Esther Phillips - From A Whisper To A Scream (Expanded Edition)

RE-PRESS: CD ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN 2016

• Hailed as her ‘career’ album ‘From A Whisper To A Scream’ re-established the late Esther Phillips as a prominent soul and jazz artist in 1972.

• Originally re-issued in 1988 with four bonus tracks, this expanded edition has been out of print for several years.

• With notes by com founder David Nathan including quotes from a 1973 interview with Esther.

Originally a chart-topping child star with the Johnny Otis band in the early 50s, Little Esther battled drug addiction throughout the 60s during which she achieved some success with ‘Release Me’ (1963) and ‘And I Love Him’ (1965).

The sessions for ‘From A Whisper To A Scream’ found her surrounded by stellar players such as Gordon Edwards (bass), Bernard Purdie (drums), Airto Moreira (percussion), Cornell Dupree and Eric Gale (guitar), Richard Tee (keyboards) and labelmate Hank Crawford (on sax on selected tracks).

Handpicking the material herself, Esther included some R&B hits of the time – The Originals’ ‘Baby I’m For Real,’ Eddie Floyd’s ‘’Til My Back Ain’t Got No Bone’ – alongside two songs penned by Allen Toussaint, including the stirring title track. The album’s most notable cut was her true-to- life version of Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘Home Is Where The Hatred Is,’ which she was initially reluctant to record given its direct references to heroin addiction.