1951
THE DEACON MOVES IN * LITTLE ESTHER AND THE DOMINOES * FEDERAL 12016 * USA
A reissue from the 1980s of this killer R&B track; a song full of life, irreverence, and wit, is delivered with style and class; a top track. It is easy to see why songs like this were feared and subsequently vilified by the Church, and other parties, with a vested, or dogmatic, interest in maintaining control of the nations moral conditions. Records like this one, quite apart from their musical affections, represent for me contestation to power in a subtle and yet straightforward way; Little Esther (Phillips), who was only fifteen years old at the time, plays Devil's advocate [as it were] to the blandishments of Charlie White of The Dominoes, who in no uncertain terms is out to seduce her. That such natural carnal desires are treated in a light hearted and open manner, with the potential of reaching a wide and unrestricted audience through juke boxes, radio and home record players, was (and still is) seen as undermining the contemporary values of society. Values which if rejected would weaken the power of those seeking to determine and control them.