Raunchy, Hot, and Funky: The High-Stakes Blues Pivot of Della Reese

In 1966, the popular music landscape was undergoing a tectonic shift, and caught right in the center was the legendary Della Reese. Fresh off a string of massive pop-jazz hits at RCA Victor, including the number two smash "Don't You Know?", Reese made a radical strategic decision: she jumped labels to ABC Paramount and ditched her polished formula for a hard pivot into gritty blues standards. This episode of pplpod places her 1966 album, i like it like that!, under the microscope to explore the anatomy of a career pivot. We deconstruct the inherent friction of having a manager, Lee Magid, take over the producer’s chair—a move that blurred the lines between artistic expression and commercial calculation. From the lower-case aesthetic of the title to the orchestrated "raunchy, hot, and funky" sound engineered by Bobby Bryant, this album was a calculated gamble to capture the cultural zeitgeist. We analyze how Reese navigated the transition from being a blue-chip pop commodity to a soulful vocalist writing her own original compositions like "Every Evening," while simultaneously inviting direct comparisons to titans like Aretha Franklin.

Key Topics Covered:

• The Label Jump: Analyzing the high-stakes transition from RCA Victor to ABC Paramount and the strategic realignment required to maintain Reese's superstar status.
• The Manager-Producer Dynamic: Exploring the risks and rewards of Lee Magid assuming creative control and the potential loss of "objective friction" in the studio.
• Trade Hype vs. Historical Reality: Contrasting the enthusiastic 1966 reviews from Billboard and Cashbox with the "overly jukeboxy" dismissals of later jazz historians.
• The Architecture of the Tracklist: A deep dive into the use of Johnny Mercer standards as "anchors of legitimacy" alongside Reese’s own bold original songwriting.
• The 1984 Resurrection: How a quiet reissue on the Jasmine label vindicated the album's enduring appeal to a dedicated niche audience nearly two decades after its release.

Source credit: Research for this episode included Wikipedia articles accessed 2/27/2026. Wikipedia text is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0; content here is summarized/adapted in original wording for commentary and educational use.