Ann Peebles’ Tellin’ It arrived in 1975, just after the breakthrough of I Can’t Stand the Rain, and it catches her refusing to simply repeat the formula. Recorded at Royal Studios in Memphis with Willie Mitchell producing, the album is steeped in the deep Hi Records sound: tight, supple rhythms from the house band, Howard Grimes on drums, and the Memphis Horns bringing the snap and glow that defined so much Southern soul in the decade.

What makes Tellin’ It especially rewarding is its range. Peebles moves easily between punchier uptempo cuts and slower, more bruised material, using that unmistakably direct voice to keep both sides of the album grounded. Songs including Come to Mama, It Was Jealousy, and You Can’t Hold a Man show how comfortably she could shift from toughness to vulnerability without losing momentum.

This edition also has real archival interest: it is bi