by Ron Wynn
Patti LaBelle's solo debut for Epic closed the book on a 15-year collaboration with Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash. She mixed light pop and soul covers on this outing, turning in earnestly sung renditions of &You Are My Friend& and the Skyliners' &Since I Don't Have You,& but also doing curious material like &Dan Swit Me& and &You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover.& LaBelle was still finding her niche and had not become entirely comfortable, and her later commonplace tendencies -- such as the drawn-out lyric emphasis, embellishments, and lengthy holding of notes -- had not been established yet.