Anna King's only album is notable not so much for her vocals (though they're good) as the involvement of
James Brown as producer;
Brown (usually under pseudonyms) also wrote some of the material.
King was a part of
Brown's touring show at the time these tracks were recorded in 1963 and 1964, and unsurprisingly the sound is very similar to the kind of stuff her producer was doing in the early '60s before his leap into funk: hard, bluesy R&B-proto-soul, with tight band arrangements including horns and organ. A few covers of outside material are thrown in (
Martha & the Vandellas' "Come and Get These Memories,"
Chuck Jackson's "I Don't Want to Cry"), but overall it sounds a little like a
James Brown session with a different singer. Unkindly, some might listen to this and wonder how much better it could have sounded if
Brown had done the singing, and it's also evident that while the songs are sturdy enough,
J.B. was holding onto the real killers for himself. That would be doing the record a bit of a disservice, however, because
King's vocals are acceptably gritty and powerful. The songs are solid, if not on the killer level of something like "Out of Sight," with
Brown's up-tempo "If You Don't Think" being a particular standout owing to its sharp bluesy guitar lines and dramatic horn punctuations. Also on the record is her hit duet with
Bobby Byrd, "Baby Baby Baby." It's unfortunate
King wasn't able to record much more material to speak of with
Brown or anyone else, but this is a good one-shot early soul LP, and recommended to general
James Brown fans for its accurate reflection of his instrumental sound circa 1963-1964.