Artist	Song
Rufus	Sweet Thing
from Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan (1990)
Anita Baker	Caught Up In the Rapture
from Rapture (2007)
Candi Staton	Young Hearts Run Free
from The Best of Candi Staton (2009)
Teena Marie & Rick James	Fire and Desire
from Ultimate Collection: Teena Marie (2000)
Gladys Knight & The Pips	Midnight Train to Georgia
from Platinum & Gold Collection (2003)
Parliament	Flash Light
from 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Parliament (2000)
Stevie Wonder	As
from Songs in the Key of Life (2000)
Dorothy Moore	Misty Blue
from Misty Blue (1976)
Aretha Franklin	(You Make Me Feel Like) a Natural Woman
from Aretha Franklin: 30 Greatest Hits (2008)
Natalie Cole	This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)
from The Natalie Cole Collection (1987)
Rose Royce	Wishing On a Star
from Rhino Hi-Five: Rose Royce - EP (2007)
Bobby Womack	Woman's Gotta Have It
from The Best of Bobby Womack - The Soul Years (2008)
Aretha Franklin	Day Dreaming
from Aretha Franklin: 30 Greatest Hits (2008)
Otis Redding	Try a Little Tenderness
from Rhino Hi-Five: Otis Redding - EP (2005)
Sam Cooke	You Send Me
from Greatest Hits (1997)

Comment:

Between the crackling grooves of her mom’s dusty 45s and the static-stuffed transmissions of her local radio station, Mary learned all she needed to know about [i]delivering[/i] soul music. Her first teacher was Chaka Khan, whose lightning-clap voice, on “Sweet Thing,” whispers in your ear and strokes your thigh, then flips on the basement’s blue light for slow dancing up against the wall. Be sure to listen as Dorothy Moore falls to the floor, curls into the fetal position, and bleeds endless tears on “Misty Blue,” serving up a no-shame-in-my-game vocal that’s part church, part juke joint — and part of Mary’s musical DNA. And don’t sleep on Ms. Anita Baker, whose taffy-pulled caramel notes make “Caught Up in the Rapture” a sigh of grown-folk contentment, capturing the “Real Love” that Mary searched for at the start of her career. Mary’s musical roots are a tangle of jazz, funk, blues, rap, and pop; from Aretha to Parliament, we’ve exposed the artists who shaped the woman.

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