The Best of Sue Records

by Various Artists

Includes liner notes by Mark Marymont.

Liner Note Author: Mark Marymont.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Ike & Tina Turner; Inez Foxx; Jimmy McGriff; The Poets; Prince La La; The Duals; The Matadors ; Baby Washington; The Senors; The Soul Sisters; Tina Britt; Barbara George; Wilbert Harrison; Bobby Hendricks.

As much as any 18 song collection could, this single CD presents a decent cross-section of the New York-based label's biggest hits. The range of material includes the biggest or best-known hits by Ike & Tina Turner ("It's Gonna Work Out Fine," "A Fool In Love"), Inez Foxx ("Mockingbird"), Baby Washington ("A Handful of Memories," "That's How Heartaches Are Made"), Bobby Hendricks ("Itchy Twitchy Feeling"), the Poets ("She Blew A Good Thing"), Wilbert Harrison ("Let's Work Together"), and Jimmy McGriff ("I've Got A Woman"), among others. There will be a few surprises here, including the degree to which Bobby Hendricks sounded like Jackie Wilson, and how much Tina Britt's 1965 hit "The Real Thing" (issued on Eastern Records) was imitative of "Heat Wave" by Martha and the Vandellas. The sound is excellent, probably derived from the same body of masters that EMI assembled to put together its own Sue Records Story box that same year, and the annotation is decently detailed, at least where the major acts are concerned, if a little unstructured. ~ Bruce Eder