Private Numbers

Judy Clay has ten of the 18 tracks on this CD, the remainder belonging to Veda Brown, an even more obscure late-period Stax female soul belter. Clay’s work for the label was gutsier in general than the sides she waxed during the same time for Atlantic, although only one of them made any chart impact, “Private Number” (a duet with William Bell). Including six solo turns and four duets with Bell, the material compiled here (all from 1968-69) is solid, but doesn’t catch fire that often. The best cuts are the just-a-bit-bluesy “Private Number,” the pop-inflected deep soul ballad “It’s Me” (penned by Isaac Hayes and David Porter), and a far more overlooked gem, “Children, Don’t Get Weary,” a minor-keyed, sparsely produced gospel-soul hybrid. On the latter track, Clay lets loose to a greater degree than she ever had before, or would ever do again. – Richie Unterberger