Little Mary Staten
The West Coast is a goldmine of R & B and tough soul which has never really had the recognition it deserves – but until it does I’ll continue to highlight a few gems. Like this peach from the obscure Little Mary Staten. Of course “Steppin’ Stone” has received all the dancer’s attention and it has a nice funky/jazzy beat to but it really isn’t anywhere near the same quality as 
Helpless Girl. The slower tempo allows Mary to really stretch out her vocals – just check out her pain and misery. A really fine interpretation, especially the way she injects a gritty and hoarse tone when the feeling really kicks in. Great.
UPDATE ~ Pete Nickols has kindly sent me some extra info reating to this 45. He writes - "He was the Hawaiian father of well-known back-up singer Lani Groves - she was raised with her parents in San Diego. He was a pianist and composer and, back in the fifties, had his own small combo with whom he cut some beaty quasi-novelty 'speak over' R&B records almost ala John R's much later efforts. His best-known as Ervin 'Big Boy' Groves was "You Can't Beat The Horses" from 1956 on Vita 120. He also had a similar item called "Bucket Of Blood" (the name of some infamous night club) but I haven't been able to trace the label for that. However in the 70's I believe, Groves cut an LP called "Composer In Paradise", also on GME, containing some LA cuts (including Staten's "Steppin' Stone") and a track or so by Viola Wills + some tracks cut in Hawaii including several faturing his daughter Lani." Pete also sent the lovely pic of the album cover.
Thanks as always to Pete Nickols for his excellent research.