If This Is Heaven
,
Ann Peebles
' 1977 attempt to merge her
Southern soul
influences with the
disco
grooves that were dominating the airwaves and the charts, proved to be a commercial disappointment, and for her next album,
Peebles
and longtime producer
Willie Mitchell
took a grand step backwards. Released in 1979,
The Handwriting Is on the Wall
boasted some high-powered
funk
backdrops, but for the most part the album finds
taking on a set of straight-ahead
soul
numbers in which she was usually either taking a man away from some woman who didn't know how to hold on to him, or was warning the ladies why they should stay away from her significant other.
is a tower of defiant sass on
"I Didn't Take Your Man"
and
"You've Got the Papers (I've Got the Man),"
she leaves no doubt about why she's dating outside her age group on
"Old Man with Young Ideas,"
"Bip Bam Thank You Mam"
alerts listeners to the consequences of not pleasing
Ms. Peebles
.
pairs
up with some full-bodied
arrangements for these songs, and while unfortunately most of the great
Hi Rhythm Section
were unavailable for this record, the players on board do fine work, even if the groove lacks the ineffable touch of
' finest work.
was
' last album for
Hi
, and the last new set she would release until 1988, but it captures one of the great
R&B
singers of the 1970s doing what she does best, and here she bows out on a high point. ~ Mark Deming