Esther Phillips - A Profile

Esther Phillips (Esther Mae Jones) (23 Dec. 1935 - 7 Aug. 1984) would have celebrated her 87th birthday today. She won a talent show in 1949 aged 14 in a club in Watts, L.A. owned by Johnny Otis (father of Shuggie Otis who wrote and recorded Strawberry Letter 23 which was a later hot for Brothers Johnson) which resulted in her recording her first single with the Johnny Otis Quintette With The Robins And Little Esther "Double Crossing Blues" in 1950 which got to #1 on R&B chart. She died at a relatively young age of 48 in 1984 due to liver and kidney failure resulting from long-term drug use.

She has recorded far too much material to go into an in depth discography (around 100 singles and 20 albums), and let's be honest, most of us aren't interested in much before 1964! So instead, I've cherry picked 50 of her best recordings, singles and album tracks, from 1964 onwards into a playlist. At least half a dozen or so of these (bold below) have been played on rare soul dancefloors in the UK, some since the 70s.

I've tagged seven tracks from a 2020 compilation by David Nathan's Soul Music label which is a very comprehensive 5 CD box set compilation of her output from 1962-70 (Brand New Day (The Lenox/Atlantic & Roulette Recordings 1962-1970) covering most, if not all, of her recordings from those labels. Our man Roger 'Soulsorts' Williams did the artwork.

Playlist of selected tracks

1964 - Mo Jo Hannah [Atlantic #45-2229]

1964 - Some Things You Never Get Used To [Atlantic #45-2265]

1965 - Just Say Goodbye [Atlantic #45-2324]

1965 - And I Love Him [Atlantic #45-2281]

1966 - Fever [Atlantic #45-2370]

1969 - Nobody But You [Roulette #R-7059]

1970 - Don't Let Me Lose This Dream (Live) (Burnin' (Live At Freddie Jett's Pied Piper, L.A.) LP) [Atlantic #SD 1565]

1971 - Catch Me I'm Falling [Atlantic#45-2783]

1971 - Sweet Touch Of Love (From A Whisper To A Scream) [Kudu #KU 05]

1972 - Home Is Where The Hatred Is [Kudu #KU-904]

1972 - Baby, I'm For Real [Kudu #KU-906]

1972 - I've Never Found A Man (To Love Me Like You Do) [Kudu #KU 910]

1972 - I Don't Want To Do Wrong (Alone Again, Naturally LP) [Atlantic #SD 1565]

1973 - Let Me In Your Life [Kudu #KU-915]

1975 - What A Diff'rence A Day Makes [Kudu #KU-925 F]

1975 - Mister Magic (What A Diff'rence A Day Makes LP) [Kud #KU-23]

1975 - One Night Affair (What A Diff'rence A Day Makes LP) [Kudu #KU-23]

1976 - (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher & Higher [Kudu #KU-938]

1976 - I Haven't Got Anything Better To Do (Capricorn Princess LP) [Kudu #KU-31]

1976 - Candy (Capricorn Princess LP) [Kudu #KU-31]

1976 - For All We Know [Kudu #KU-929]

1976 - Going Out Of My Head (For All We Know LP) [Kudu #KU-28]

1977 - In A Soft And Subtle Way (You've Come A Long Way, Baby LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-1187]

1977 - Into The Mystic (You've Come A Long Way, Baby LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-1187]

1977 - I've Never Been A Woman Before [Mercury #73967]

1978 - The Man Ain't Ready [Mercury #74030]

1978 - Native New Yorker (All About LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-3733]

1978 - You Think Of Him (You Think Of Her) (All About LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-3733]

1978 - Pie In The Sky (All About LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-3733]

1978 - S.O.S. (All About LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-3733]

1978 - Ms. (All About LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-3733]

1979 - Our Day Will Come [Mercury #74077]

1979 - Bedtime Stories [Mercury (UK) #6167 822]

1979 - Mr. Melody [Mercury #74077]

1981 - Cry To Me [Mercury #76103]

1981 - Crazy [Mercury #76103]

1979 - I Hope You'll Be Very Unhappy Without Me (Here's Esther...Are You Ready) [Mercury #SRM-1-3769]

1979 - Philadelphia Freedom (Here's Esther...Are You Ready) [Mercury #SRM-1-3769]

1979 - Love Makes A Woman (Here's Esther...Are You Ready) [Mercury #SRM-1-3769]

1981 - Changin' (Good Black Is Hard To Crack LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-4005]

1981 - We've Got A Good Thing Going (Good Black Is Hard To Crack LP) [Mercury #SRM-1-4005]

1986 - Goin' In Circles (A Way To Say Goodbye LP ) [Muse #MR 5302]

Additional earlier tracks to round up to 50

1963 - You Never Miss Your Water (Till The Well Runs Dry) [Lennox #NX-5565]

1963 - While It Lasted [Lennox #NX-5570]

1966 - When A Woman Loves A Man [Atlantic #45-2335]

1967 - Cheater Man [Atlantic #45-2417]

2020 - Watch Dog (Previously Unreleased Atlantic 1966/67) (Brand New Day (The Lenox/Atlantic & Roulette Recordings 1962-1970)) [SoulMusic #QSMCR-5194BX]

1969 - I'm In The Mood For Love (Moody's Mood For Love) [Roulette #R-7031]

1969 - Too Much Of A Man (To Be Tied Down) [Roulette #R-7059]

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