Jo Ann Garrett “One Woman” (Duo 7450, 1968)

We’re halfway through Record A Day week, so let’s fly to Chicago in the late Fall of ’68. We meet at O’Hare and ride the El with Jo Ann Garrett, who now 19 years old, is a seasoned veteran of the Chicago recording scene. Although she hasn’t scored a national hit record, she continues to put out an astonishing array of wonderful productions featuring her tart and incendiary voice, something she’s done since the Spring of ’66.

We find her back in her proto-feminist bag, a number of songs have had that vibe reverberating through them. Independent and wise beyond her years, we find her claiming “Every Woman” status a decade before Chaka Khan would do so over a sweeping Windy City arrangement. Granted it may be the ultimate ode to monogamy as well, but it takes no bullshit either. Jo Ann lays down the law. After all, she *can* do it all, as she wails on the fade. It’s been this way for as long as there has been Adam & Eve and Lilith, but…

This builder seemed to have all the potential to right the wrongs of Jo Ann being barely known outside of the Midwest, but Duo records didn’t have the promotional might (nor did Chess records where she came from or ended up back at in 1969). As we sit with it today, it’s a stunning, brilliant classic that you should know and cherish for all of it’s lady-might light.