by John Bush
In need of a full-length to package the Chi-Lites' latest single around, Brunswick released the obligatorily titled I Like Your Lovin' (Do You Like Mine) in mid-1970, even though only three new songs were available for inclusion. After the title track hit, the solid sound-alike &Are You My Woman? (Tell Me So),& and a forlorn &Trouble's A-Comin',& some uncreative compiling resulted in an LP padded out with nearly all of 1969's Give It Away. (The liner notes admitted sheepishly that a suitable subtitle would be &highlights by the Chi-Lites.&) Though unobservant fans were doubtless rudely awakened after a single spin, I Like Your Lovin' (Do You Like Mine) certainly isn't a bad record -- the best songs from the first album are right here, buttressed by two more hit singles by a group that started slowly but had really started cooking by 1970. [Thanks go to Edsel for the 1999 reissue Give It Away/I Like Your Lovin'/(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People, which collected all 21 tracks making up the Chi-Lites' first three albums.]