Soulful Dress (CD - 1984)

Marcia Ball got things started in a celebratory fashion on her debut Rounder release, doing the title track in a taunting, challenging manner aided by flashy guitar riffs from Stevie Ray Vaughan. From there, she artfully displayed other sides of her personality, from dismayed to defiant and assured. Her rendition of "Soul On Fire" was heartfelt, but didn't approach the majestic quality of Lavern Baker's original. She did much better on "I Don't Want No Man," striking the air of disdain and dissatisfaction that Bobby "Blue" Bland immortalized on "I Don't Want No Woman"; guitarist Kenny Ray even got the Wayne Bennett licks down perfectly. ~ Ron Wynn minimize