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Биография
Frequently compared to Aretha Franklin, singer Margie Joseph earned neither the fame nor the critical success lavished upon the Queen of Soul, but a series of excellent records for Atlantic during the 1970s nevertheless won her a spot in the pantheon of soul cult favorites. Margaret Marie Joseph was born in Pascagoula, MS, in 1950 -- she got her start in the church choir, and began pursuing a professional singing career while a student at New Orleans' Dillard University. In 1967, Joseph made her first demo recordings at the famed Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, soon after signing to the Okeh label -- her debut, "Why Does a Man Have to Lie?," had the misfortune of seeing release around the same time parent label Columbia decided to close Okeh's doors, and promptly sank without a trace. Two years later Joseph signed with the Stax subsidiary Volt, and with New Orleans soul legend Willie Tee assuming production duties, she released the underground favorite "One More Chance."
Producer Freddy Briggs took the helm for Joseph's next effort, "Your Sweet Loving"; released in the summer of 1970, the single proved a minor R&B chart hit. The following year, she cracked the R&B Top 40 with a cover of the Supremes' classic "Stop! In the Name of Love," boosting sales of her fine debut LP, Margie Joseph Makes a New Impression, in the process. Another Supremes cover, "My World Is Empty Without You," formed the centerpiece of her 1972 follow-up, Phase II, but neither the single nor the album attracted much attention, and she soon signed to Atlantic to begin work with famed producer Arif Mardin, perhaps best-known for his earlier work with Aretha; indeed, Joseph's self-titled Atlantic debut was often criticized for its similarities to Franklin's classic work, although her sweetly plaintive vocals and more supple delivery were actually far more distinctive than detractors gave credit for. Joseph nevertheless scored an R&B hit in the spring of 1973 with her reading of the Al Green classic "Let's Stay Together," reaching her commercial zenith later that year when her second Atlantic album, Sweet Surrender, launched two more hit covers: "Come Lay Some Lovin' on Me" (more successful for Joseph than for the song's author, Paul Kelly) and "My Love" (a reading of the Paul McCartney & Wings smash that became her lone Top Ten R&B hit and pop Top 75 entry).
