Sandra Phillips - Too Many People in One Bed

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 31 / 10 / 2013

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Review

The latest reissue from Alive Naturalsound Records of the Swamp Dogg (Jerry Williams Jr.) related back catalogue reaches a peak with the latest addition. According to the new sleeve notes by Swamp Dogg, ‘Too Many People in One Bed’ was never officially released but that’s not entirely correct. While it never made the shops during the era it was recorded (the early seventies) on it’s original label, Canyon, which went belly-up at that time, it was given an official release on Garry Cape’s Special Agent label some years later. It’s not the first time the album has been available on CD either, but this time Sandra Phillips' only album isn’t sharing disc space with another artist. Which, considering that ‘Too Many People in One Bed’ must rate as one of the best Swamp Dogg productions ever, if not the best, is the way it should be. Hearing this twelve-tracker again some forty years since it was recorded is a revelation. How could Sandra Phillips be allowed to turn her back on music after proving through these songs that she really was the Queen of Soul? Even taking just some of Swamp Dogg’s female protégés into consideration ( Doris Duke, Irma Thomas, Bette Williams, all excellent soul singers), Sandra Phillips remains the unsung Queen of Soul. Sandra’s recoding career began in the mid-sixties, and although the singles that were released up until the end of the sixties failed to make an impression at the time they were finally appreciated by the Northern Soul crowd almost a decade later. Swamp Dogg signed Sandra Phillips to the Canyon label in 1970 after he had become part of the A&R team there in 1969. Finding success almost immediately with Doris Duke’s ‘I’m a Loser’ album Canyon were also rewarded with their biggest selling single in the form of ‘To the Other Woman (I’m the Other Woman)’ which was pulled from that album. Unfortunately none of the songs on ‘Too Many People in One Bed’ were issued as singles which, especially at that period for a soul artist, meant little or no airplay for Sandra Phillips' debut album, yet another factor why the album sunk without trace at the time. Of the twelve songs on ‘Too Many People in One Bed’, only one doesn’t have a writer’s credit which includes Swamp Dogg’s name. The Johnny Bristol-penned Supremes hit, ‘Someday (We’ll Be Together)’ is tellingly the one song here that doesn’t work so well. While Sandra and Swamp have turned the funk levels up to eleven and taken the song in an entirely different direction to what Miss Ross and company did, when surrounded by this many Swamp Dogg classics the song just doesn’t stand up to the others despite an amazing soulful vocal performance from Sandra. If soul music fans weren’t so familiar with Doris Duke’s version of ‘To the Other Woman (I’m the Other Woman)’ then Sandra’s take on this album would be regarded much more highly than it is. While Sandra is easily a vocal match for Doris Duke (‘Ghost Of Myself’, another song recorded by both singers and featured here, is proof that Sandra can wring every ounce of emotion out of a song just like Doris can), for many the Doris Duke version of that song is the definitive one. The album opener, ‘Rescue Song’, makes a valid case for the Queen of Soul crown that Doris rather than Aretha should have worn. Sandra’s powerful vocals that have squeezed every last shred of feeling out of many a deep soul ballad here show that the lady can tackle R'n'B cuts with ease. But it’s not all down to that remarkable voice; the band Swamp Dogg used on these tracks (the same he used on all his Canyon sides) of Robert Powell on bass, drummer Johnny Sandlin, guitarist Pete Carr and Paul Hornsby on organ and piano are the perfect musicians to bring out the best not only in Sandra’s vocals but in Swamp Dogg’s songs. Apart from that Diana Ross and the Supremes’ cover, every song here is a soul classic, ‘She Didn’t Know (She Kept On Talking)’ really did deserve to reach a wider audience than it did at the time, but it was left to Dee Dee Warwick to take an inferior (but still brilliant) version into both the pop and R'n'B charts in 1970. Sandra Phillips lost out again. The brass-heavy, almost gospel-flavoured ‘Please Don’t Send Him Back to Me’ displays yet another side to Sandra’s vocal talents. Although Sandra only cut one more single after the initial failure of ‘Too Many People in One Bed’ (which again was criminally ignored), she did eventually find success as an actress including a role in the late-eighties movie ‘Lean on Me’ which also starred Morgan Freeman. So, while Sandra Phillips went on to a successful acting career for legions of soul fans, her greatest achievement will always be the dozen songs she cut with Swamp Dogg back in the seventies. Southern Soul aficionados will already know the gems this albums contains. For those taking tentative steps into this genre then waste no time in buying this album. It really is one of the best.

Track Listing:-

1 Rescue Song
2 I've Been Down So Long
3 My Man and Me
4 To the Other Woman (I'm the Othe
5 Now That I'm Gone (When Are You
6 Someday (We'll Be Together)
7 After All I Am Your Wife
8 Ghost of Myself
9 If You Get Him (He Was Never Mine
10 She Didn't Know (She Kept On Talk
11 Please Don't Send Him Back To Me
12 Some Mother's Son

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