Fontella Bass, looking very Sixties, with "the greatest record Aretha never made":
"Rescue Me" gave Chess their first big hit since the golden days of the Fifties but, despite being a co-writer of the song, Bass wasn't credited:
"I had the first million seller for Chess since Chuck Berry about 10 years before. Things were riding high for them, but when it came time to collect my first royalty check, I looked at it, saw how little it was, tore it up and threw it back across the desk."
Not your usual pop star, then. She got a reputation as a trouble maker, left the mainstream music business, and, with husband Lester Bowie of the avant-garde jazz group The Art Ensemble of Chicago, left for Paris. Here's one of their better known efforts from that period, Theme de Yoyo, from the soundtrack of the film "Stance a Sophie". It's fair to say that the music has survived a lot better than the film.
And this duet with Lyle Lovett is fun: from Night Moves, late Eighties.
Comments