Annie Laurie was an R&B, blues and sophisticated jazz and pop singer born in Atlanta, Ga., in 1924, who came to prominence in 1947 with her debut hit “Since I Fell For You”, and over the next 15 years recorded and released material which brought her several more successes in both pop and R&B charts, recording for much of the early era of her career with a trio and band led by pianist and songwriter Paul Gayten. At the start of her career she recorded at Cosimo Matassa’s legendary J&M Studios in New Orleans, which gave her work from those years a distinctive Crescent City sound. This excellent- value 51-track 2-CD set comprises comprising most of the A & B sides of her releases on the Cosmo, De Luxe, Regal, Okeh, Savoy and Ritz labels from this era, including performances with the bands of Paul Gayten and Danny Kessler, as she rode the waves of the upheavals in the market occasioned by the advent of rock ‘n’ roll to take her hit-making career into the 1960s. It features all her career pop and R&B chart entries, including the R&B No. 3 hits “Since I Fell For You” and “It Hurts To Be In Love”, and her other Top 10 hits “Cuttin’ Out” and “I’ll Never Be Free”. She was a highly versatile vocal stylist, equally at home with upbeat jump blues material, grooving R&B songs, and smoothly polished jazz-flavoured pop, and this collection provides a varied and entertaining showcase for her distinctive talent.
