View source for Straight from the Heart (Ann Peebles album)

{{Infobox album
| name         = Straight from the Heart
| type         = studio
| artist       = [[Ann Peebles]]
| cover        =Straight from the Heart (Ann Peebles album).jpg
| alt          =
| released     = 1972
| recorded     = 1971
| venue        =
| studio       = Royal Recording Studios, South Lauderdale, [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], [[Tennessee]]
| genre        = [[Memphis soul]], [[blues]], [[funk]]
| length       = 26:08
| label        = [[Hi Records|Hi]]
| producer     = [[Willie Mitchell (musician)|Willie Mitchell]]
| prev_title   = Part Time Love
| prev_year    = 1971
| next_title   = [[I Can't Stand the Rain (album)|I Can't Stand the Rain]]
| next_year    = 1974
| misc         = {{Singles
| name    = I Can't Stand The Rain
| type    = Studio
| single1 = [[I Pity the Fool]]
| single1date = 1971
| single2 = Slipped, Tripped and Fell In Love
| single2date = 1971
| single3 = [[Breaking Up Somebody's Home]]
| single3date = 1972
| single4 = Somebody's on Your Case
| single4date = 1972
}}
}}
'''''Straight from the Heart''''' is the third studio album by American [[Memphis soul]] singer [[Ann Peebles]]. It was released on the [[Hi Records|Hi]] label in 1972 and included the songs "[[I Pity the Fool]]" and "[[Breaking Up Somebody's Home]]".
== Background ==
Peebles' second album, ''Part Time Love'', in 1971 was her first record to impact the [[UK R&B Singles and Albums Charts|US R&B albums chart]], and she began recording her third studio album at the Royal Recording Studios in [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]], [[Tennessee]] later that year. Peebles' enlisted [[Willie Mitchell (musician)|Willie Mitchell]] to produce the album and songwriters such as [[Don Bryant (songwriter)|Don Bryant]] (with whom she was in a relationship and would go on to marry in 1974) and [[George Jackson (songwriter)|George Jackson]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Ann Peebles Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/ann-peebles-mn0000921002 |access-date=2023-09-04 |website=AllMusic |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ann Peebles {{!}} Memphis Music Hall of Fame |url=https://memphismusichalloffame.com/inductee/annpeebles/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=memphismusichalloffame.com}}</ref> ''Straight From The Heart'' also features the [[Hi Rhythm Section]], the [[house band]] for the Hi label.{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}
''Straight from the Heart'' was released later in 1971 and the song "[[I Pity the Fool]]", originally recorded by [[Bobby Bland]] in 1961, became a minor hit for Peebles, as it peaked at no. 85 on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]]. This was her second song to impact the US singles chart, after "[[Part Time Love]]" reached no. 45 in 1970.<ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine |title=Ann Peebles {{!}} Biography, Music & News |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/ann-peebles/ |access-date=2023-09-04 |magazine=Billboard |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Reception ==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/straight-from-the-heart-mw0000099467|title=Ann Peebles - Straight From the Heart Album Reviews, Songs & More &#124; AllMusic|via=www.allmusic.com}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]''
| rev2score = A−<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Ann+Peebles|title=Robert Christgau: CG: Ann Peebles|website=www.robertchristgau.com}}</ref>
| noprose = yes
}}''Straight from the Heart'' was well received by critics, with [[Richie Unterberger]] awarding the album 4.5 out of 5 stars in his [[AllMusic]] review. Unterberger described the album as "not only a triumph for Peebles, but [''Straight from the Heart''] illustrated how the Hi label had surpassed its crosstown [[Stax Records|Stax]] rival for quality Memphis soul in the early '70s".<ref name=":1" /> In his 1981 review of ''Straight from the Heart'' in ''[[Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies]]'', music journalist [[Robert Christgau]] gave the album an A− and wrote that "why gritty singing like this can't be heard on [[Progressive rock|'progressive' radio]] when a borderline hysteric like [[Lydia Pense]] is an automatic add ought to be investigated by the [[United States Commission on Civil Rights|Civil Rights Commission]]."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Christgau: CG: Ann Peebles |url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Ann+Peebles |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=www.robertchristgau.com}}</ref>
The album was also a modest commercial success for Peebles, becoming her first record to chart on the [[Billboard 200|''Billboard'' 200]], where it peaked at no. 188.<ref name=":0" /> She would go on to enjoy further commercial success with her next album, [[I Can't Stand the Rain (album)|''I Can't Stand the Rain'']], in 1974.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lynskey |first=Dorian |date=2014-02-20 |title=Ann Peebles: the girl with the big voice |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/feb/20/ann-peebles-girl-with-the-big-voice |access-date=2023-09-05 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
==Track listing==
=== Side A ===
# "Slipped, Tripped And Fell In Love" ([[George Jackson (songwriter)|George Jackson]]) – 2:25
# "Trouble, Heartaches & Sadness" ([[Don Bryant (songwriter)|Don Bryant]], Ann Peebles) – 2:37
# "What You Laid On Me" (Peebles, [[Denise LaSalle]]) – 2:22
# "How Strong Is A Woman" ([[Bettye Crutcher]]) – 2:57
# "Somebody's On Your Case" (Earl Randle) – 2:35
=== Side B ===
# "[[Breaking Up Somebody's Home|I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home Tonight]]" (Jackson, Timothy Matthews) – 2:28
# "I've Been There Before" (Bryant, Peebles) – 3:06
# "[[I Pity the Fool|I Pity The Fool]]" (Deadric Malone) – 2:53
# "99 Pounds" (Bryant) – 2:15
# "I Take What I Want" ([[David Porter (musician)|David Porter]], [[Isaac Hayes]], [[Teenie Hodges]]) – 2:30
==Personnel==
*Ann Peebles – vocals
*Rhodes, Chalmers, Rhodes – backing vocals
*[[Howard Grimes]] – drums
*Leroy Hodges – bass guitar
*Teenie Hodges – guitar
*Charles Hodges – organ, piano
*[[Andrew Love (musician)|Andrew Love]] – tenor saxophone
*Ed Logan – tenor saxophone
*James Mitchell – baritone saxophone
*Jack Hale – trombone
*[[Wayne Jackson (musician)|Wayne Jackson]] – trumpet
*[[Willie Mitchell (musician)|Willie Mitchell]] – producer
*Howard Craft – lacquer cutting
*Bud Lee – photography [cover & liner]
== Charts ==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! Chart (1971)
! Peak<br>position
|-
| U.S. [[Billboard 200|Top LPs & Tape]] (''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'')<ref name=":0" />
|align="center"|188
|-
| U.S. [[Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums|Soul LPs]] (''Billboard'')<ref name=":0" />
|align="center"|42
|}
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Ann Peebles}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1971 albums]]
[[Category:Hi Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Willie Mitchell (musician)]]
[[Category:Ann Peebles albums]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at Royal Studios]]