Mirettes, the - Whirlpool [1969 Ex-Ikettes] - New LP

While I have never heard this entire album, everything I have heard was smoking, gritty and soulful, as one would expect from the 1964-1965 version of Ikettes (Robbie Montgomery, Vanette Fields and Jessie Smith) who jumped Ike Turner's ship (and had to use a new name since Ike owned the Ikettes moniker).   The set opens with the funky rocking "Sister Watch Yourself," a classic warning to young sisters from the big sisters.  The title track comes soon after, another essential.  "Heart Full of Gladness" opens side two with a jump.  The three producers (Clarence Paul, Ernie Shelby and Dick Cooper) are credited as the writers of most of the material, but Montgomery is credited to the soulful mid-tempo burner "So Lonely" where the group goes into pure girl group mode. The women also cover Marvin Gaye's 1969 "At Last (I Found Love)" and a funked up version of Tammy Wynette's 1969 "Stand By Your Man."  Throughout the set, the understated guitar licks help carve out a greasy groove. Apparently, they only released two albums, but you'd find these women gracing so many albums in the 1970s with their gold-plated vocals.-- winch