Big Maybelle Sings The Blues -(Charly)

One of the greatest voices in blues and R&B, but unfortunately one of the least remembered. If you love raw vocals and the groove that is only the Blues as delivered by a powerful and also delicate voice, get yourself Big Maybelle.

Dan Cutrer (Dallas, TX USA) (Amazon.com) :

Big Maybelle Smith was ... 300+ pounds. Aretha writes in her autobiography of seeing Maybelle in New Orleans "...with her little-bitty boyfriend." Imagine you're in a small club in Chicago, 2 in the morning, snowing outside, booze, tears, smoke and lost love permeating the place ... and a huge woman singing from the depths of her soul, a place so dark and deep there ought to be a warning label on the cd: Don't listen to this when you're seriously depressed! In the decades since I discovered her I've wondered if Maybelle's voice was a result of her heroin and other addictions, or were the addictions a result of her inner-soul and that voice. "I Don't Know What To Do With Myself" is her song, forget Dionne Warwick. "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" and "That's All" ... they get my vote as the most wonderful songs ever for humans in love. And "I Will Never Turn My Back On You." That's the track that Torch Song Trilogy (the play, not the movie) used at it's end ... it's one thing to say you 'love' somebody, it's quite another to promise you'll never turn your back on them. "Oh Lord, What Are You Doing to Me" showcases that mammoth voice that soars one second and hits rock bottom the next. Maybelle died in Ohio after being in a diabetic coma for two years ... she wasn't yet 50. Listen to this (and other) Big Maybelle, you'll hear every tragedy and heartache a human can endure.

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