Denise LaSalle

The "Queen Of Soul Blues" is a title that rightly belongs to this survivor who's been recording for over three decades. Not only does she have a phat, supple blues voice but she's a great songwriter and even a producer.

She was born July 16, 1939, as Denise Craig. LaSalle moved north to Chicago when she was in her early twenties and would attend shows at the Regal Theatre, always returning home to write songs. She got to know blues musicians and began giving her songs to them, until one day a Chess Records executive stopped by at Mixer's Lounge, where LaSalle was working as a bar maid. He listened to one of her songs and took it down to Chess Records, and the company later signed her as a vocalist, but never recorded her. Two years later, LaSalle recorded and produced her own record with the help of Billy "The Kid" Emerson, the Chess executive who'd originally shown an interest in her. After the record made some waves on local radio, Chess stepped in and purchased the master and took it to Europe. Meanwhile, LaSalle continued writing songs and sitting in with blues musicians around the Chicago clubs.

LaSalle's first big hit came about in 1971 when her "Trapped By a Thing Called Love" broke on the radio in Chicago and then Detroit. That record was for the Westbound label and then she signed with ABC Records in 1975, cutting three albums in three years until the label was sold to MCA. After MCA dropped her because of the label's "difficulty in promoting black acts" at that time, she continued performing as much as she could in Chicago and Memphis. In 1980, a Malaco executive called to ask her to write a song for Z.Z. Hill. A positive relationship with the company was quickly developed, which resulted in LaSalle recording 11 discs for the label, including the classic "Lady In The Street".

Album Discography

"Trapped By A Thing Called Love" (Westbound 1972)

"On The Loose" (Westbound 1973)

"Here I Am Again" (Westbound 1975)

"Second Breath" (ABC 1976)

"The Bitch Is Bad" (ABC 1977)

"Under The Influence" (ABC 1979)

"Unwrapped" (ABC 1979)

"I'm So Hot" (MCA 1980)

"And Satisfaction Guaranteed" (MCA 1981)

"Lady In The Street" (Malaco 1983)

"Right Place, Right Time" (Malaco 1984)

"Love Talkin'" (Malaco 1985)

"Rain & Fire" (Malaco 1986)

"It's Lying Time Again" (Malaco 1987)

"Hittin' Where It Hurts" (Malaco 1988)

"Still Trapped" (Malaco 1990)

"Love Me Right" (Malaco 1992)

"Still Bad" (Malaco 1994)

"Smokin' In Bed" (Malaco 1997)

"Trapped" (601 Music 1997)

"God's Got My Back" (Angels In The Midst 1999)

N/R Her first post-Malaco release is a gospel album

"This Real Woman" (Ordena 2000)

"I Get What I Want: The Best Of The ABC Years" (Connoisseur Collection 2001)

"Still The Queen" (Ecko 2002)

"My Toot Toot: Definitive Anthology" (Smith & Co. 2003)

"Wanted" (Ecko 2004)

Denise LaSalle "Pay Before You Pump" (Ecko 2007) LISTEN

"A Little Bit Naughty: The ABC & MCA Years" (Shout 2008)

2 disc set comprising the best of her 1976-1981 period.