IRMA THOMAS: RARE: TAKE A LOOK: IMPERIAL ('65) NM HEAR

$

46

ARTIST : IRMA THOMAS

TITLE : TAKE A LOOK

REMARKS:  ORIGINAL JUST FOUND!!! More than 1,000 LPs in NM Conditions (most look UNPLAYED!) from the late 1960s thru the Early 70s most  Funk, Soul, Salsa & early 70s Rock.....Keep looking at Ebay's CAF1942

AND THEN.... ONE OF THEM...A CLASSIC HARD TO FIND NORTHERN SOUL!!!!

WEB REMARKS:

CD review: "collectors and fans have been waiting to hear most of this stuff on CD for a couple decades...or they've paid top dollar for other CDs just to get another one or two of the deep tracks featured here.

The "Take a Look" album is probably better sequenced and selected than her first album, and weirdly, a bunch of Irma's best performances of the era didn't make it to either of these albums back then (four great songs weren't released at all until 1992). Most of this material is in a different, more bombastic, high-production vein than her earlier New Orleans-styled stuff for Minit."

THE STORY BEHIND ONE GREAT SINGER AND ONE BIG BUT UNDERRATED RECORD:

In 1963 Minit was bought by Imperial Records (which was in turn bought by Liberty), and Irma became an Imperial artist. Her first Imperial single, "Wish Someone Would Care"/"Break-A-Way", was also the biggest hit of her career, reaching #17 on Billboard's pop chart in the spring 1964 - a respectable achievement considering that the first wave of Beatlemania had just hit the USA a few months earlier (Billboard didn't publish r&b charts in 1964, but the record hit #2 on the Cash Box r&b chart).  

Imperial released nine singles and two albums from Irma during her three-year stay on the label, and although none of the later singles was as successful as the first one, they were all great records. The first follow-up single, "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)"/"Time Is On My Side" was possibly the greatest of them all: "Anyone Who Knows..." is a magnificent uptown ballad, while the flip became better known as one of the Rolling Stones' early hits - although their cover version was only a bland note-for-note copy of Irma's recording.

Many of Irma's Imperial singles were big productions, similar to the records Dionne Warwick, Maxine Brown and Gladys Knight & Pips were making at the time. At first her material was recorded in Los Angeles (with backing vocals by Darlene Love and the Blossoms), but some of her later records were cut in New York under the supervision of Jerry Ragovoy, who also produced numerous memorable records with Garnet Mimms, Howard Tate and Lorraine Ellison. Imperial was also able to get her first class material from many of the top songwriters, including Van McCoy ("Times Have Changed", "He's My Guy", "It's Starting To Get To Me Now", "Some Things You Never Get Used To"), Randy Newman ("While the City Sleeps", "Baby Don't Look Down"), and Burt Bacharach and Hal David ("Live Again", "Long After Tonight Is All Over" - both unissued at the time).

Her first four Imperial singles all charted on Billboard's pop chart, but unfortunately the success of her later Imperial releases didn't live up to the expectations (one of them missed charts completely, and four of them "bubbled under", but did not hit the Top 100). "I had this gut feeling that my career was about to take off", Irma explained later, "I mean, I would have been up there with the Gladys Knights and the Dionne Warwicks and those people, because I was doing material equal to or better than the same stuff they were doing at the time [...] There was a misunderstanding about me as an artist. They thought I would be difficult to work with, when I really wasn't. I just wasn't getting good direction."

Another reason for the negligible success of these records might be that Imperial didn't have too many successful r&b acts at the time (the days of Fats Domino were long gone), and it's possible that the company simply wasn't very good at promoting them. Even if that was the case, you can't blame Imperial for not trying to do their best in 1965-66. They briefly reunited Irma with her former mentor, Allen Toussaint, who wrote and produced two real gems for her, "Take a Look" and "Wait, Wait, Wait", and when "Take a Look" somehow failed to reach the Hot One Hundred, they brought in James Brown to produce one more final attempt ("It's a Man's - Woman's World") at reviving her career. Although the song borrowed intriguing elements from at least three previous number one r&b hits ("It's a Man's Man's Man's World", "When a Man Loves a Woman" and "You'll Lose a Good Thing"), it didn't become the hit everybody hoped for, and today Irma considers it the worst record she's ever done!

 1- TAKE A LOOK
2- TEASING, BUT YOU'RE PLEASING
3- I HAVEN'T GOT TIME TO CRY
4- YOU DON'T MISS A GOOD THING (UNTIL IT'S GONE)
5- SOME THINGS YOU NEVER GET USED TO
6- ANYONE WHO KNOWS WHAT LOVE IS (WILL UNDERSTAND)

1- IT'S STARTING TO GET TO ME KONW
2- TIMES HAVE CHANGED
3- HE'S MY GUY
4- BABY, DON'T LOOK DOWN
5- WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO
6- WAIT, WAIT, WAIT

PERSONNEL:SEE REMARKS...

Produced By Allen Toussaint

WEB REMARKS:

CD review: "collectors and fans have been waiting to hear most of this stuff on CD for a couple decades...or they've paid top dollar for other CDs just to get another one or two of the deep tracks featured here.

The "Take a Look" album is probably better sequenced and selected than her first album, and weirdly, a bunch of Irma's best performances of the era didn't make it to either of these albums back then (four great songs weren't released at all until 1992). Most of this material is in a different, more bombastic, high-production vein than her earlier New Orleans-styled stuff for Minit."

THE STORY BEHIND ONE GREAT SINGER AND ONE BIG BUT UNDERRATED RECORD:

In 1963 Minit was bought by Imperial Records (which was in turn bought by Liberty), and Irma became an Imperial artist. Her first Imperial single, "Wish Someone Would Care"/"Break-A-Way", was also the biggest hit of her career, reaching #17 on Billboard's pop chart in the spring 1964 - a respectable achievement considering that the first wave of Beatlemania had just hit the USA a few months earlier (Billboard didn't publish r&b charts in 1964, but the record hit #2 on the Cash Box r&b chart).  

Imperial released nine singles and two albums from Irma during her three-year stay on the label, and although none of the later singles was as successful as the first one, they were all great records. The first follow-up single, "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)"/"Time Is On My Side" was possibly the greatest of them all: "Anyone Who Knows..." is a magnificent uptown ballad, while the flip became better known as one of the Rolling Stones' early hits - although their cover version was only a bland note-for-note copy of Irma's recording.

Many of Irma's Imperial singles were big productions, similar to the records Dionne Warwick, Maxine Brown and Gladys Knight & Pips were making at the time. At first her material was recorded in Los Angeles (with backing vocals by Darlene Love and the Blossoms), but some of her later records were cut in New York under the supervision of Jerry Ragovoy, who also produced numerous memorable records with Garnet Mimms, Howard Tate and Lorraine Ellison. Imperial was also able to get her first class material from many of the top songwriters, including Van McCoy ("Times Have Changed", "He's My Guy", "It's Starting To Get To Me Now", "Some Things You Never Get Used To"), Randy Newman ("While the City Sleeps", "Baby Don't Look Down"), and Burt Bacharach and Hal David ("Live Again", "Long After Tonight Is All Over" - both unissued at the time).

Her first four Imperial singles all charted on Billboard's pop chart, but unfortunately the success of her later Imperial releases didn't live up to the expectations (one of them missed charts completely, and four of them "bubbled under", but did not hit the Top 100). "I had this gut feeling that my career was about to take off", Irma explained later, "I mean, I would have been up there with the Gladys Knights and the Dionne Warwicks and those people, because I was doing material equal to or better than the same stuff they were doing at the time [...] There was a misunderstanding about me as an artist. They thought I would be difficult to work with, when I really wasn't. I just wasn't getting good direction."

Another reason for the negligible success of these records might be that Imperial didn't have too many successful r&b acts at the time (the days of Fats Domino were long gone), and it's possible that the company simply wasn't very good at promoting them. Even if that was the case, you can't blame Imperial for not trying to do their best in 1965-66. They briefly reunited Irma with her former mentor, Allen Toussaint, who wrote and produced two real gems for her, "Take a Look" and "Wait, Wait, Wait", and when "Take a Look" somehow failed to reach the Hot One Hundred, they brought in James Brown to produce one more final attempt ("It's a Man's - Woman's World") at reviving her career. Although the song borrowed intriguing elements from at least three previous number one r&b hits ("It's a Man's Man's Man's World", "When a Man Loves a Woman" and "You'll Lose a Good Thing"), it didn't become the hit everybody hoped for, and today Irma considers it the worst record she's ever done!

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Record Grading: Standard guidelines for grading records comes down to a subjective judgment that may vary from person to person. We grade records and LP covers visually AND (when possible) play-tested. We make every effort to give full disclosure (remember that the LP has at least 12 tracks and the grading may vary between each other)  and your satisfaction is guaranteed. Don't assume that our vinyl determination of "Very Good+" is the same as yours!

RECORD OR COVER GRADED VG or LESS WILL BE "SOLD AS IS"

MINT: Unplayed, still sealed.
 

NM RECORDS: are shiny, with no visible defects, they might have one or 2 minor superficial scuff and they should play without any noise. Writing, stickers or other markings cannot appear on the label, nor can any “spindle marks” from someone trying to blindly put the record on the turntable. Major factory defects also must not be present; a record and label obviously pressed off center is not Near Mint. If played, it will do so with no surface noise. (NM records don’t have to be “never played”; a record used on an excellent turntable can remain NM after many plays if the disc is properly cared for.)

NM COVERS:

have no creases, ring wear or seam splits of any kind.

Picture Sleeves: should look as if they never housed a record. This is a great reason to remove your 45s from their picture sleeves and keep them separate. Just keeping the 45 inside the sleeve will cause damage than can reduce the grade of the sleeve.  

VG++ (Excellent) RECORDS: 
Barely noticeable play wear and background noise. May have surface scuffs and/or superficial marks, which will be inaudible or indiscernible from the background, no scratches. Very nice, flaws noted.
VG++ COVERS:
Artwork is still as close to perfect as can be. Some impression to the cover (minor outer ring wear) but no ink wear! Some slight creases to the corners, but not wrinkled and obtrusive to the eye. The corners can show white (where the artwork pasted slick was) meaning, slight wear. No seam splits or writing on the cover or taped repairs can make this grade.  

VG+ RECORDS:

may show some slight signs of wear, including light scuffs or very light scratches that do not affect the listening experience. Slight warps that do not affect the sound are OK. Minor signs of handling are OK, too, such as telltale marks around the center hole, but repeated playing has not misshapen the hole. There may be some very light ring wear or discoloration, but it should be barely noticeable.

VG+ COVERS:
should have only minor wear. A VG+ cover might have some very minor seam wear or a split (less than one inch long) at the bottom, the most vulnerable location. Also, a VG+ cover may have some defacing, such as a cut-out marking. Covers with cut-out markings can never be considered Near Mint.

VG+ PICTURE SLEEVES:
might show some very light creasing where it is obvious that a record once resided (or still does reside). A VG+ picture sleeve might have some very minor seam wear or a split (less than one inch long) at the bottom, the sleeve’s most vulnerable location. 

VG RECORDS:

They have more obvious flaws than their counterparts in better shape. They lack most of the original gloss found on factory-fresh records. Groove wear is evident on sight, as are light scratches deep enough to feel with a fingernail. When played, a VG record has surface noise, and some scratches  may be audible, especially in soft passages and during a song’s intro and ending. But the noise will not overpower the music otherwise. Minor writing, tape, or a sticker can detract from the label. Many collectors who have jukeboxes   will use VG records in them and not think twice. They remain a fine listening experience, just not the same as if it were in better shape.

VG COVERS and PICTURE SLEEVES:
will have many signs of human handling. Ring wear  in the middle or along the edges of the cover where the edge of a record would  reside, is obvious, though not overwhelming. Some more creases might be  visible. Seam splitting will be more obvious; it may appear on all three sides,  though it won’t be obvious upon looking. Someone might have written or stamped  a price tag on it, too.

RECORDS GRADED VG OR BELOW WILL BE "SOLD AS IS"

Items are to be paid within 7 days (if not paid by that time it will be subject for relisting) of auction close and will be shipped within 48 hours of receipt of payment. Paypal is the preferred method of payment.
 
Carlos A. Flores 25830 Crippen Dr. Land O' Lakes, FL  34639