RIP Latimore

Latimore’s “Let’s Straighten It Out” is one of my favourite soul records of the ’70s. Or any time, come to that. Largely because of how it sounds, but also because of its difference. Most deep-soul ballads are written from a solipsistic perspective: the singer is concentrating on him- or herself, bemoaning his or her loss and the consequent heartbreak. That’s understandable enough. Such a song enables the listener to make a very direct identification with the message, whether it’s “The Tracks of My Tears” or “Stay With Me, Baby”, or even something with a slightly more complicated narrative, such as “Any Day Now” or “Go Now”. But “Let’s Straighten It Out” does something different. Sit yourself down, girl, and talk to me / Tell me what’s on your mind / Don’t keep on telling me everything’s okay / Cause if it was then you wouldn’t be crying… The singer knows that something is badly amiss with his lover and he wants to know what it is. For five nights she’s been tossing and turning,…