
just took the steam out of this one. You get the feeling Bass just
wasn't into this one. I
use to own the Maxine Brown original, but will give the nod to Bass' soulful
take. Great melody with tasty horns. The breezy arrangement let
Bass reveal her sexy delivery. Checlers should have tapped this one as
a single Easily the best tune on the album and the song that she's remember for, 'Rescue Me' evolved from an in-studio jam session with Carl Smith and Reynard Miner playing around with a rough idea they'd been working on. Produced Billy Davis (of 5th Dimension fame) and arranger Phil Wright added some suggestions. Bass apparently contributed as well, though her efforts to obtain a co-writing credit never succeeded. Anyhow, courtesy of The Armed Forces Network Europe, it's one of my first musical memories. To this day I feel 'Rescue Me' is an all-time classic soul (and pop) performance. The opening bass-line is sheer ear-candy; Sain's arrangement the perfect accompaniment for the song's call-and-response structure and Bass' vocals are perfect.
- 1965' 'Rescue Me' b/w 'Soul of the Man' (Checkers catalog number 1126) YouTube has a bunch of live performances of the song and while this isn't the best in terms of sound, or video quality, this November 1965 appearance on Shindig! is a treat. Love the outfit: Rescue Me Fontella Bass (youtube.com) 5.) Gee Whiz (Carla Thomas) - 2:28 rating: ** stars C'mon
- Carla Thomas wrote and owns it ... Peggy Lee's version is the one most folks have heard; a few may be familiar with Christine Kittrell's earlier version. Bass brings a credibility to her performance, but I don't think did anything to improve on the earlier versions.
1.) Since I Feel for You (Buddy Johnson) - 3:24 rating: *** stars Nice
cover of this blues standard, but there's so much competition with
respect to this one - Ella Fitzgerald, Laura Lee, Mavis Staples, Dinah
Washington, all come to mind ... 'Impossible'
showed off Bass' substantial chops, but the MOR arrangement just didn't
catch my attention. Like
'Yesterday', 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' is one of those tunes that
needs a recording moratorium placed on it. How many versions of this
one does the world need? Written
and produced by Sain, 'Soul of the Man' was a great slice of Gospel-blues
that's always reminded me of Aretha Franklin's early work. While the
genre won't appeal to everyone, it was good enough to have been tapped as a
single. Instead it was slapped on as the 'Rescue Me' "B"
side. Shame as it was another album highlight. If
I'd had a say in the recording sessions, the album would have had more of a
contemporary soul flavor - along the lines of this Martha & the
Vandellas cover. As is, it was one of the album's most commercial
offerings. Interesting to wonder what Bass would have accomplished on
Motown. Always had a sweet spot for this Barbara George tune. She owns the tune, but Bass turned in a decent cover - admittedly it didn't stray far from the original
I Know (Barbara George) - 3:08 |
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