Doris Duke – I'm A Loser (The Swamp Dogg Sessions... And More)

Ok. I hear you. I’ve listened to this album a few times. I like a few tracks. She can sing. But for some reason the Irma Thomas’ ‘In between Tears’ album resonates more. ‘These four walls’ .. ‘what’s so wrong with you loving me’ ‘You are the dog, I’ll do the barking myself’, they are the amazing strong tracks.

Maybe coz I was 18 when I first heard that Irma album, it meant more to me. But Irma stood up for herself, like Millie Jackson and Shirley Brown. Goddam they are bout the only female artists I can listen to.

By no means am I suggesting that if you’re a man that you can’t enjoy the music of Doris Duke … what I am saying, is that if you’re a woman, then the music found here resinates with a ion and grace that you will instantly recognize and emotionally relate to.

For the most part, a woman’s world is not as expansive as a man’s, of course part of that is due to societal constraints, and part of it comes from the simple nature of being a woman, with no one managing to capture that more truthfully over the years than Doris Duke … especially here on the extended Swamp Dog Sessions, where you’re treated to twenty-six of the warmest, most intimate, personal and earthy honest songs that you’ll ever run across.

Doris rose out of the southern soul scene during the turbulent 60’s, giving off the kind of chills you got when hearing Otis Redding for the first time, though Doris does it without the fanfare, free of the pop aspirations and intonations, free of the need to impress, cutting right to the heart with candor and consideration, often letting the tears flow, and nearly divinely inspiring an essential blueprint for the deepest bluest soul music to ever make its way down a dusty sunbaked dirt road.  That being said, the songs delivered here are intensely tight, with backing instrumental arrangements that allow the vocals of Doris to carry the songs forward with lightly clenched fists that don’t so much punch, but stand as a defining structure of ionate strength.

True honest soul music is not about the vocal ranges, it’s about the conviction, and Duke hands down lays out some of the best that you’re ever going to hear, making you not only feel every word she sings, but allowing you to understand the experience, the nature, and the perception that lives behind those lyrics.  Yes, there are amazingly fresh embellishments and musical touches that surround and evolve each song, though her music is far beyond cliches or even hooks … she just stands and delivers one knockout track after another.  All of this causes me to seriously wonder why Doris Duke never hit the big time.  Though for listeners like myself, and those like me, who see themselves as a bit of an elitist, who want to spin something new on my turntable for friends, something that will send shivers down their spine, this is one of the albums I turn to time and time again.

This compilation is a treasure, featuring all of the tracks from her albums I’m A Loser and A legend In Her Own Time, along with some rare singles that were cut when she went by the name of Doris Willingham.  So if you love the music of Ottis Redding, Syl Johnson, Al Green or Candi Staton, this release will ride comfortably low in your back pocket for years to come … and if you’re not familiar with the artists I’ve just mentioned, then you surely might want to investigate them as well.  All and all, the album is delivered with minimal and tasteful arrangements, this record makes for a heartfelt listen, being one of the finest souther soul and R&B outings that you’re ever gonna run across.

Review by Jenell Kesler [Copyrighted Review]