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Canned sadness
Shut away for half a century, a soul legend’s shelved recordings make it into the light and on to vinyl. For collectors only, says Jim Irvin.
She wants to save you: Irma Thomas, at seay in the ’70s.
BETWEEN 1961 and ’65, Irma Thomas – once dubbed, probably by a press agent, the Soul Queen of New Orleans – cut superb singles: It’s Too Soon To Know, Cry On, It’s Raining, and many others for the local Minit label under the auspices of Allen Toussaint, who wrote lively arrangements in the spirit of contemporary girl groups like The Shirelles. When Minit was sold to Imperial, Irma was upset enough to write a song called Wish Someone Would Care. Ironically, it became her first US pop hit, and the title song of her debut album.