Bonnie Bramlett

Australia's brilliant Raven Records has been one of the premier reissue imprints since the beginning of the 21st century. They painstakingly remaster what they choose to release, annotate it with good notes, provide photos in the booklet, and charge a fair price for their wares. Since 2007 they've turned their focus to the work of vocalist Bonnie Bramlett. This is the second release in Raven's catalog to document Bramlett's work. The first was the excellent two-fer It's Time/Lady's Choice, featuring her second and third solo offerings. Bramlett has had a long and celebrated career: as the youngest of Ike Turner's Ikettes; as half of the celebrated team of Delaney & Bonnie with her former husband (influencing everyone from Eric Clapton and George Harrison to Dave Mason and the Average White Band! ); and with an enduring solo career as a soul, rock, blues, and contemporary gospel singer as well. She also has the distinction of writing one of adult contemporary music's most enduring songs in "Groupie," which is more commonly known as "Superstar." It has been recorded by everyone from the Carpenters and Rita Coolidge to Luther Vandross and Bette Midler.

Piece of My Heart: The Best of 1969-1978 contains a whopping 19 tracks in stellar sound. The first six detail Bramlett's work with her ex-husband and their Friends band, which included Clapton, Bobby Keys, Bobby Whitlock, Leon Russell, Carl Radle, and Jim Gordon, to name a few. The other 13 cuts are taken from her first four solo albums. This is a taut, incisive, musically potent brew that features Bramlett at the height of her powers creatively, vocally, and in terms of her confidence. While there isn't a mediocre cut in the bunch, there are some clear standouts, including the reading of Mason's"Only You Know and I Know" and her "Groupie," both from D & B Together, the pair's final offering as a unit. Of course there is the traditional gospel jam "When the Battle Is Over" from Accept No Substitutes, issued by Elektra in 1969 and arranged by Dr. John. And of course there is the title cut taken from their debut album, Home, which rivals Janis Joplin's as the definitive version. But these cuts are a tease in a sense, because the real depth in Bonnie Bramlett's work is as a solo artist. Check her reading of Daniel Moore's soul shouter "The Sorrow of Love," with its gritty, multi-octave range wrangling. Then there's her writing collaboration with Leon Ware on the Motown-friendly "Able, Qualified and Ready," a strutting, horn-driven jumper of a soul tune. There's a great changeup in the strings-kissed reading of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young," which adds a hint of melancholy even as it is dramatically more effective with its gospel choir backing. The slow Chicago move on "Two Steps from the Blues" reinterprets the Bobby "Blue" Bland classic from a feminine perspective even as she is accompanied by Gregg Allman's vocal and organ. The set also closes on a high note with her wonderful "Memories," which appeared on the album of the same name in 1978. The sound on this set is absolutely stellar, but listeners can only hope it's a teaser for Raven to issue the rest of Bramlett's 1970s solo albums. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide