LOVIN’ DARLENE…

Earlier this year Rolling Stone magazine place the remarkable DARLENE LOVE in a listing of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. Soul fans already knew that; they didn’t need a rock magazine to state the obvious.

Born in Los Angeles, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee was the voice of choice for many of Phil Spector’s classic recordings. She’s also enjoyed a stellar solo career and is always in-demand for session work.

In the early 80s Ms Love took a break from her singing  career but in 1982, encouraged by Steven Van Zandt, she made a comeback. The  comeback was kick started when producer Bob Lasiewicz asked her to stage a show that would be filmed and recorded for potential release. The gig took place at Hop Singh’s club in southern California and for the 11 song concert Darlene  was joined (as backing singers) by her sister Edna Wright and Gloria Jones.

The concert was filmed and recorded and finally wins home video/CD release as ‘Live 1982’  via Liberation Hall on April 7th. In the meantime, the lead single has just been released – a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Hungry Heart’ – a choice, I’m guessing, to aim the publicity at the rock rather than the soul market. Whatever you might think of the song, Darlene is, as you’d expect, in fine voice.

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