Norma Jenkins - Figure Me Out If You Can - Rare Soul Recordings

Blessed with an extremely versatile classic soul voice, New Jersey soul diva Norma Jenkins was originally used by legendary R&B producer George Kerr to demo many of the songs he shopped to Motown and other labels. Norma began her recording career in 1966 on the Maltese label as lead vocalist with a girl group billed as Norma Jenkins And The Dolls. In 1967 she recorded "Need Someone To Love" b/w "Me Myself And I," produced by Joe Evans and written by Winfred Lovett which was released as a single for the Carnival label and earned Norma a mention in the May, 1967 issue of Billboard magazine in the R&B Spotlight column. Later that same year Norma recorded a duet with Troy Keyes for the ABC label. I973 saw the release of a string of 45s on the George Kerr owned Jean, Kerr and Alithia labels respectively, including a duet with J. Ray which was released on Alithia. In 1976 Norma recorded her first full length album, the aptly titled "Patience Is A Virtue," the vinyl of which has become highly coveted among collectors of rare soul music, especially in the UK where Norma still gets a lot of play on the Northern Soul scene. Presented here is a collection of Norma's singles output including two versions of "Puzzle Man (Figure Me Out If You Can)" which are from a 45 released on the Jean Records label in 1973; "One Girl Too Many" and "Go Home To Your Wife" are from a single released on Kerr Records in 1973; "A Good Love Gone Bad" and "I Can Wait My Turn" are duets with Troy Keyes from a 45 released in 1967 on ABC Records; and "The Airplane Song," "A Lover's Stand," "This Is Our Day," and "What's Next" are culled from two Maltese Records 45s released in 1966 with The Dolls - providing a more complete picture of a great vocalist that may have been relegated to the sidelines for most of her career, but was a bona fide star in her own right.