Laura Lee - Crumbs Off The Table

I will never forget the 1st time I copped this LP. I was infantile in my collecting and my understanding of soul and funk records. It's funny for me to remember back then. I was on my way to KALX,  U.C. Berkeley's radio station because I was getting my start in college radio at that same time.
About that time was when I discovered other things like Lyn Collin's 'Think (About It)'.
Thing is, they were both tunes that were decades old but, were experiencing a new birth by being sample by popular rap artists. Rob Base's sampling of Lyn Collins was playing out of every car that summer. EVERY damn car. It was crazy. While D-Nice's treatment of 'Crumbs' by Laura Lee wasn't as widely received it still justified my insatiable fever for getting to the 'roots' of the issue. My grand scheme would be to promote and  illuminate the 'real' artists. Well, over the years not much has changed in my agenda.

Modeled after her LP 'Women's Love Rights' Laura Lee was one of many soul sisters etching new territory for women in R&B and soul. Both with great feeling and depth, yet asserting a new power obtained by gains in the Women's movement. Ann Pebbles, Ann Sexton, and Laura Lee brought raspy rough vocals and tuff 'If You Can Beat me Rockin, You Can Have My Chair' attitudes. She spoke out to people and got personal within peoples relationships. On the curtails of Honey Cone's 'Want Ads' she brought us 'Women's Love Rights'...and in the footsteps of Freda Payne's 'Band Of Gold' she delivered 'Wedlock Is A Padlock'. Her message is basically loud and clear through her song titles. 'Her Picture Matches Mine', 'Love And Liberty', 'Rip Off', and 'I Don't Want Anything Old (But Money)'. The face of soul was changing and sultry soul sisters were changing the game.

Laura tried an impressive set of labels. With early releases on Ric-Tic and Chess, then onto Cotillion and her mainstay Hot Wax. She enjoyed most of her success at Hot Wax with singles 'Women’s Love Rights' and 'Rip Off' reaching the pop and R&B charts. Before her departure from Hot Wax she had a few more singles... 'If I'm Old Enough To Love (I'm Old Enough To Marry), 'Crumbs Off The Table' and the classic 'If You Can Beat Me Rockin' (You Can Have My Chair)'.  But, as amazing and brilliant as they were, they didn't chart as well as her earlier singles.


She laid low in the mid seventies but became active in the gospel genre again in the late seventies and early eighties. Gospel music was her original starting point and after a bout with cancer she devoted herself entirely to gospel music. It was rumored that she had a lengthy romantic relationship with Al Green and in 1983 they collaborated on 'Jesus Is The Light Of My Life' for the Myrrh label.  She also, much like Al Green became an ordained minister and continues to record and perform gospel music.

For me this is one of thee most bad ass sister funk tunes. It's empowering, yet entirely devoted. Wildly busty with incredible production and the breakdown is savage and completely legendary in the funk and soul world. This is top notch stuff here. So glad Laura Lee got her start and brought us to this incredibly funky place.

Laura Lee - Crumbs Off The Table

Van Twist - Hot Wax

Seems we're on instrumentals at the moment. This is a good thing. Especially when sizzler hot tracks like this are loaded into the barrel of the audio gun. I stumbled onto this track somehow, and perhaps I had the info or song title wrong, so I couldn't find it for the life of me. Now that I have, I share it with you. It's a relatively common record, when you have the proper title and name, just a little more rare when you don't have your shit straight. This is the b side to their version of Shaft which I will say is quite terrible. I believe the year is '84 and these cats put together some synth and bass lines and rounded it out with a bit of the ole cowbell. Nice. It's one of my favorite instrumentals at the moment and perfect for setting the mood at a outdoor dj gig, or summer bbq. Enter Van Twist.

Van Twist - Hot Wax