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Soul Singer Irma Thomas

Thomas started working professionally at seventeen. The 1970s were difficult for her career: a hurricane devastated the scene around New Orleans, where she often performed. Changing musical tastes kept her from getting gigs in her new home of Los Angeles. Now, Thomas is back with a new album, called The Way I Feel.

09:27
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Other segments from the episode on January 10, 1989

Fresh Air with Terry Gross, January 10, 1989: Interview with Nestor Almendros; Commentary on the songwriting team Holland, Dozier, and Holland; Interview with Irma Thomas; Review of Eva Hoffman's…
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27:07

Cinematographer and Director Nestor Almendros

Almendros worked on "Sophie's Choice," "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Days of Heaven," for which he won the Academy Award. He got his start making propaganda films in Cuba, but had a falling out with the Castro regime. Almendros later returned to make a documentary about the country's human rights violations.

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06:27

Motown Songwriters Strike Out on Their Own

Together, brothers Brian and Eddie Holland, along with Lamont Dozier, wrote dozens of hits for the Detroit label. They worked with other record companies in the 1970s, but, says rock historian Ed Ward, they never their earlier success with Motown.

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03:33

A Polish Immigrant Embraces Her New Home

Book critic John Leonard reviews Eva Hoffman's new memoir, Lost in Translation, about the writer's childhood in Eastern Europe and later move to North America. Leonard says the book deserves the same praise as other literary memoirs like Nabokov's Speak, Memory and Kingston's The Woman Warrior.

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10:01

Soul Singer Irma Thomas.

Singer Irma Thomas. Ms. Thomas has been making records since 1958, and had a string of New Orleans rhythm-and-blues hits in the early sixties. Her popularity, however, is due in large part to her energetic live performances. Her new album, "The Way I Feel," has just been released on Rounder Records.

Interview
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09:06

The Mythic Power Of Bessie Smith.

"The Empress of the Blues" gave voice the listeners' tribulations and yearnings of the 1920s and '30s. A new 10-CD box set collects the complete works of the colossus who straddled jazz and blues.

Review
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09:10

Aretha's Little-Known Siblings

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles the early years of the Franklin sisters. Aretha Franklin is a renowned soul legend, but her two sisters, Carolyn and Erma, were also singers.

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