Linda Jones' life was tragically curtailed at the age of 28 in March 1972, felled by a long battle with diabetes.  Yet the passionately emotive vocalist left behind a catalogue so rich that it's still cherished by soul connoisseurs.  In 2015, Real Gone Music collected Jones' complete sides for Atco, Loma, and Warner Bros. Records, spanning the period of 1964-1969.  Now, Ace's Kent imprint has bookended the Linda Jones story with Precious: The Anthology 1963-72, culled from every one of her label associations.

This 24-song collection (out of roughly 40 total tracks recorded by Jones) is non-chronologically sequenced, and begins with "Hypnotized," the New Jersey-born singer's only hit.  The No. 4 R&B/No. 21 Pop ballad from 1967 placed Jones' fiery, gospel-flavored vocals in a plush setting crafted by arranger Richard Tee and producer George Kerr, with whom Jones was closely associated throughout her sadly-curtailed career.  Kerr recorded Linda for various labels with the crème of New York's session-playing finest, including pianist Tee, guitarist Eric Gale, bassist Cornell Dupree, and drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie.

Jones' 1963 debut single, for MGM's Cub imprint, was credited to "Linda Lane," sounding rather like a lady friend of Superman's.  But the voice on the cover of Jackie Wilson's "Lonely Teardrops" - big, furious, and somewhat histrionic - unmistakably belonged to Linda Jones.  After briefly finding herself on the Atco roster (a result of Kerr having licensed tracks to the label), Jones was next assigned to Blue Cat, an imprint of the Leiber and Stoller-founded Red Bird Records.  Both sides of her lone Blue Cat 45, from 1966, are here: the powerfully dramatic "Fugitive of Love" (of which she thought highly enough to later re-record) and the rhythmic, driving "You Hit Me Like TNT."

Along with "Hypnotized," seven more tracks from the Loma/Atco/Warner Bros. period covered on the now out-of-print Real Gone CD are reprised here, among them the swingin' a-go go "Take the Boy Out of the Country," and the impassioned, deep soul of "Give My Love a Try." The 1967 album track "A Last Minute Miracle" has an "Uptight (Everything's Alright)" groove to it, and there's a Motown near-quote in "My Heart Needs a Break" which bears more than a passing similarity to Diana Ross and the Supremes' "Reflections." (The Supremes hit was released in 1967 while "My Heart" was recorded in early 1968.)  The lush, harmony-filled "What've I Done (To Make You Mad)," the follow-up to "Hypnotized," compares favorably to the embryonic music coming out of Philadelphia at the time which would lead to the creation of Philly soul; it's no wonder that Jones followed her tenure at the Warner family of labels with a 1969-1970 stop at Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff's pre-Philadelphia International label, Neptune Records.

Both sides of Jones' two Neptune 45s, helmed by Kerr and leased to the label, are included here.  The forceful "That's When I'll Stop Loving You" and "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow," issued on one single, both charted on the R&B survey and feature dreamy, Chicago-style harmonies behind Linda's sanctified shouting.  Linda's throaty, gritty reading of "Can You Blame Me?" was paired with her onetime Loma labelmate Lorraine Ellison's "Oh Baby You Move Me," sung with carnal fervor.  (Tony Rounce's informative liner notes let us know that "Oh Baby" employed the same backing track as Ben Aiken's Loma recording from 1968.)

Linda's final years were spent at the New Jersey indie label All Platinum.  Nine songs, including album tracks and singles, have been plucked from that period to appear here.  As George Kerr continued to guide her, her recordings for All Platinum's Turbo and Stang imprints merely picked up where her previous recordings left off.  "If Only We Had Met Sooner" was set to a breezy groove, but Jones was no less urgent in her delivery.  Jones didn't tap much into the New York songwriting scene represented by the likes of Mann and Weil or Bacharach and David, but she did do justice to Gerry Goffin and Carole King's beautiful, oft-covered "I Can't Make It Alone" on her 1971 Turbo single.  The moody "Not on the Outside," co-written by All Platinum's Sylvia Robinson and a hit on the label for The Moments, has a "Rainy Night in Georgia"-esque mood accompanying Jones' declarations of a burning love.  Indeed, she couldn't keep it on the outside as she wailed and pled through this soul opus in miniature.  The dark "I've Given You the Best Years of My Life" has a raw, unfinished feeling matched by Jones' primal vocal.  The set closes out with a rendition of Jerry Butler's "Your Precious Love" which features an introductory rap.  A hit which peaked at No. 15 R&B/No. 74 Pop after Linda's death, it also provided the title for a posthumously released LP.

Duncan Cowell has remastered all of the tracks with customary precision, though the All Platinum tracks are noticeably lesser in quality than the earlier ones.  Tony Rounce's notes are found in colorful and copiously-illustrated 16-page booklet.  Linda Jones never got the pop crossover breakthrough that some of her elite contemporaries did; indeed, despite the fine work done by George Kerr, one can't help but wonder what path she would have taken had she been taken under the aegis of a Jerry Ragovoy, Thom Bell, or Burt Bacharach.  Nonetheless, she left behind a small discography of prime soul that still packs quite a punch.  That discography is well-served by the selection on Precious.

Linda Jones, Precious: The Anthology 1963-1972 (Kent CDTOP 458, 2016) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Hypnotized (Loma 2070, 1967) (*)
2. Lonely Teardrops - Linda Lane (Cub 9124, 1963)
3. I'm Taking Back My Love (Atco 6344, 1965)
4. Take the Boy Out of the Country (Atco 6344. 1965)
5. Fugitive from Love (Blue Cat 128, 1966)
6. You Hit Me Like TNT (Blue Cat 128, 1966)
7. Give Love a Try (Loma 2085, 1967) (*)
8. A Last Minute Miracle (Loma LP LS 5907, 1967) (*)
9. What've I Done (To Make You Mad) (Loma 2077, 1967) (*)
10. My Heart Needs a Break (Loma 2091, 1967)
11. That's When I'll Stop Loving You (Neptune 17, 1969)
12. I Just Can't Live My Life (Without You, Baby) (Warner Bros. 7278, 1969)
13. I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Neptune 17, 1969)
14. Can You Blame Me? (Neptune 25, 1970)
15. Ooh Baby You Move Me (Neptune 26, 1970)
16. I Do (Turbo LP TU 7008, 1972) (*)
17. If Only We Had Met Sooner (Turbo LP TU 7008, 1972) (*)
18. I Can't Make It Alone (Turbo 017, 1971)
19. Stay with Me Forever (Turbo 012, 1971) (*)
20. Behold (Turbo LP TU 7007, 1972) (*)
21. Not on the Outside (Turbo 024, 1972) (*)
22. I'm So Glad I Found You - Linda Jones and the Whatnauts (Stang 5039, 1972) (*)
23. I've Given You the Best Years of My Life (Turbo 012, 1971)
24. Your Precious Love (Turbo 021, 1972) (*)

Mono except (*) stereo