VA - Cat Scratchin' (Ladies In The Groove) (2018)

Stamping their identity all over this compilation album are the female singers of 50s and early 60s generations trying to make a name for themselves in a largely male dominated industry. What the listener will experience with ‘Cat Scratchin’ is a variety of songs, with a variety of styles that show flashes of sophistication and songs borne out of more primitive foundations. There’s plenty of attitude as well as honesty, not to mention a mental toughness as well as vulnerability that serves up a perfect balance of emotions. Most tracks give the suggestion of late 50s and early 60s periods in history with the rhythm and blues ranging from late-night torchbearers such as the excellent ‘Please Give Me A Match’ performed by Rebecca Williams, to the tub-thumping, boisterous racket that is ‘Holy Mack’reel’ from equally animated vocals of Prentice Moreland. More interestingly, a few of the songs selected by the female performers either perform still from a male perspective, such as the previously mentioned ‘Holy Mack’reel’, or elsewhere show signs of subtle changes via Geneva Vallier and her interpretation of Ray Charles’ I Got A Woman’ with ‘You Said You Had A Woman’. There’s plenty to take in with ‘Cat Scratchin’ from the near-ramshackle rhythm of ‘How Can I Lose’ (Shirley Ann Lee), to something far more ambitious sounding via the album’s title track by Marie Williams. A solid and worthwhile collection of songs that show the female artists certainly matched their male counterparts when it came to engage an audience (look no further than Peppy Prince and ‘Ain’t Nothing Shaking’ for immediate evidence of this) by revealing a variety of emotions that make up ‘Cat Scratchin’.

Tracklist
01. Rebecca Williams - Please Give Me A Match
02. Prentice Moreland - Holy Mack'rel
03. Georgia Lane - Get It!
04. Shirley Ann Lee - How Can I Lose
05. Marie Williams - Cat Scratching
06. Geneva Vallier - You Said You Had A Woman
07. Peppy Prince - Ain't Nothing Shaking
08. Mary Coleman - I'll Make Him Mine
09. Terri Lee - I'm No Good To You
10. Sandra Meade - Fever
11. Gloria Gunter - Move On Out
12. Louise Brown - Son-In-Law
13. Charolette Cole - Aint That Worth Something Baby
14. Betty James - I'm A Little Mixed Up
15. Pearl Reaves - I Want You To Love Me
16. Lillian Offitt - Miss You So
17. Kitty Kaye & The Kats - Fishtruck Boogie
18. Carmen Taylor - No More, No Less
19. Baby Joy Hamilton - You Got My Nose Open Baby
20. Pearl Wood - Sippin' Sorrow
21. Carol Fran - I'm Gonna Try
22. Claude Robinson - Cotton Pickin' Mama
23. Pearl Galloway - Think It Over Baby
24. Beverly Wright - Kissin' Boogie
25. Gladys De Vore - Yes Ma'am
26. Dimples Jackson - Ring A Ling
27. Ruth Durand - I'm Wise
28. Austin Wright & Chuck Tillman - Keep Me On Your Mind In 59