Listen: It Should Have Been Me / Yvonne Fair YvonneFairShould.mp3

Taking a page right out of the Millie Jackson handbook, Yvonne Fair ripped into Norman Whitfield’s written and produced ‘It Should Have Been Me’. Taken from the equally powerful THE BITCH IS BLACK album, how the fuck this wasn’t a hit in America is just bewildering.

Scaling to #5 in the UK, it went unheard back home and it wasn’t like she was an unknown here. Cutting her teeth as a member of The Chantels and then The James Brown Review, she joined Motown in the early 70′s. Now this song certainly deserved a serious video, still does.

Listen: Maybe / The ChantelsChantelsMaybe.mp3

The chances of hearing this on any US oldies stations these days seem pretty slim. It was not always the case. I came to appreciate ‘Maybe’ even more in the 70′s, a result of Janis Joplin covering it with her Kosmic Blues Band. I searched out The Chantels version desperately after she did a killer version at the Syracuse War Memorial in May ’69 – having no patience to wait for hers later in the year. Within weeks of that show, Janis appeared on the syndicated program, MUSIC SCENE, wearing the same crushed velvet outfit. It’s one of the few bits of footage that really captures her:

I was reminded of all this today, when finding a copy of The Chantels crazy rare album at an Episcopal Church Of Christ yard sale in a small upstate town, where we stopped for some lunch. It was a gem amongst many. Not to mention the sweet potato pies, the cornbread/mac & cheese/string bean platter from their food stall and a whole lot of 45′s.