Rags to Rufus (1974)

Rufus balanced rock muscle with Chicago soul, anchored by Chaka Khan's peerless phrasing. On the Stevie Wonder-penned Tell Me Something Good, Tony Maiden's talk-box guitar and Dennis Belfield's elastic bass set up a slow, grinding pocket that keeps opening and closing around her voice; the rest of the album shows how freely the band could swing between hard rock riffs and soul balladry.