The lusty-voiced Laurie came to fame in New Orleans R&B circles, her career on record initially instigated and overseen by local pianist-entrepreneur Paul Gayten. It’s his arrangements and bluesy piano promptings [albeit often on an out-of-tune instrument] that enliven most of the early tracks on this double-CD collection. Later, Gayten bands featured people like the rocking tenorman Lee Allen and trumpeter Wallace Davenport, the backing riffs behind Laurie always crisp and swinging.

Laurie’s version of ‘Since I Fell For You’ was a hit and she toured through Louisiana and Texas for years with Gayten’s band on the strength of its success. If Ruth Brown and Lavern Barker were the top talents among African American female vocalists of the mid-20th century, Georgia-born Laurie wasn’t far behind, even if her vocal approach lacked real subtlety or much by way of variation. She handled standards and blues alike, and quite surprisingly often inserted scat passages.

The 52 tracks here, many recorded in the legendary J&M Studios in New Orleans and others in New York with crack sidemen in rocking mode with guitarist Mickey Baker prominent, were mostly released as singles on a variety of labels and intended for the then-important juke box market. Better then, to sample them sparingly rather than all at once. Her recording career over, Laurie turned to the church. She died in Florida in 2006 aged 82.