R&B yang kita kenal sebagai R&B tidak dimulai seperti itu. Kisah R&B sebagai suara yang bersatu dimulai di berbagai pusat regional - L.A., Miami, Memphis, Detroit, dan Chicago, di antara yang lainnya - dan label serta suara dari pusat-pusat regional tersebut dilahap oleh label besar dan diubah menjadi satu genre yang terpadu. Ada manfaat untuk kedua belah pihak dalam proses ini; pusat-pusat regional bisa melihat bintang-bintang seperti Sam dan Dave, Otis Redding, dan The Temptations beralih dari keanehan regional menjadi mega bintang, dan perusahaan-perusahaan besar pada dasarnya memiliki tim pertanian mereka yang tersebar di seluruh negeri.
New Orleans - yang selalu dipuji sebagai tempat lahirnya jazz - sering diabaikan dalam percakapan tentang pusat musik R&B, tetapi memiliki beberapa label kuat - Imperial Records dan Minit Records - yang menjadikan Fats Domino bintang nasional, memiliki Allen Toussaint dalam daftar produser dan penulis lagunya, dan selain menjadikan Cher bintang, mereka memiliki Ratu Soul mereka sendiri: Irma Thomas, yang dikenal sebagai Ratu Soul New Orleans.
Thomas got her start at 19, as a twice-divorced mother of four trying to eke out a living for herself and hers. Her first single, released on a tiny label called Ron in New Orleans, was “Don’t Mess With My Man,” a witty, sassy song about how she found a better man than her husband, and she’s fine with women taking the latter, but not the former. The screaming saxophones are a nod to the Second Line inspiration for a lot of New Orleans R&B:
After the song went to No. 22 on the Billboard R&B charts despite being mostly a regional hit, Irma was signed to the slightly bigger Minit Records, which promptly paired her with Allen Toussaint, and which led to “Ruler of My Heart,” a single most famous for it being ripped off by a young Otis Redding for his debut single “Pain in My Heart.” Otis was banking on no one in the Stax stable hearing the song—which was only a hit in the New Orleans region—and it worked. If Redding doesn’t shoot his shot and sing his version for the guys at Stax, who’s to say he even gets to be as big a star as he was.
In the early ’60s, Minit was absorbed into the Imperial Records fold. Imperial was the powerhouse of New Orleans music, launched by the twin commercial juggernauts of Fats Domino and the country star Ricky Nelson. The purchase of Minit was partially because Imperial lost both performers to major labels, and partially because Minit was having huge hits with Thomas and performers like Ernie K-Doe. Once signed to Imperial, it was off to the races for Thomas’ career; her debut 1964 single for the label was “Wish Someone Would Care,” which became the lead and title track for her debut LP.
She wrote the song herself, a delicate ballad produced by unsung production hero H.B. Barnum, who mixes New Orleans touches with more pop-leaning material. Thomas also wrote “Straight From the Heart,” a rousing ballad with organ lines that sound more delicate than crystal.
It’s the little moments on Wish Someone Would Care that make it consistently amazing. The way the xylophone and guitar interplay on “I Need Your Love So Bad.” The way that Thomas set the precedence for every “Time Is On My Side” cover. Her wounded phrasing on “I Need You So.” The way “Another Woman’s Man” feels like it’s delivered in a rainstorm on the worst day in New Orleans history.
Thomas made one more album for Imperial before taking a bit of a hiatus. She recorded consistently in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, but had arguably her biggest success ever in 2007, a full 53 years after Wish Someone Would Care. In 2007, Irma’s album in tribute to New Orleans post-Katrina, After the Rain, won her a Blues Grammy. She still intermittently performs today, at the age of 76.
Andrew Winistorfer is Senior Director of Music and Editorial at Vinyl Me, Please, and a writer and editor of their books, 100 Albums You Need in Your Collection and The Best Record Stores in the United States. He’s written Listening Notes for more than 30 VMP releases, co-produced multiple VMP Anthologies, and executive produced the VMP Anthologies The Story of Vanguard, The Story of Willie Nelson, Miles Davis: The Electric Years and The Story of Waylon Jennings. He lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
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