Unlike so many other blues vocalists who just reinterpret material given to them by songwriters, Denise LaSalle is a seriously talented songwriter. Although her soul blues style has strong urban contemporary overtones at times, it's best to think of LaSalle as a modern-day Bessie Smith, because that's really what she is. She writes funny songs full of sassy attitude and it's an attitude she carries with her on-stage. Off-stage, LaSalle accommodates all autograph seekers and gladly obliges journalists and radio disc jockeys.
Tennesse-based LaSalle was raised in Belzoni, MS, (also home to Joe Willie "PineTop" Perkins some years earlier) but she got started singing in local churches around Leflore County. She was born July 16, 1939, as Denise Craig. Growing up, she listened to the Grand Ole Opry radio broadcasts and then in Belzoni, lived across the street from a juke joint. LaSalle's early influences, from the jukeboxes around Belzoni and over the radio, included Ruth Brown, Dinah Washington, and LaVern Baker. 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 Lady in the Street, (1983), Right Place, Right Time, (1984), Love Talkin', (1985), Hittin' Where It Hurts, (1989), Still Trapped, (1990), Still Bad, (1994), and Smokin' in Bed. (1997). While her Malaco sides are probably her most important recordings, other than the original of her early-'70s hit "Trapped," she still releases excellent gospel crossover material, including This Real Woman (2000) and There's No Separation (2001) on Ordena Records and Little Bit Naughty (2008) on Shout. -- Richard Skelly & Al Campbell of All Music Guide.
01. Trapped By A Thing Called Love 02. Now Run And Tell That 03. Heartbreaker Of The Year 04. Goody Goody Getter 05. Catch Me If You Can 06. Hung Up Strung Out |
07. Do Me Right 08. The Deeper I Go 09. You'll Lose A Good Thing 10. Keep It Coming 11. It's Too Late |
01. Man Size Job 02. What It Takes To Get A Good Woman 03. Harper Valley P T A 04. What Am I Doing Wrong 05. Breaking Up Somebody's Home 06. There Ain't Enough Hate Around |
07. Your Man And Your Best Friend 08. Lean On Me 09. Making A Good Thing Better 10. I'm Over You 11. I'm Satisfied |
01. Freedom To Express Yourself 02. Get Your Lies Straight 03. Sweet Soul 04. I'm Back To Collect 05. I Get What I Want |
06. Second Breath 07. Hellfire Loving 08. Sit Down And Hurt Awhile 09. Two Empty Arms |
01. Bitch Is Bad 02. Love Me Right 03. Before You Take It To The Streets 04. Fool Me Good |
05. Move Your Body 06. Love Magician 07. One Life To Live 08. Love Addict |
01. Think About It 02. Keep On Dancin' Rock 03. A Miracle, You And Me |
04. Too Little In Common To Be Lovers 05. Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? 06. Make Me Yours/Precious Memories/etc. |
01. Right Place, Right Time 02. He's Not Available 03. Treat Your Man Like A Baby 04. Good Man Gone Bad 05. Boogie Man |
06. Your Husband Is Cheating On Us 07. Why Does It Feel So Right 08. Keep Your Pants On 09. Bump And Grind 10. Love School |
01. Talkin' In Your Sleep 02. Someone Else Is Stepping In 03. Nobody Loves Me Like You Do 04. Give Me Yo' Most Strongest Whiskey 05. Love Is A Five Letter Word 06. Love Talkin' |
07. Get What You Can Get 08. Linger A Little Longer 09. Keeps Me Runnin' Back 10. Too Many Lovers 11. My Tu-Tu |
01. A Lady In The Street 02. This Bell Was Made For Ringing 03. Don't Mess With My Man 04. Lay Me Down |
05. Down Home Blues(x-rated) 06. I Was Not The Best Woman 07. Come To Bed 08. I Was Telling Him About You |
01. Don't Cry No More 02. Write This One Off(as a loss) 03. Caught In Your Own Mess 04. Bring It On Home To Me 05. Eee Tee |
06. If You Can't Do Me Right 07. See-Saw 08. You Gotta Pay To Play 09. I Forgot To Remember |
01. It Be's That Way Sometimes 02. I'm Sho' Gonna Mess With Yo' Man 03. What's Going On In My House 04. Look What Can Happen To You 05. Shame, Shame, Shame |
06. Bip, Bam, Thank You Maam 07. Learnin' How To Cheat On You 08. Rain And Fire 09. It Takes You All Night 10. Is He Lovin' Someone Else Tonight |
01. Try My Love 02. Think About It 03. A Miracle, You And Me 04. Too Little In Common To Be Lovers |
05. Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? 06. I'm So Hot 07. Love Me Right |
01. Wet Match 02. Trapped . . . 1990 03. Paper Thin 04. Chain Letter 05. A Real Sad Story |
06. Drop That Zero 07. I'm Loved 08. Kiss It 09. Love And Happiness 10. Wild Thang(all night long) |
01. Don't Jump My Pony 02. Long Dong Silver 03. You Can't Get Nothing Straight Between Us 04. Love Me Right 05. When We're Making Love 06. I'm Not That Kind Of Girl |
07. Too Many Hungry Mouths Around The Table 08. One More Wrong Step 09. Fast Hands And A Dirty Mind 10. Another One Bites The Dust 11. Don't Pick It Up |
01. Right Side Of The Wrong Bed 02. Soft-Hearted Woman 03. Three People 04. No Supervision 05. Child Of The Ghetto 06. Dial 1-900-Get-Some |
07. Risky Business 08. The Sweeter The Man 09. It Ain't Over Til The Fat Lady Sings 10. A Woman Needs To Be Loved 11. The Bitch Is Bad |
01. Smokin' In Bed 02. Juke Joint Woman 03. Blues Party Tonight 04. If I Don't Holler 05. Going Through Changes |
06. Five Below Zero 07. Never Been Touched Like This 08. Why Am I Missing You 09. The Night We Called It a Day 10. Dirty Old Woman |
01. Trapped By A Thing Called Love 02. Don't Mess With My Man 03. Love Is A Five Letter Word 04. I Was Telling Him About You 05. Is He Lovin' Someone Else Tonight |
06. Hold On 07. You Gotta Pay To Play 08. Bring It On Home To Me 09. Too Many Lovers 10. One More Wrong Step |
01. God's Got My Back 02. Tell Him What You Want 03. Still Talkin' Bout A Man 04. Satan's Trying To Track Me Down 05. Rest In Me 06. God Is Absolutely Mad About You 07. His Mighty Love(gospel version) |
08. God Don't Make Mistakes 09. Calvary 10. Send Me, I'll Go 11. Going Through Changes 12. Praise Him 13. Going Through Changes(edited for radio) |
01. This Real Woman 02. Lick It Before You Stick It 03. A Love Reputation 04. A Sexaholic 05. I Just Wanna Make Love To You 06. In A Midnight Mood 07. What Kind Of Man Is This 08. Funky Blues Kind Of Mood 09. Unlovable Habits 10. This Real Woman(radio cut) |
11. If I'm Only For Myself 12. When She Stops Asking 13. This Bedroom's On Fire 14. Dreaming All Day 15. The Best Of The Rest 16. Tell Him What You Want 17. I Fell In Love With Me 18. Down On Clinton 19. Trapped By A Thing Called Love 20. God Is Absolutely Mad About You |
01. I'm Still The Queen 02. Dirty, Freaky Man 03. You Should Have Kept It In The Bedroom 04. What Kind Of Man Is This 05. Funky Blues Kind Of Mood |
06. Cover It Up 07. Who Needs You 08. In A Midnight Mood 09. Unlovable Habits 10. There's No Separation |
01. Snap, Crackle and Pop 02. The Thrill Is On Again 03. Wanted Man 04. They Made A Blues Fan Out Of Me 05. Doormat Woman |
06. It Was A House Until You Made It A Home 07. A Woman Needs Money 08. The Love You Threw Away 09. Who Needs An Enemy With A Friend Like You 10. Bone It Like You Own It |
01. Pay Before You Pump 02. It's Going Down 03. I Need A Working Man 04. Mississippi Woman 05. Hold On Tight 06. Hell Sent Me You |
07. Walking On Beale Street And Crying 08. I'm Hangin' On 09. You Don't Live Here No More 10. I Tried 11. It's Going Down(radio version) 12. Mississippi Woman(delta blues mix) |
01. Sweet Soul 02. I'm Back To Collect 03. I Get What I Want 04. Second Breath 05. Hellfire Loving 06. Sit Down And Hurt Awhile 07. Two Empty Arms 08. Love Me Right 09. Before You Take It To The Streets 10. Fool Me Good 11. One Life To Live 12. Love Addict |
13. Feet Don't Fail Me 14. Working Overtime 15. You Oughta Thank Me 16. Talkin' Bout My Best Friend 17. A Miracle, You And Me 18. Too Little In Common To Be Lovers 19. You'll Never Get Your Hooks In My Man 20. Tighten Up On Your Good Thing 21. Sharing Your Love 22. Got Myself A Handyman 23. Make Love To Me One More Time 24. My Groovy Medley |