Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? Explained

Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? is an album by American vocalist Marlena Shaw recorded in 1974 and released on the Blue Note label.^[1]

Reception

The Allmusic review by Jason Ankeny awarded the album 4½ stars stating "A record as fierce and blunt as its title portends, Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? vaults Marlena Shaw into a brave new world of feminism and funk, updating the sophisticated soul-jazz approach of her previous records to explore a fast-changing musical, political, and sexual landscape... Not only Shaw's best-selling Blue Note release, Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? represents her creative apex as well".^[2]

Track listing

1. "You, Me and Ethel / Street Walking Woman" (Marlena Shaw / Loonis McGlohon, Byron Olson) – 6:20
2. "You Taught Me How to Speak in Love" (Molly Ann Leiken, Art Munson) – 3:52
3. "Davy" (Benard Ighner) – 5:26
4. "Feel Like Makin' Love" (Eugene McDaniels) – 5:00
5. "The Lord Giveth and the Lord Taketh Away" (Shaw) – 1:05
6. "You Been Away Too Long" (Ighner) – 3:07
7. "You" (Shaw) – 3:45
8. "Loving You Was Like a Party" (Ighner) – 4:17
9. "A Prelude for Rose Marie" (Olson) – 1:56
10. "Rose Marie (Mon Cherie)" (Wilma Callender, Ighner) – 4:19

• Recorded on June 12 (tracks 3 & 5), December 3 (tracks 2 & 8), December 4 (tracks 6 & 7), December 5 (tracks 1 & 4) and December 6 (tracks 9 & 10), 1974.

Personnel

• Marlena Shaw – vocals
• Benard Ighner – piano, flugelhorn, arranger
• Michael Lang – piano
• Bill Mays – piano
• Larry Nash – electric piano, synthesizer
• Dennis Budimir – guitar
• Larry Carlton – guitar
• David T. Walker – guitar
  • Chuck Domanico – bass Chuck Rainey – electric bass
• Harvey Mason – drums, wind chimes
• Jim Gordon – drums
• King Errison – conga
• Dale Oehler – arranger
• Byron Olson – arranger
• Unidentified strings, horns and woodwinds

Notes and References

1. http://www.jazzdisco.org/blue-note-records/catalog-bn-la-series/#bn-la-397-g Blue Note Records discography
2. Ankeny, J. Allmusic Review accessed January 14, 2011