Rescue Me

Song written by Raynard Miner, Carl Smith and Fontella Bass. They were fooling around with the song when arranger Phil Wright walked in, and the ensuing four-way jam session brought forth ‘Rescue Me’. Bass claimed that, although Smith, Miner and Davis had assured her that her contribution to authorship of the song’s lyrics would be acknowledged, this was never done.

Fontella Bass recorded the song in three takes at Chess Studios in Chicago. Minnie Riperton provided background vocals, and Maurice White and Louis Satterfield, later of Earth, Wind & Fire, were on drums and bass respectively. Other musicians on the record included Pete Cosey and Gerald Sims on guitar, Leonard Caston (later a producer at Motown) on piano, Sonny Thompson on organ, and Charles Stepney on vibes.

After its release as a single, it peaked at number 4 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number 11 in the UK singles chart.

Kim Wilde performed the song together with Roy Wood and his Big Band in December 1994 – once during a concert at the Society of Distinguished Songwriters (3 December) and once during a concert at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham (16 December). No recordings of these performances are known to exist.