Esther Phillips - From A Whisper To A Scream
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Esther Phillips - vocals
Vocals – Barbara Massey, Hilda Harris, Joshie Armstead, Louis St. Louis, Tasha Thomas
Alto Saxophone – Hank Crawford
Baritone Saxophone – David Liebman
Bass – Gordon Edwards
Cello – Alan Shulman, Charles McCracken
Drums – Bernard Purdie
Flugelhorn – John Eckert, John Gatchell
Flute – David Liebman, Frank Vicari
Guitar – Cornell Dupree, Eric Gale
Harp – Margaret Ross
Organ – Richard Tee
Percussion – Airto Moreira
Piano – Richard Tee
Tenor Saxophone – Frank Vicari
Trombone – Dick Griffin, Sam Burtis
Trumpet – John Eckert, John Gatchell
Viola – Harold Coletta, Harry Zaratzian
Violin – Alvin Rogers, Charles Libove, Guy Lumia, Jack Zayde, Leo Kahn, Max Hollander, Max Pollikoff, Michael Comins, Paul Winter
Arranged by Pee Wee Ellis, Jack Wilson (A5, B3, B4)
Strings arranged by Don Sebesky (A1, A2, A3, A4, B2)
Conductor – Pee Wee Ellis
1LP, standard sleeve
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : Black
Speed : 33 RPM
Size : 12'’
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : unspecified
Label : Pure Pleasure
Original Label : Kudu
Recorded December 1971 at Rudy Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey
Engineered by Rudy Van Gelder
Produced by Creed Taylor
Remastered by Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London
Originally released in 1971
Reissued in 2014
Tracks:
Side A:
- Home Is Where the Hatred Is
- From A Whisper To A Scream
- To Lay Down Beside You
- That's All Right With Me
- 'Til My Back Ain't Got No Bone
Side B:
- Sweet Touch of Love
- Baby, I'm For Real
- Your Love Is So Doggone good
- Scarred Knees
Reviews:
“Esther Phillips is one of the best – and, sadly, least remembered – Rhythm and Blues singers of the 20thCentury. Discovered by Johnny Otis, she was twice nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and received four Grammy nominations. This comeback record of 1972 accounted for one of those nominations. Like Philips, the CTI sister label Kudu is little remembered today. Kudu released 39 soul jazz albums in the 1970’s and seven of those were from Phillips
Joined by an excellent backing band from the Creed Taylor CTI stable, Phillips turns in a sizzling performance of songs celebrating her scars from love and drugs. Phillips died at the age of 48 from her liver and kidney failure resulting from drug use, and some of the song lyrics here express the painful ravages of drugs. That tight jazz/blues band, along with a dozen strings, and a half dozen backing singers, in absolutely no way interferes with her ability to pull the last ounce of meaning from a ballad. Recorded at Rudy Vabn Gelder’s studio, the excellent sound is enhanced by Ray Staff’s mastering and the whisper quiet vinyl surfaces.
Another winner from Pure Pleasure, and one that belongs in any R&B lover’s collection.” Dennis Davis, Hi-Fi+, April 2015
“One of Esther Phillips finest '70s releases, From a Whisper to a Scream is the first of seven albums the singer recorded for CTI offshoot Kudu. Arranged and conducted by Pee Wee Ellis, the December 1971 session also involved principal players such as bassist Gordon Edwards, drummer Bernard Purdie, percussionist Airto, guitarists Cornell Dupree and Eric Gale, keyboardist Richard Tee, and saxophonists Hank Crawford and David Liebman. Setting the tone for Phillips' Kudu era, Whisper offers a series of spacious, yet fully arranged ballads of burning heartache, along with a handful of relatively funky numbers that do nothing to compromise her talent, dishing out loads of classy grit. It's a definite point of departure from the likes of Esther Phillips Sings and And I Love Him, her field of contemporaries closer to Al Green and Aretha Franklin than before. She grabs onto "Home Is Where the Hatred Is," Gil Scott-Heron's most harrowing rumination on drug dependency -- which, at that point, wasn't even a year old -- as if it were her very own, and it's all the more poignant given its parallels with her own life. (Its meaning was only compounded by her death in 1984.) Though there is absolutely nothing lacking in the album's more energetic moments, it's still the ballads that shine brightest, like the alternately fragile and explosive "From a Whisper to a Scream" (Allen Toussaint) and a staggering "Baby, I'm for Real" (Marvin and Anna Gordy, made popular by the Originals) so vulnerable yet commanding that it really should've closed the album.” AllMusic Review by Andy Kellman
Ratings :
AllMusic : 4 / 5 ; Discogs : 4.5 / 5 , Hi-Fi+ : Music 9/10, Recording 8/10