Millie Jackson
b. 15 July 1944, Thompson, Georgia, USA. A former model, Millie Jackson's controversial singing career began professionally in 1964 at a club in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. Her first recordings followed in 1970; over the next three years she made several excellent, if traditional, soul singles, which included two US R&B Top 10 entries, with Ask Me What You Want and My Man A Sweet Man. Hurts So Good, a song from a pseudo-feminist ‘blaxploitation’ film, CLEOPATRA JONES, was Jackson's biggest hit to date, but her subsequent direction was more fully shaped in 1974 with the release of CAUGHT UP. Tracks, with backing from the Muscle Shoals rhythm section, included a fiery interpretation of (If Lovin' You Is Wrong) I Don't Wanna Be Right. The accompaniment intensified the sexual element in her work as Millie embraced either the pose of adultress or of wronged wife. A further collection, STILL CAUGHT UP, continued the saga, but Jackson's style later verged on self-parody as she progressed down an increasingly blind alley. The raps became longer and more explicit, and two later albums, FEELIN’ BITCHY and LIVE AND UNCENSORED, required warning stickers for public broadcast. Despite excursions into C&W and a collaboration with Isaac Hayes, Millie seemed unable to abandon her ‘bad mouth’ role, exemplified in '80s titles such as Sexercise Pts 1 & 2 and Slow Tongue (Working Your Way Down). Despite her strong cult following, the only occasion on which Jackson has made any significant impact on the UK singles market was in 1985 when duetting with Elton John on Act Of War, which reached the Top 40. She possesses one of soul's outstanding voices, yet sadly chooses to limit its obvious potential.