Stax Records offered more to female vocal fans than foundational female vocalist Carla Thomas.

If you want to think of Thomas as Stax’ counterpart to Aretha “The First Lady of Soul” Franklin, then think of the vocal trio The Emotions as its counterpart to The Supremes. Sisters Sheila and Wanda Hutchinson plus cousin Theresa Davis came together as The Emotions through the machinations of Sheila and Wanda’s father Joseph, himself a guitarist.

This 1979 anthology Chronicles most of The Emotions’ best for Stax and comes adorned with liner notes by Lee Hildebrandt that accurately describe their “rare and uncanny vocal blend that is the result of related genes and a lifetime of singing together.”

The Emotions’ first Stax sessions were assigned to the label’s heaviest of heavyweight songwriters and producers, David Porter and Isaac Hayes, who wrote and produced four of these fourteen tunes. These include “The Best Part of a Love Affair,” a hymn to the virtues of making up after breaking up that you can really hear rendered in Hayes’ smooth, rich baritone; and “Stealin’ Love,” backed by the Bar-Kays rhythm section plus Hayes on keyboards and one of the final fruits of the Hayes-Porter partnership. (Label executives Al Bell and Jim Stewart also produced The Emotions, and they were managed for a time by Pervis Staples.)

Chronicles opens with their first Stax single (on the Volt subsidiary), Sheila’s composition “So I Can Love You,” delicately instrumented and yearning, which made it up to #3 R&B (#39 Pop) single. Papa Joe produced Chronicles‘ version of his tune, “Baby, I’m Through.”

Chronicles also delivers one more example of how Stax expanded its sound through the years. “I Could Never Be Happy” bows in the obvious direction of Diana Ross’ grandiose 1970 hit “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough,” right on down to its dramatic, stopped-time orchestra and spoken interlude before the climactic chorus. “My Honey and Me” sweetly remakes Luther Ingram’s hit tune and “Put a Little Love Away” is close to uncut sweet pop. (I swear the first time I heard this tune it was sung by The Ladybirds female vocal group on The Benny Hill Show.)

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