Sandy Posey - Born A Woman : Complete MGM Recordings 1966-1968

After initially releasing a few unsuccessful singles under various pseudonyms starting with “Kiss Me Goodnight”/”First Boy” as Sandy Carmel, and followed with others under names like Betty York, Sherry York and Betty Richards, Sandy Posey got her big break when song publisher Gary Walker (later her manager) was looking for someone to cut some demos and American Sound Studio owner and producer Chips Moman suggested Sandy.  Moman ended up so impressed by her demo of Martha Sharp’s song “Born A Woman” that they rerecorded it in 1966 and leased it to MGM who signed her.  It ended up hitting twelve on the US charts and sold over a million copies.  The new double CD Born A Woman - The Complete MGM Recordings, contains all four of these albums plus seven non-LP single tracks and Italian versions of the hit songs “Born A Woman” and “Single Girl”.  While she was influenced in her youth by forties and fifties country like Hank Williams, she was equally influenced by pop artists of the era like The Shirelles, The Shangri-Las and Nancy Sinatra (she did a great cover of “These Boots Are Made For Walking” as Betty Richards), as well as rhythm and blues, and as you make your way through this collection you can hear what a great job she does bringing these elements and so much more together.  Her songs are well-crafted and arranged, often accompanied by strings and great vocal harmonies, with the absolutely gorgeous “Patterns” a perfect example.  Her first album for the label was Born A Woman which had highlights like the title track (number 12 on the US singles charts), the upbeat “You Got To Have Love To Be Happy” and the almost dreamy pop of “If Tears Had Color In Them”.  In addition to the aforementioned “Patterns”, her next album, Single Girl contained her second hit single (again the title track) and also had great renditions of “A Place In The Sun” (originally recorded by Stevie Wonder) and “I’m Your Puppet”, “Hey Mister” which is stripped down with her captivating vocals accompanied by a simple organ and drumbeat, and “Shattered”, a blues tinged track with a deeply emotional vocal.  Album three, Sandy Posey Featuring “I Take It Back” kicks off with the song “I Take It Back”, an absolute killer track that bounces between upbeat pop with a hint of country and a little Duane Eddy twang, and a slow country waltz.  Other standouts on this album include “Standing In The Rain” with its lazy groove and great arrangement, the classic sixties pop tune “Sunglasses” and her incredibly heartfelt take on the classic “Love Of The Common People”.  You can hear Posey’s work get stronger as you make the way through each release, and she definitely reaches the pinnacle on the fourth one.  Looking At You opens with a couple of gorgeous gems with “Deep In Kentucky”, which is superbly arranged and produced, with gentle acoustic guitar, strings and horns that sound a lot like something Jimmy Webb would have done, and “The Meadow Of My Love”, a laid-back tune with an almost psychedelic country feel.  “One Man Woman” and “Just You, Just Me (And Love For Company)” are upbeat soulful tracks, the latter of which also has some psychedelic undertones and great thumping bass.  There’s also a nice take on “Shades Of Gray”, originally recorded by the Will-O-Bees, but made famous by The Monkees, and “Out Of Tune”, a super catchy, jaunty pop tune.  Another track of note is “All Hung Up In Your Green Eyes”, a darker track that’s a little reminiscent of Scott Walker.  It was written by Posey and was the b-side to her final MGM single.  These are just some of the many highlights on these two discs as you would be hard pressed to find a misstep among the fifty-five tracks here.  Once she was done with her contract with MGM Posey stepped away from touring and recording for awhile and got married and had a daughter.  In the early seventies she released some more traditional country and gospel albums, and over the years sang backup for a variety of artists including “Suspicious Minds” and “In The Ghetto” with Elvis, “When A Man Loves A Woman” with Percy Sledge, and songs with Tommy Roe, Bobby Goldsboro and Joe Tex.  She was also considered an inspiration to the young Dolly Parton, Morrissey included her song “I Take It Back” in his 1989 list of “Singles To Be Cremated With” and The Primitives covered “Single Girl”.  There is also a fantastic CD booklet with extensive essay on her career and the albums included here.  This is a fantastic highly recommended collection.

(Strawberry)