Rescue Me

Fontella Bass sang with gospel groups from the age of 6 before switching to R&B when she was a teenager. She eventually auditioned for Chess Records and landed a recording contract. This original composition penned by Bass with Raynard Miner and Carl William Smith was her most successful single, though "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing" (a duet with Bobby McClure) and "Recovery" were also Top 40 hits on the Hot 100. After moving to Paris in 1969 with her jazz trumpeter husband Lester Bowie, Bass more or less retired, but could be heard on her husband's records as well as releasing several gospel records on independent labels. She died of complications following a heart attack on December 26, 2012.

Recorded in just three takes, Rock journalist Dave Marsh called Bass' powerful vocal performance on this song, "the best non-Aretha Aretha ever." Figures too as Fontella was the daughter of Martha Bass, a member of the Clara Ward Singers who toured with Aretha Franklin's father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin. It should be noted Franklin's commercial breakthrough with "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" happened three years after Bass laid down this song.

Bass revealed to The New York Times in 1989 that her call-and-response vocals for this song weren't intentional. She recalled, "When we were recording that, I forgot some of the words. Back then, you didn't stop while the tape was running, and I remembered from the church what to do if you forget the words. I sang, 'Ummm, ummm, ummm,' and it worked out just fine."