Phyllis Hyman (Expanded Edition)

by Jason EliasThis 1977 set is the debut from one of music's most emotional and loved singers. Her career got a jump-start from her work on Norman Connors's 1976 album You Are My Starship, where Hyman gave a melancholy and skilled reading of the Stylistics' hit "Betcha By Golly Wow." That album set the standard for Hyman's career and features classy, mellow R&B sound made by players with esteemed jazz/R&B players. But among her late '70s and early '80s output, Phyllis Hyman is curiously one of her most forgotten efforts, though it includd many songs she would be later be identified with. Skip Scarborough's "No One Can Love You More" is indicative of her plentiful sensual charm and her rich vocal timbre. Although Hyman's vocal prowess is well known, this set also shows that she was gifted with an uncommon maturity. Hyman was only in her mid 20's when this was recorded. That self-possession made her glide through the majority of the material here. Thom Bell and Linda Creed's "I Don't Want to Lose You" (originally recorded by the Spinners) has Hyman's version even more of a tearjerker. From singing the chorus in the intro, to doing a Sarah Vaughan-like scat in the middle, the song was hers. The debut also displays her skill, the blessing and curse of making half-baked material interesting. On "Beautiful Man of Mine" and Hubert Eaves' "Children of the World," her vocals are undoubtedly the best thing about the tracks. Phyllis Hyman veers from instant melodic classics to unformed ideas, a mix that prevents it from being essential.