Margie Day: Dawn of a New Day (1968) / Experience Margie Day (1969) ... plus

With her gutsy, no-holds-barred, delivery, Margie Day emerged as a solid R&B vocalist of the '50s. As lead singer for the Griffin Brothers Orchestra, Day twice reached the R&B top ten between 1950 and 1951, lending her boisterous voice to 'Street-Walkin' Daddy' and the Willie Dixon-penned 'Little Red Rooster'. Inspired by her success, she left the Griffin Brothers Orchestra to perform briefly with Paul Williams's band. By the end of the 1952, she had moved on to the Floyd Dixon Combo, with whom she toured throughout the Midwest. Announcing her retirement in 1964, Day returned to her hometown of Norfolk, Virginia. Encouraged to return to performing, she joined the Dick Morgan Trio, in the late-'60s, and recorded these two compeling albums for RCA. First up is Dawn of a New Day - a set that has Margie working in a really unique approach to vocals - a bit jazzy at times, inflected with bluesy undercurrents at others, but often delivered with a sense of class and poise that's a bit like Nancy Wilson at Capitol. Given that Margie's always apt to push the inflections on the tunes, working the notes heavily with very soulful expression, she really changes things up from the usual album of this type, and creates a nice sense of tension with the arrangements from Ray Ellis, Chuck Sagle, and Jimmy Wisner. Titles include 'Am I Blue', 'Walk Away', 'As Time Goes By', 'Much Too Long', 'Ain't It The Truth', 'Let's Do It', and 'In Times Like These'. Experience Margie Day is pretty groovy little set, a record which is somewhere in a space between jazz and soul vocals, and put together with some really unique inflections overall. There's a surprisingly sophisticated quality to the music, almost like some of Marlena Shaw's late '60s music, filled with adult themes and featuring a track list that includes a fair bit of unfamiliar numbers that really keep things fresh. Arrangements are by Ray Ellis, Art Beck, and Garry Illingworth, the latter of whom wrote some of the best tracks on the set. Titles include 'What Does He Think', 'If The Laugh-In Don't Kill Me', 'I Keep It Hid', 'Time Doesn't Matter Anymore', 'Ever Livin' Lovin' Program Plan', 'Rainbow People', 'I Thought About You', 'Don't Pay Them No Mind', 'Let's Start All Over Again', 'Maybe You'll Be There', and 'Wine in the Wind'. Blessed with a wide and secure vocal range, Margie is capable of the belting approach or of the tender whisper. Sadly, she left music permanently in 1969 due to a serious illness. I included here as bonus tracks 18 of the R&B songs she recorded during the '50s, both solo and with different groups, like the Blues Destroyers and the Griffin Brothers. Titles include 'Pitty Pat Band', 'Little Red Rooster', 'Ho Ho', 'Stubborn As a Mule' and 'Take Out Your False Teeth Daddy'. http://www.dustygroove.com/, http://www.answers.com/
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Margie Day: Ever Livin' Lovin' Program Plan (1969)