Fontella Bass - Rescue Me

You know those songs that everyone thinks is one singer and it's actually someone else. We've all corrected our friends when they coughed up the wrong singer. Well, I can't think of a song that I've heard people get wrong more than "Rescue Me".

Most people think it's an Aretha Franklin song. Fontella Bass recorded and released the song in 1965 on Chess Records. The song featured two unknown members of the backing back who went on to become stars in their own right. Maurice White (who later went on to form Earth, Wind & Fire) was on drums and a young Minnie Riperton was on backing vocals. The song went on to top the R&B charts for a month and reached #4 on the pop charts. It became a million selling single.


She never saw the success of "Rescue Me" again but she went on to work on many other great projects. Her career saw a resurgence when she recorded two tracks with Cinematic Orchestra on their albums Every Day (2002) and Ma Fleur (2007).

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