Lavelle White
Into the Mystic (Antone’s/TMG)Texas Soul Sisters
(Dialtone) Lavelle White’s third album for the Antone’s label asks why she isn’t as revered as some of Texas’ other famous female vocalists. Into the Mystic gathers a dozen old favorites from disparate sources such as the Box Tops (“Soul Deep”), Merle Haggard (“Today I Started Loving You”), and the Edwin Hawkins Singers (“Oh Happy Day”) and mixes in five of the Austin blues belter’s own soulful compositions. “Livin’ for the City” takes the Stevie Wonder hit and redesigns it for White’s gutbucket vocals and Guy Forsyth’s wicked guitar, while her timely “Computer Blues” isn’t far behind on mojo. On an album packed with stellar local players, White and her magnificent voice are the stars. She’s one of four Texas ladies spotlighted on Texas Soul Sisters, along with Houston’s Gloria Edwards, East Texas’ Miss Candy, and Austin’s Glenda Hargis. Rather than pitting the ladies in a singing match, TSS samples each of their styles. These are big voices tackling traditional shuffles, ballads, and funkified blues. White’s smoky vocals wrap around “Bad Song” and “I Want to Know,” and where there’s smoke, Edwards fires up “H-Town” and “I’m Your Hoochie Mama.” Miss Candy loosens sultry back porch vocals on “That’s Why I Love You,” but it’s the relatively unknown Glenda Hargis who shines. Sister of local guitarist Matthew Robinson, Hargis is 200% soul on “Rain Down Love” and “Keep Your Hands Off of Him.” This pair of releases might not be the hippest out there, but they are the very heart of Texas’ great heritage of R&B.(Both) 
This article appears in October 17 • 2003.