Casanova

Ruby Andrews, nee Ruby Stackhouse, reportedly had 16 singles and two albums on Zodiac Records, not to mention some smokers on ABC Records; so these dozen Zodiac sides are hardly definitive. Still, this disc is worth owning; although Ruby never got the respect she deserved, her liquid alto was very effective when matched with the right material. Ric Williams, the owner of Zodiac Records, accomplished such a matching on the infectious Casanova (Your Playing Days Are Over), which cracked Billboards R&B Top Ten at number nine. Casanova 70, released three years later, failed to recapture the adulation of the original, but remakes of the Soul Brothers Sixs I Guess That Dont Make Me a Loser and Candace Loves Uh! Uh! Boy Thats a No No are better than the originals. Everybody Saw You, You Can Run, but You Cant Hide, and Can You Get Away set the table for more troubled Southern soul dramas by Andrews on ABC Records like I Got a Bone to Pick With You (not included here). ~ Andrew Hamilton