Ann Peebles & The Hi Rhythm Section: “Live In Memphis” (2022) CD Review

On February 7, 1992, Ann Peebles performed with the Hi Rhythm Section at The Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee. That show, which was billed “An Evening Of Classic Soul” and also included Otis Clay, was recorded, and is the only known live recording of Peebles with The Hi Rhythm Section (the band had performed on some of her studio releases, including Straight From The Heart and I Can’t Stand The Rain). In 2022, the concert recording was released as Live In Memphis on both CD and vinyl through Memphis International Records. The set features some of her classic material. The Hi Rhythm Section is made up of Leroy Hodges on bass, Charles Hodges on keyboard, Howard Grimes on drums, and Thomas Bingham on guitar. Also performing with Ann Peebles on this recording are John Sangster on saxophone, Anthony Royal on trumpet, Dennis Bates on trombone, and David J. Hodson and Tina Crawford on backing vocals.

The album opens with “If I Can’t See You,” a song that Ann Peebles included on The Handwriting Is On The Wall, released in the late 1970s. The track has a brief introduction: “Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Ann Peebles,” and the band gets right to it. Ann Peebles delivers a strong vocal performance, soulful and sexy, with a bright power. In the second half of the track, she addresses the crowd: “I’d like to say good evening. Well, hello. How are you doing, Memphis? Did we come here to party tonight?” And we can hear the crowd respond. According to the liner notes by David Less, the crowd was small at this concert, but the folks there are clearly into it. She follows that with “Part Time Love,” the title track from her second album. In 1992, the year of this concert, Ann Peebles released a new album titled Full Time Love, that album’s title clearly a play on the title of this early album. It’s interesting that this set does not focus on music from the 1992 album. Anyway, “Part Time Love” is a very cool number. She released it as a single in 1970, and it was a hit for her.

“We’d like to slow it all the way down,” Ann Peebles says in introducing “Didn’t We Do It,” a song that was included on Call Me, released in 1989. She goes on to say why she likes this song, that it helps her “go back down memory lane.” Here she gives one of the album’s best vocal performances, passionate and moving. “Sometimes it’s gotta rain/I won’t fool myself, oh no/When there was no one else but you/Boy, you made the difference/And a lot of our dreams came true/Now, didn’t we do it.” There is some nice work from the backing vocalists too. It’s a sweet number, and the crowd clearly appreciates it. That’s followed by “I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home.” You’ve probably heard several artists do this song over the years, including Albert King, Bette Midler and Etta James. But before all of those renditions, it was recorded by Ann Peebles, who included it on Straight From The Heart. As she starts it here, she asks, “Anybody familiar with this song tonight?” This track features some nice stuff on keys. In the middle, Ann Peebles delivers a spoken word section, telling the crowd, “You know, just because I said I feel like breaking it up don’t necessarily mean I’m going to go out there and do it.” She has a wonderful rapport with the crowd, and this spoken word section is cool. She then sings, “It gets so hard sometimes.” I love this added section. This rendition is quite a bit longer than her original studio recording of the song.

At the beginning of “I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down,” she tells the crowd she would love a glass of water. I have to imagine someone immediately went to fetch it for her. This track is another highlight of the set, her voice so smooth as she begins the song. And, yes, this is another song you might have heard performed by other artists, but again Ann Peebles got to it first, including it on her 1974 record I Can’t Stand The Rain, and on a single before that. She follows it with “I Didn’t Take Your Man,” a fun number featuring some good stuff on keys. It begins with a spoken word section, addressed to a woman named Mary, her man’s previous girlfriend. This section was on her original studio recording too, on The Handwriting Is On The Wall. “I didn’t take your man/You gave him to me,” she repeats, until Mary accepts it. I love the horn section here.

“Hangin’ On” was written by Ira Allen and Buddy Mize, and originally recorded by The Gosdin Brothers. It’s also sometimes listed as “(Just Enough To Keep Me) Hangin’ On,” and sometimes as “(You Keep Me) Hangin’ On,” as Ann Peebles does here. That is also how she listed it on her single and on the I Can’t Stand The Rain LP. On this track, she delivers another delicious vocal performance. Just listen to her deliver these lines: “It’s true you’ve got me wrapped around your finger/Seems to me like, seems to me like that’s where I belong.” So good! Listen to those two lines and you’ll be hooked. That’s followed by “Let Your Love Light Shine,” another song from The Handwriting Is On The Wall, this one written by Don Bryant and Ann Peebles. The band delivers a wonderful rendition of this dance song, the track featuring some great work on sax. “Everybody’s got a little love light/All you’ve got to do is let it shine.” The album ends with “I Can’t Stand The Rain,” one of her biggest songs. Other people have covered it, but it’s hers. She wrote it with Don Bryant and Bernard Miller. Interestingly, she revisited it on that 1992 album Full Time Love, where it is the closing track. So this is the only song from the 1992 release that she includes here. When she delivers the first line, some folks in the audience applaud and someone yells out, “Yeah!” Indeed. This is a great song, and Ann Peebles gives a seriously strong rendition here, showing once again that this is her song. I wish this track went on a little longer. The ending feels a little sudden, with somebody shouting out, “We got to go.”

CD Track List

1. If I Can’t See You
2. Part Time Love
3. Didn’t We Do It
4. I Feel Like Breaking Up Somebody’s Home
5. I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down
6. I Didn’t Take Your Man
7. (You Keep Me) Hangin’ On
8. Let Your Love Light Shine
9. I Can’t Stand The Rain

Live In Memphis was released on April 29, 2022 on Memphis International Records.