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Anita
Baker
The Songstress
By Carla Robinson
The Songstress is my favorite Anita Baker record. I realize it’s not as fine
as Rapture and that it's somewhat diminished by the songs “Squeeze Me” and
“Do You Believe Me.” The story is that her then-label, Beverly Glenn Music,
pushed for their inclusion. The year was 1983. By then, disco sucked but people were still
looking for a little rump shaking (aren’t we always?), so the label wanted some
up-tempo tunes - not Anita’s specialty and not to be heard from her again. Maybe
these two songs hold up, maybe they don’t. But I am one to look at what is there,
rather than what is not. And what is there on The Songstress is a mighty lot as all legit
Anita Baker fans know.
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Dwarfed by Rapture, which many people think
is her debut (due to legal battles with Beverly Glenn, Songstress was not released on CD
until 1991, which didn’t help its recognition), The Songstress is the kind of record
that makes people exclaim, “I remember that song! That’s the jam!” It opens
with the superlative “Angel,” which was the record’s biggest single,
reaching number 5 on the national R&B charts and sweeps into “You’re The
Best Thing Yet,” the soulful precursor to “Giving You the Best That I Got,”
from Anita’s eponymous 1988 release. But for me, the scorching “Feel The
Need” steals the show, closely followed by “No More Tears” on which our
lady’s vocals soar, establishing her as a gifted lyrical interpreter.
M
February 2001
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