Barbara Lewis was famous earlier in the sixties for 'Hello Stranger.' This is simple, soulful pop music with a very cool production: crisp drums and nicely orchestrated woodwind on top of rhythmic guitars. Somehow the charm of the recording overrides any feeling that the chord sequence is slightly obvious. Barbara's voice is beautiful here: emotional, yet understated. A small female choir comes in to accompany her at various points. The song is remarkably tight and catchy, with a prominent bass part driving it on. The producer at Stax for this record was Ollie McLaughlin, and I'm now looking out for more stuff that he worked on.
from Many Grooves of Barbara Lewis (Stax), available on CD (Fantasy/Stax)
25 Feb 03 ·Arthur: Ollie McLaughlin was a prolific producer. Look out for 45's on the Carla and Karen labels. They where both his labels