- Artist: Ann Peebles
- Rating:
- Release Date: July 01, 2003
- Type: Compilation (best of)
- Genre: Rhythm & Blues
Review
Ann Peebles was the biggest female star at the Memphis-based R&B label Hi Records though the 1970s, and in 1974 she scored her biggest chart hit with the brilliant and idiosyncratic single "I Can't Stand the Rain," which was an ideal match of Peebles' strong, emphatic voice and Willie Mitchell's hard-grooving production. Peebles cut three more albums for Hi following the success of "I Can't Stand the Rain," and they're included in their entirety on this two-CD set. While Peebles is in superb voice on all three albums, each one sounds a bit different, reflecting the shifting trends in R&B during the second half of the 1970s. Tellin' It, from 1975, is in the manner of Peebles' biggest hit, and features the Hi Rhythm Section grooving lean and hard behind a set of solid songs dominated by powerful dance rhythms. Two years later, disco had temporarily overcome nearly everything in pop music, and 1977's If This Is Heaven suggests an uneasy compromise between the spare Southern soul that was Peebles' hallmark and the more polished and less rhythmically interesting sounds that were dominating the charts; Peebles makes the best of the material, which is strong for the most part, but it's the slower change-of-pace numbers where she sounds most at home. And finally, 1979's The Handwriting Is on the Wall is a raucous soul session with Peebles speaking her mind about affairs of the heart, and while it was cut after the Hi Rhythm Section had parted ways, it's a righteous blast of soul-blues and Peebles sounds like she's having a great time. Bonus tracks from the sessions for all three albums are included (most of which will please collectors without impressing anyone as lost masterworks), while disc two is rounded out with six non-LP tunes that appeared on singles after the release of The Handwriting Is on the Wall; only two were produced by Mitchell, and most are overly slick and hardly up to Peebles' talents. While the earlier set in this series is stronger overall, The Complete Ann Peebles on Hi Records, Vol. 2: 1974-1981 is still fine listening and shows that Peebles was a top talent no matter what her surroundings. ~ Mark Deming, All Music GuideTracks
CD 1
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Come to Mama (Lyrics) | Willie Mitchell, |
Ann Peebles | (2:57) |
| I Don't Lend My Man | Willie Mitchell, Chris Robinson, |
Ann Peebles | (2:52) |
| I Needed Somebody | Don Bryant, Ann Peebles | Ann Peebles | (4:58) |
| Stand By Woman | Ann Peebles | (3:05) | |
| It Was Jealousy | Don Bryant | Ann Peebles | (2:59) |
| Doctor Love Power | Ann Peebles | (3:08) | |
| You Can't Hold a Man | Willie Mitchell, |
Ann Peebles | (4:39) |
| Beware | Ann Peebles | (3:07) | |
| Put Yourself in My Place | Ann Peebles | (2:43) | |
| Love Played a Game | Don Bryant, Ann Peebles, |
Ann Peebles | (2:31) |
| I'm Leaving You [*] | Willie Mitchell, |
Ann Peebles | (2:31) |
| Fill This World with Love [*] | Don Bryant, Ann Peebles, |
Ann Peebles | (2:37) |
| If This Is Heaven | Willie Mitchell, |
Ann Peebles | (3:10) |
| A Good Day for Lovin' | Willie Mitchell, Don Bryant, |
Ann Peebles | (2:51) |
| I'm So Thankful | Don Bryant, Ann Peebles, |
Ann Peebles | (4:06) |
| Being Here With You | Willie Mitchell, |
Ann Peebles | (2:34) |
| Boy I Gotta Have You | Willie Mitchell, |
Ann Peebles | (2:48) |
| When I'm in Your Arms | Willie Mitchell, Don Bryant, |
Ann Peebles | (3:06) |
| You're Gonna Make Me Cry | Deadric Malone | Ann Peebles | (4:42) |
| Games | Ann Peebles | (3:01) | |
| Lovin' You Without Love | Willie Mitchell, |
Ann Peebles | (3:02) |
| It Must Be Love | Willie Mitchell, Don Bryant, |
Ann Peebles | (2:55) |
CD 2
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Old Man With Young Ideas | George Jackson, |
Ann Peebles | (3:08) |
| Bip Bam Thank You Mam | George Jackson, |
Ann Peebles | (3:12) |
| The Handwriting Is on the Wall | George Jackson, |
Ann Peebles | (3:20) |
| I Didn't Take Your Man | Ann Peebles | (4:05) | |
| You've Got the Papers (I've Got the Man) | Ann Peebles | (2:56) | |
| Lookin' for a Lovin' | Phyllis Hyman, Barry Goldberg | Ann Peebles | (3:02) |
| You're More Than I Can Stand | George Jackson, |
Ann Peebles | (3:04) |
| Lovin' in, Lovin' Out | Willie Mitchell, George Jackson, |
Ann Peebles | (2:56) |
| If I Can't See You | Don Bryant, Don Baskin, Ann Peebles, |
Ann Peebles | (4:08) |
| Let Your Love Light Shine | Don Bryant, Ann Peebles | Ann Peebles | (3:57) |
| If You Got the Time (I Got the Love) [*] | Ann Peebles | (3:46) | |
| Heartaches [*] | Ann Peebles | (3:48) | |
| I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love [*] | Peter Allen, Carole Bayer Sager | Ann Peebles | (3:51) |
| Be for Me [*] | Willie Mitchell, |
Ann Peebles | (3:29) |
| Mon Belle Amour [*] | Homer Banks, |
(3:43) | |
| Waiting [*] | Homer Banks, |
(3:35) |
