Regularly praised as the Queen of Memphis Soul, Carla Thomas is a Memphis Music Hall of Famer who scored numerous hits throughout the 1960s both solo and in duets with her father Rufus Thomas and her Stax Records labelmate Otis Redding. As the 1970s began, Thomas visited American Sound Studio in her home city and cut a batch of songs for a record that, with the exception of one single, remained unreleased until 2013. On April 12 that album, Sweet Sweetheart, makes its vinyl debut for Record Store Day 2025 through Craft Recordings. Cut with producer Chips Moman, the 11-song set has a warm, unified sound as Thomas interprets a wide range of material from the period.
She might take a back seat to such soul heavyweights as Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight, but Carla Thomas still makes the short list of the great women soul singers. The reasons are many, but much of her stature comes down to the centrality of her work in the story of Stax Records, where she makes her entrance way back before the beginning.
Thomas scored her first hit in 1960 with the self-penned and Chops Moman-produced “Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)” for Satellite Records, the label of Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton that would change its name to Stax the following year. It was Thomas’ second single in a long string that spanned the decade alongside a half-dozen full-length records beginning with Gee Whiz in 1961 and concluding with Love Means… in 1971.
Thomas’ discography expands with King & Queen, her collab set with Otis Redding released in 1967, plus three Best of comps and a pair of records capturing her in performance. Live in Memphis, issued in 2002 by the Memphis International label, documented a show from the previous year with a gang of city all-stars, and Live at the Bohemian Caverns, a 2007 released by Stax of a set from the storied Washington, DC venue (Ramsey Lewis’ The In Crowd was recorded there) dated from 40 years prior (with her father also on the bill).
The album under review here emerged in 2013 on the Ace Records CD Sweet Sweetheart, The American Studio Sessions and More. The only previously released tunes from the core album, “I Loved You Like I Love My Very Life” and “Hi De Ho (That Old Sweet Roll)” comprised a 1970 single that didn’t chart and likely resulted in the LP getting shelved.
Both sides of the single find Thomas in strong form, the a-side a piano driven and string laden Phil Spector co-write (also recorded in an obscure version by Darlene Love) that attains its emotional plateau without strain. The flip is a sweet Southern stroll through a Goffin-King number that’s more than a bit reminiscent of Dusty In Memphis, as is much of the album overall.
This is especially the case with opener “Country Road” (a James Taylor song) and “I’m Getting’ Closer to You.” An exceptional version of the Bee Gees’ “To Love Somebody” diverts from the Dusty template a bit (although the electric keyboard and horns do retain the Southern feel) and it’s frankly hard to believe the song remained unreleased for over 40 years.
Another big surprise is the guitar flourishes in “Heavy Load,” which hit the ear a bit like the string tangles on Television’s Marquee Moon. Crazy coincidence. But mostly Sweet Sweetheart is just a solid session built on confidence, skill and wise decisions that should’ve hit stores and on wax way back in 1970. It may not have proved a strong seller in a changing musical climate, but Thomas at least deserved the shot.
GRADED ON A CURVE:
A-
