Cherry Red’s SoulMusic Records imprint has recently delivered two more titles in its ongoing series of artist anthologies – this time dedicated to two “sophisticated ladies”: Phyllis Hyman and Ruby Turner.

When Phyllis Hyman took her own life on June 30, 1995, one of the era’s most potent, poignant voices was silenced.  A singer as well as a Tony Award-nominated actress, Hyman left behind a small but significant discography of eight studio albums, which has since been bolstered by posthumous releases.  While the native Philadelphian never had a commercial pop breakthrough, notching far more successes on the R&B charts, she could inimitably make both pain and pleasure real with her effortless delivery and crystalline tone.  The 2-CD, 33-song Deliver the Love: The Anthology brings together tracks from her Buddah and Arista albums as well as numerous collaborative efforts for a full portrait of this still-beguiling artist.

Given the alluring quality of Hyman’s voice, it’s no surprise that, throughout her career, she was surrounded by the finest producers of the time.  On Deliver the Love, you’ll hear productions from Hyman’s childhood friend Thom Bell (including “Magic Mona” from the soundtrack of The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, which recently made its CD debut from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music) as well as Barry Manilow and Ron Dante, Narada Michael Walden, James Mtume and Reggie Lucas, Norman Connors, and others.  Despite these producers’ differing styles, Hyman was able to make their tracks her own with her clarion pipes. Her sure sense of musical drama served her well onstage, and her cast album performance of Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood” has been culled from the original Broadway cast recording of her Tony-nominated turn in Sophisticated Ladies.  Indeed, strains of jazz, soul, R&B, and pop all informed her stirring vocal turns.

Numerous collaborative efforts also populate this set, starting with her early efforts alongside Norman Connors including their silky take on Thom Bell and Linda Creed’s “Betcha By Golly Wow.”  The jazz/soul fusion  continued when Hyman joined with Pharaoh Sanders  (“As You Are,” co-written by Connors), Grover Washington, Jr. (“Sacred Kind of Love”), McCoy Tyner (“I’ll Be Around,” “Love Surrounds Us Everywhere,” “In Search of My Heart”), Michael Henderson (“Can’t We Fall in Love Again”) and even Barry Manilow.  The producer of her hit “Somewhere in My Lifetime,” Manilow enlisted Hyman as a guest on his retro-influenced Swing Street album for a duet on his original song, “Black and Blue.”

A number of rare versions have been featured, including 12-inch singles of “Kiss You All Over,” “Living Inside Your Love,” and Thom Bell’s “Loving You – Losing You,” the disco mix of “Tonight You and Me,” and the single edit of “Riding the Tiger.”  Phyllis’ dreamy rendition of Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “In Between the Heartaches,” which first appeared on a 2003 anthology, makes a welcome reprise here.  Unfortunately, it appears that no tracks were available to cull from her four Philadelphia International albums (two posthumously released), meaning that her heartbreaking reunion with Thom Bell and Linda Creed, “Old Friend,” is absent, along with other fine and essential productions from Nick Martinelli, Kenny Gamble, Dexter Wansel, Bunny Sigler, and others.

A. Scott Galloway and compilation producer David Nathan have supplied new liner notes, and Donald Cleveland has superbly handled the remastering.  Another Bell/Creed song, “I Don’t Want to Lose You,” sums up feelings still held today for Phyllis Hyman.  Thanks to collections such as this, listeners don’t ever have to lose her particular brand of magic.

Livin’ a Life of Love: The Jive Anthology 1986-1991 celebrates Ruby Turner, the Jamaican-born chanteuse.  Between 1986 and 1991, Turner recorded four eclectic, soulful albums for the Jive Records label, all of which are represented here alongside a smattering of rarities.  Turner had recorded and/or toured with UB40 and Culture Club by the time she signed with Jive.  While the signing to Jive wasn’t her first time as a solo artist, it marked her first association with a major label.  Her 1986 Jive debut Women Hold Up Half the Sky welcomed Billy Ocean as producer of “If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me),” a cover of the 1973 Staples Singers hit which she sang as a duet with Jonathan Butler.  It charted on both sides of the Atlantic for Ruby, and earned her a slot on Ocean’s Love Zone tour.  The album featured other remarkable reinventions reprised on this collection including Alice Cooper’s “Only Women Bleed,” and Etta James’ “I’d Rather Go Blind” – an onstage specialty for Turner.  The latter, in a re-recorded single version, earned Turner a top 25 berth on the U.K. Singles Chart.

No fewer than six tracks have been culled from Turner’s ambitious sophomore album, 1988’s The Motown Songbook.  For this set of modernized Motor City staples, Turner enlisted many original artists to join her, including The Four Tops on “Baby, I Need Your Lovin’,” The Temptations on “Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me),” and Jimmy Ruffin on “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted.”  (Ironically, a B-side from this period – “Still Waters Run Deep” – is not the Four Tops song.)  Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours)” is presented in its extended mix.  Ruby next scored a No. 1 R&B hit in the U.S. with “It’s Gonna Be Alright” from her third platter, 1989’s Paradise.  The song gets two airings here – both in its original version and Brixton Bass Mix.  She closed out her Jive tenure in 1991 with The Other Side, emphasizing rhythmic grooves in the funk and new jack swing veins.  Its title track is heard in an alternate single mix, Da’Posse Mix.

For this compilation produced David Nathan and Justin Kantor, the latter has provided illuminating new liner notes based on fresh interviews with Turner and her collaborators.   Nick Robbins has splendidly remastered this set.    Both Phyllis Hyman’s Deliver the Love: The Anthology and Ruby Turner’s The Jive Anthology 1986-1991 are available now from SoulMusic and Cherry Red at the links below!

Phyllis Hyman, Deliver the Love: The Anthology (Cherry Red/SoulMusic SMCR 5165D, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. Baby (I’m Gonna Love You) (7″ Version)
2. You Know How to Love Me
3. Under Your Spell
4. You Sure Look Good to Me
5. Tonight You and Me (Disco Version)
6. Riding the Tiger (Single Edit)
7. Kiss You All Over (12″ Version)
8. If You Ever Change Your Mind
9. Sleep on It
10. Hottest Love Around
11. Living Inside Your Love (12″ Single)
12. We Both Need Each Other – Norman Connors feat. Phyllis Hyman & Michael Henderson
13. Can’t We Fall in Love Again – Phyllis Hyman & Michael Henderson
14. Why Did You Turn Me On
15. Deliver the Love
16. Loving You, Losing You (12″ Single)

CD 2

1. Let Somebody Love You
2. Gonna Make Changes
3. Black and Blue – Barry Manilow with Phyllis Hyman feat. Tom Scott
4. Somewhere in My Lifetime
5. In Between the Heartaches
6. Magic Mona
7. Be Careful (How You Treat My Love)
8. No One Can Love You More (7″ Version)
9. Betcha by Golly Wow – Norman Connors feat. Phyllis Hyman
10. As You Are – Pharaoh Sanders feat. Phyllis Hyman
11. I’ll Be Around – McCoy Tyner feat. Phyllis Hyman
12. Just Imagine – Norman Connors feat. Phyllis Hyman
13. Sacred Kind of Love – Grover Washington, Jr. feat. Phyllis Hyman
14. Love Surrounds Us Everywhere – McCoy Tyner feat. Phyllis Hyman
15. In Search of My Heart – McCoy Tyner feat. Phyllis Hyman
16. In a Sentimental Mood
17. I Don’t Want to Lose You

CD 1, Track 1 from Desert Moon single DMS 6402, 1976
CD 1, Tracks 2-3 from You Know How to Love Me, Arista LP AB 9509, 1979
CD 1, Track 4, original version of Track 5, and Track 13 from Can’t We Fall in Love Again, Arista LP AL 9544, 1981
CD 1, original version of Track 6, Track 14 and CD 2, Track 1 from Goddess of Love, Arista LP AL 9619, 1983
CD 1, original version of Tracks 7 & 11 and CD 2, Tracks 2, 4 & 7 from Somewhere in My Lifetime, Arista LP AB 4202, 1978
CD 1, Tracks 8-10 & CD 2, Track 5 from In Between the Heartaches: The Soul of a Diva, Expansion CD EXCL 6, 2003
CD 1, original version of Track 12 from Norman Connors, You Are My Starship, Buddah LP BDS 5655, 1977
CD 1, Track 15 & original version of Track 16, and CD 2, Original Version of Track 8, & Track 17 from Phyllis Hyman, Buddah LP BDS 5681, 1977
CD 2, Track 3 from Barry Manilow, Swing Street, Arista ARCD 8527, 1987
CD 2, Track 6 from The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, Lorimar LP SZ 36303, 1979
CD 2, Track 10 from Pharaoh Sanders, Love Will Find a Way, Arista LP AB1-4161, 1978
CD 2, Tracks 11, 14-15 from McCoy Tyner, Looking Out, Columbia LP FC 38053, 1982
CD 2, Track 13 from Grover Washington, Jr., Time Out of Mind, Columbia LP CK 45253, 1989
CD 2, Track 16 from Sophisticated Ladies: Original Broadway Cast Recording, RCA Red Seal LP CBL2-4053, 1981

Ruby Turner, Livin’ a Life of Love: The Jive Anthology 1986-1991 (Cherry Red/SoulMusic SMCR 5166D, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. If You’re Ready (Come Go with Me) – with Jonathan Butler
2. I’m in Love
3. Bye Baby
4. I’d Rather Go Blind
5. In My Life (It’s Better to Be in Love) – Extended Version
6. Only Women Bleed
7. Hurting Inside
8. I’m Livin’ a Life of Love
9. Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours) – Extended Mix
10. Nowhere to Run (Nowhere to Hide)
11. Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me) – with The Temptations
12. Baby I Need Your Lovin’ – with The Four Tops
13. What Becomes of the Brokenhearted – feat. Jimmy Ruffin
14. The Tracks of My Tears
15. Still Waters Run Deep
16. Step in My Shoes

CD 2

1. It’s Gonna Be Alright
2. Paradise (Radio Edit)
3. It’s a Cryin’ Shame (New 7″ Edit)
4. Surrender
5. Everytime I Breathe
6. See Me
7. The Vibe is Right
8. The Other Side (Da’Posse Mix)
9. Rumours (Club Mix)
10. A Little Bit More
11. Merry Go Round
12. Provoking (Love Strokin’)
13. Another One Night Stand
14. It’s You My Heart Beats For
15. It’s Gonna Be Alright (Brixton Bass Mix)
16. It’s a Cryin’ Shame (U.K. 7″ Remix)

CD 1, Tracks 1-4, 6-7 & original version of Track 5 from Women Hold Up Half the Sky, Jive HIP 36, 1986
CD 1, Track 8 from U.K. Jive single 118-B, 1986
CD 1, original version of Track 9, Tracks 10-14 from The Motown Songbook, Jive HIP 58, 1988
CD 1, Track 15 from U.K. Jive single RTS 5-B, 1988
CD 1, Track 16 from U.K. Jive single RTS 4-B, 1988
CD 2, Tracks 1, 4, 5-6 & original version of Tracks 2-3 and CD 2, Track 14 & original version of Tracks 15-16 from Paradise, Jive HIP 89, 1989
CD 2, Tracks 7, 10-12 & original version of Tracks 8-9 from The Other Side, Jive HIP 111, 1991
CD 2, Track 13 from Japanese Jive CD ALCB-278, 1991