Back catalogue: 50s/60s

Review: Irma Thomas, born Irma Lee in New Orleans, is routinely hailed the Soul Queen of the city. Once billed among Aretha Franklin and Etta James, Thomas eventually found her own recognition as an originary light repping New Orleans, less an international, commercial success story. Beginning her career in 1959, she was one of many voices who sung for a watershed moment r&b and soul, as labels like Minit and Imperial helped solidify the genre's identification with Louisiana, with its designs on the Southern soul genre at large. In 1966, Thomas released her second solo album, now reissued here through MOV. Including the iconic song 'Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand)', which was co-written by Randy Newman and country star Jeannie Seely, the track became a hit, finding a toehold on the Billboard Hot 100. Beyond its commercial success, the ballad has garnered widespread recognition, notably appearing in several episodes of the hit series Black Mirror. But it's the record as a whole that really stirs our guts, obviating Thomas' early-career openness to romance and excess: "oh-oh, take a look at this girl, I'm the girl that wants you..." goes the title track...