Search - Ann Peebles :: Greatest Hits

Greatest hits and more!

Dr.D.Treharne | Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom | 12/22/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Somehow the Hi Record label has fared rather better in terms of re-releases in Europe than in the US.This CD contains a slew of Peebles classics like "Feel like breakin' up somebody's home", "I can't stand the rain" and I'm gonna tear your playhouse down" as well as some that were only ever album cuts. She does a great version of Bobby Bland's "I pity the fool" and Oliver Sain's "Walk away". The vocals and arrangements are never less than powerful, even when some of the material is not of the highest quality. A good CD to start with, but my reservations are because the sleeve notes are no more than perfunctory,listing the names of the Hi house band, two co-producers with Wille Mitchell and including a couple of (good) photographs from the Colin Escott archive. A collection this good deserves to have the kind of full liner notes that (for example)Rhino records do so well, and in so much detail."

An Ann Peebles Overview

Laurence Upton | Wilts, UK | 08/21/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you needed just one Ann Peebles album in your collection, surely a legal minimum, you could do worse than select this Greatest Hits CD collection released in 1988. Long out of print, it can fetch high prices though, so unless you come across it at a budget price you might consider the mid-price 19-track US R&B Hits '69 - '79, or the more complete 2CD The Hi Singles A's and B's 1969-1981 as an alternative. If you want to delve a little deeper, then The Complete Ann Peebles on Hi Vol.1 1969-1973 has her first four albums, plus B-sides up to 1974, on 2 CDs, and contains much of her best work.



If you only know Ann Peebles from her biggest hit, I Can't Stand The Rain, then you will be delighted to discover gems such as Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody's Home and I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down among the generous 26 tracks included. As Ann Peebles was on Hi Records during this period it is natural that she be linked musically to Al Green, who shared the same label, backing band, producer and arranger over the same period, but while Al Green has the greater vocal dexterity it is Ann Peebles who cuts through to the heart of the matter with her emotional honesty and vulnerability.



Most of the singles you would expect are here, the obvious exception being (You Keep Me) Hangin' On, the Joe Simon song. There are additionally 11 B-sides and one of these, Heartaches Heartaches, did not appear on an album and had not been on CD before. The track selection is oddly programmed, kicking off with a B-side (99lbs), and to mind does not showcase the songs to their best advantage. Mono single mixes have been used on tracks 1, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 14 and 24."