Consumer Guide Album

Maggie Bell: Queen of the Night [Atlantic, 1974]
The comparison floating about is Janis Joplin, natch, but a cross between Bonnie Bramlett and Maria Muldaur--with an unfortunate soupçon of Sophie Tucker providing the Joplin--is more like it. Unlike Janis, and like most singers, Bell doesn't take hold of a song merely by breathing on it--she has to interpret. Which means she has to interact with her material. Get it, Maggie? I thought not. C+