Certainly, the cover of Always the Queen will turn heads while browsing the music section of your a literature retailer or online source. Beginning in 1971, the late Denise LaSalle was a constant source of some of the best southern soul music for four decades. Her early recordings for the Westbound label—“Trapped By A Thing Called Love,” “The Deeper I Go (the Better It Gets),” ‘What It Takes To Get A Good Woman (Is What It’s Gonna Take To Keep Her),” “Making A Good Thing Better”—soared to the upper levels of the R&B charts when competition was at its most fierce. However, despite her impressive recording success, LaSalle never quite clicked with white America the way Black female crossover artists like Donna Summer and Patti LaBelle did at the time. Nevertheless, a successful singer, songwriter, businessperson and one hell of a performer, LaSalle spins a fascinating story of her life, career and philosophies in this autobiography.
Like many R&B luminaries, LaSalle followed a well-worn path. Born in dirt-poor Mississippi, she worked in the cotton fields, sang in church, and eventually made her way to Chicago. She didn’t aspire to be an entertainer, but rather sought acclaim as a published author, selling a number of stories she wrote to Black romance “pulps” that existed in the 1960s. This led to an interest in writing poems/song which begrudgingly she showed to a small label. As luck would have it, the studio managers liked her songs and her delivery of them. The next thing you know, she recorded a couple of turntable hits and on a few neighborhood jukeboxes. She then waxed a couple singles for Chess which fizzled, but at the recommendation of a local disc jockey, LaSalle threw the dice and made her way to Willie Mitchell’s Memphis studio where the fireworks were lit. Those records made LaSalle a fixture on the so-called Chitlin’ Circuit for decades. When Westbound folded, amazingly ABC picked up LaSalle’s contract when Bobby Bland and B.B. King were also on the label.
ABC certainly didn’t quite know what do with LaSalle—make her a potty-mouthed Millie Jackson clone or point her towards disco? Unfortunately, the result was mostly forgettable outside of The Bitch Is Bad!, recorded in 1977. But the old hits kept LaSalle busy even after ABC’s new owner MCA jettisoned her. Eventually Malaco in Jackson, Mississippi, came into the picture in the early 1980s after LaSalle wrote the classic “Someone Else Is Stepping In,” which popped big time for Z.Z. Hill. Malaco wasted no time getting LaSalle in the studio after that surprise hit. She initially balked at pressure that she take a blues approach, but after the success of “Lady In the Street (Freaky In The Bedroom)” Lasalle was on board. With Malaco’s push, LaSalle’s career enjoyed a second wind. No stranger to New Orleans, back in the day LaSalle played venues in the city like the I.L.A. and Prout’s Club Alhambra on Claiborne Avenue.
During her purple patch years, she also worked posh venues like the Saenger and the Mahalia Jackson Theatre. Ironically, her biggest hit from the Malaco era was her slick cover of Rockin’ Sidney’s zydeco anthem “My Toot Toot.” Plenty of colorful tales and exploits are recounted in Always The Queen. LaSalle’s stage persona and her humorous, “No bullshit mister” attitude is evident through the entire book. A really engaging read, Always the Queen is the perfect companion to Howard Grimes’ recent memoir Timekeeper.
