Mitty Collier (Born 21/06/1941)

Mitty is now probably best remembered for her truly exceptional ballad 'I Had A Talk With My Man' - based on the James Cleveland gospel 'I Had A Talk With God' and recorded and released in 1965. But this stellar release is far from the complete story and the recent release of the Chess singles anthology on Kent records provides an appropriate opportunity to pick up on Collier's career, especially her tenure at Chess records.

Like many before her and since, Mitty was initially attracted to music through the gospel of her local church in Birmingham, Alabama. While she was still at college she started singing secular material and performing in local R&B clubs. Following a visit to her brother, who had moved to Chicago, she entered a number of talent shows, the most important of which was probably the Al Benson show, which she won for seven weeks in a row. Benson had strong ties with Chess Records and, on the back of her talent show success, Ralph Bass from Chess saw her perform and offered her a recording contract

Initial recording sessions from 1961 onwards included 'I've Got to Get Away From It All'  and 'I've Got Love'. The release was picked up and reviewed by a number of the music publications of the day but her first chart success didn't come until the 1963 release of 'I'm Your Part Time Love' (an answer record to Johnnie Taylor's 'Part Time Love'). Before her next hit, she released a terrific version of 'Let Them Talk' that failed to chart. By this time Mitty had been at Chess for around four years with only one appearance on the R&B charts to show for it. 

'I Had A Talk...' was the next single to be released and became Mitty's second R&B chart success. Fantastic arrangement, truly exceptional vocal performance and a great song - an instant classic that managed #3 on the Cashbox R&B charts. It also reached #41 on the hot 100 and obviously deserved to go much higher. 'No Faith, No Love' was the follow up, another adaptation of a Cleveland song. Another great performance, it nonetheless only managed #49 on the Billboard charts. 

Other releases followed (including the album "Shades Of A Genius") but further chart success was proving illusive. 'For My Man' was just a bit too similar to 'I Had A Talk' although the flip 'Help Me' was a punchy track that merited a bigger push from Chess. As Tony Rounce has commented in his liner notes for The Chess singles anthology, Chess has in the past been criticised by many of its former artists over its payment of appropriate royalties but there is no denying its commitment to Mitty. She stated with the label for eight years and Chess only managed to get four reasonably sized hits out of all the sessions held in that period. In the end her biggest hit wasn't 'I Had A Talk' but a 1966 release called 'Sharing You', which reached #10 on the Billboard charts (Billboard wasn't publishing R&B charts when 'I Had A Man' was released. New releases followed every six months or so, but no chart success. 'My Party' in particular is fantastic, almost as intense as her most famous recording. 

In 1969 Mitty left Chess and joined the Atlanta independent label Peachtree but by 1972 she had abandoned secular recording completely. Following recovery from polyps on the vocal chords she did at least begin singing again, but only gospel / spiritual recordings.

Her post pop career has seen Mitty develop her own ministry, work at the University of Illinois, receive an honorary doctorate and B.A, as well as release a series of gospel albums. For R&B lovers however, her tenure at Chess is a "must hear". With the release of Kent's "Shades Of Mitty Collier - The Chess Singles 1961 - 1968" we've all got the chance to do just that. A must have in any R&B collection, I'd urge everyone to get it while it stays in print.