love is...

Gloria Ann Taylor's 'Love Is A Hurting Thing' is a bit of a holy grail record by now, it's fairly well known and much discussed. The Walter Whisenhunt (her husband) produced gem is quiet lo-fi in one respect, it is more or less a demo recording and yet it's haunting, repetitious and melancholic piano and string hooks combined with Gloria's singing make it like no other. I have The Drunk's edit of it in my collection, which is rather good and probably the closest I'll ever get to the record, but it eliminates a good deal of Gloria's inspired vocals. What intrigues me and gets me every time is how in the original, the kick slips out from underneath the track and the hats are so dirty and  high in the mix, a bit like an early Theo Parrish or Three Chairs production, it's very raw and loops like one of Theo's edits too.Gloria and her husband (once right hand man to James Brown and once co-owner of a label with Bootsy Collins) apparently finally broke up after moving to LA via Maryland, they recorded 5 singles and an ep for their label Selector Sounds.

Gloria Ann Taylor - Love Is A Hurting Thing