The Sleeve:
The Liner/Sleeve Notes:
“Magic. The word takes on special meaning when you listen to the music of Terri Gibbs, one of the most distinctive vocalists to emerge in any musical format in sometime.
You get some idea of the magic Terri Gibbs generates when you realize that “Somebody’s Knockin’,” which was an across-the-boards smash in country, pop, and MOR formats, was her first single. Period. The shock wave from that single and the self-titled LP that followed carry through to Terri’s current “I’m a Lady” album.
The magic continues. This Georgia-born singer refuses to be pigeonholed in a single musical category, as she offers a collection of tunes that include elements of country, rock, easy listening, blues, and even dixieland. Even session musicians feel the magic. The “pickers” who work enough three-hour recording sessions in a week to blister anyone’s hands, stick around after Terri’s sessions, evaluating playbacks, offering ideas – and just listening.
Terri and her producer, Ed Penney, take great care to showcase voice with a wide variety of musical styles. “I Wanna Be Around,” originally a hit for Tony Bennett, is given Terri’s inimitable blues touch here. “Too Far Gone,” a classic country ballad, gets extra-special treatment, as Terri wrings every bit of emotion out of each line. Another germ, “Georgia On My Mind,” is also cut in a way open to several musical formats.
And then there’s the title song, a one-of-a-kind composition that blends the heartache of rejection with a sassy’s female’s vow that candy and sweet-talkin’ won’t buy your way back to her.
Each song offers a special highlight here, with down-home, foot-tappin’ tracks blending into smooth, soul-soft ballads that cross all musical boundaries.
One listen to “I’m A Lady” will confirm what hundreds of thousands already know – Terri Gibbs music is magic.
Al Cunniff, Editor
Record World – Nashville”
Personal Review:
Basically, my introduction to Terri Gibbs was on George Jones’ album “Ladies Choice” with all the duets, immediately after that I went and bought every Terri Gibbs album I could find, luckily, a record selling friend had all of her major discography, with the exception of 2 albums and 1 greatest hits compilation – anyways, here we go.
The album opens with “I Wanna Be Around” and it’s a little slow to start, and it has that jazz sounding piano playing, you know the kind you’d hear in a hotel lounge, well this whole song kind of sounds like hotel lounge music. After that comes “Papa’s No Fool” and we’re slowly starting to get into the country sound, but it still has a pop sound to it, this song is alright though. Then comes “Too Far Gone” which starts off with some soft piano playing, and that is a good sign right? Terri’s vocals are pretty good, she is definitely the type of person who should sing slower songs, like this song perfectly fits her voice, and her voice is beautiful. Yup, this song is definitely the highlight track this far in. The next song is “Every Now and Then” – let’s hope it can keep up with the previous track – you know what it does. The first two tracks were a little rough, but Terri begins to pull these instant gems out of nowhere, and it’s amazing. The A-Side closes with the ever amazing “That’s What Friends Are For” and it makes for a terrific closing track, and Terri proves that the first two songs were simply warm up tracks before she unleashes a bunch of great tracks.
The B-Side opens with the title track, “I’m a Lady” and I do prefer the ending tracks on the A-Side, this song is a little too dull for me, but hey, it’s only the first track – the chorus and musicianship is superb though – I’ll give Terri that. After that comes “Another Place, Another Time” it’s a pretty good track, I really can’t complain much, it’s a bit slow, but Terri seems to excel on the slower tracks. Then after that comes “Mis’ry River” which is a faster track, but it has banjos and fiddles, so it becomes an instant great track for me, and Terri’s vocals are pretty great on this track too. Then comes the song “Too Long” and as I listen more to Terri’s singing, the more I begin to love her vocals, Terri is a really talented woman, and it’s insane that she didn’t release more albums. The album closes with the track “Georgia On My Mind” (which I also got Willie doing.) and Terri delivers it perfectly, and there are zero complaints about this album by the final track. Terri is great. The first two tracks were rough, but the rest of the album works perfectly, and the high notes that Terri hits on that final track. So amazing.
Interesting Facts:
None.
Track Listing:
A1 – I Wanna Be Around
A2 – Papa’s No Fool
A3 – Too Far Gone
A4 – Every Now and Then
A5 – That’s What Friends Are For
B1 – I’m a Lady
B2 – Another Place, Another Time
B3 – Mis’ry River
B4 – Too Long
B5 – Georgia On My Mind
Label:
MCA Records
Catalog Number:
MCA-5255
Studio Musicians & Other Album Credits:
String Arrangements – Al DeLorey for the Sheldon Kurland Strings
Engineered by Jim Williamson
Recorded at Sound Emporium, Nashville, Tennessee
Mastered by Denny Purcell at Woodland Sound Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Sessions Leaders – Sonny Garrish
Photos – Charles Bush
Art Directions – George Osaki
Design – Georgopoulous/Imada
Keyboard Instruments – Hargus “Pig” Robbins & Bobby Wood
Electric Bass – Bob Moore
Drums – Jerry Kroon, Jerry Carrigan & Hayward Bishop
Acoustic Guitars – Dave Kirby & James Capps
Electric Guitar – Dale Sellers & Fred Newell
Steel Guitar / Dobro – Sonny Garrish
Harmonica – Terry McMillan
Banjo – Bobby Thompson
Clarinet – Denis Solee
Trombone – Roger Bissell
Trumpet – Ray Carroll
Percussion – Farrell Morris & Terry McMillan
Background Vocals – Mary Beth Anderson. Vicki Hampton & Terri Gibbs
Other Albums I Own by Terri Gibbs:
“Comfort the People”
“Old Friends”
“Over Easy”
“Somebody’s Knockin’”
“Turn Around”
Released:
1981
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