Three for the Road

Marcia Ball. Tracy Nelson. Irma Thomas.

Now, that’s a triumvirate--each strong-willed with a distinctive musical personality. Ball is a Louisiana-bred, Texas-based boogie-woogie pianist-vocalist; Nashville’s Nelson is a powerhouse blues belter; and the gospel-tinged Thomas is revered as the “Soul Queen of New Orleans.”

The idea that these three divas could coalesce into some kind of whole raised a few eyebrows, including those of its principals, who will be performing at the Long Beach Blues Festival this weekend.

“Honestly, we weren’t so sure we could pull it off,” confessed Ball, 47, about joining forces to make the trio’s new album, “Sing It!”

“But it turned out we’re very pleased with how well we’ve managed to blend, particularly for three individuals with similar tastes but very different voices,” she added. “I think that despite our contrasts, there is a common thread running through our work.”

And as they’ve worked together, the women have become more confident.

“We’re growing into it,” Ball said in a telephone interview from her hometown of Vinton, La., where she was visiting her mother during a brief tour break. “I mean, we’re throwing in some of our own stuff, which changes from time to time.

“When you start out, you think, ‘This is my part.’ Then all of a sudden, things just naturally veer off in new, exciting directions--and little individual sparks come out. Like, I’ll be sitting at the piano, . . . just drip-dropping. Then I’ll start a song that Irma never knew she was gonna sing until that very moment.”

Thomas, who was an early musical influence for both Ball and Nelson, is best known for a series of 1960s rhythm and blues classics, including “You Can Have My Husband (But Please Don’t Mess With My Man),” which she recorded at 18.

The deep-voiced Nelson, a former member of the blues-rock group Mother Earth, has nearly 20 solo and group records to her credit, dating to the mid-1960s. She has recorded nine Thomas tunes and dedicated her 1975 solo album, “Time Is on My Side,” to her.

The twangy-sounding Ball began as a country singer in 1978 but soon went into rhythm and blues.

Their recent solo releases on Rounder Records include Ball’s “Let Me Play With Your Poodle” (1997), Nelson’s “Move On” (1996) and Thomas’ “Story of My Life” (1997).

Thomas and Nelson first collaborated on a duet of Percy Mayfield’s “Please Send Me Someone to Love,” a track on Nelson’s 1993 LP, “In the Here and Now.” The trio, however, was launched in 1996, when the women appeared together in a benefit for New Orleans public radio station WWOZ.

They enjoyed it so much that Thomas suggested that the threesome make an album together. Before long, the women--backed by several New Orleans and Memphis session pros--were in a Crescent City studio laying down tracks.

Except for some choice Joe Tex and Bobby “Blue” Bland covers, the album’s material is mostly freshly penned originals. Ball and Thomas co-wrote one tune each, and among the disc’s other composers are Sarah Brown, Sarah Elizabeth Campbell, Al Anderson, Dan Penn and Steve Cropper.

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Southern soul, New Orleans second-line and smoldering blues and R&B; are smartly balanced. Highlights range from “In Tears,” a ballad featuring Nelson’s gut-wrenching alto, and Bland’s “Yield Not to Temptation,” a soaring inspirational sung by Thomas, to the independent-minded “Woman on the Move” and the sassy “Love Maker,” an up-tempo, steamy number with Ball paying homage to sex over soap suds: “Honey, I don’t do windows/Never mop the floor/But I got something cookin’/I know you’re hungry for.”

The roots-minded collection is mature yet spirited, a mix of tender vulnerability and tough-minded independence. So where do these three Southern singers fit alongside this summer’s punk-themed Warped, neo-hippie H.O.R.D.E. and all-female Lilith Fair tours?

“It’s like comparing oranges and apples. . . . We’re just trying to draw some in this age of multiple distractions,” Ball said with a laugh. “H.O.R.D.E. is there; Lollapalooza was there. I think it’s wonderful what Lilith has done. . . .

“I think you band together to put on the biggest, best show that you can, whether it’s all-alternative, all-country or whatever.”

Ball got a head start on the female trio with “Dreams Come True,” a 1990 collaboration featuring fellow Austin musicians Angela Strehli and Lou Ann Barton. Ball said that experience taught her a lesson or two about the art of compromise.

“This time around is easier for me because I sang so much more during the ‘Dreams Come True’ project,” said Ball, who hails from a musical family, with a grandmother, an aunt and cousin who played the piano.

“Now, I’m sharing the spotlight with two incredible singers, so it doesn’t even seem like I’m working very hard at times. It reminds of the Stones’ ‘You Can’t Always Get What You Want (But You Get What You Need).’ I’d like to thank Mick Jagger and Keith Richards for those words of wisdom.”

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Ball said there have been no ego clashes and that she has gained much from this union with Thomas and Nelson, both personally and professionally.

“I’ve admired them for a long time,” she said. “I wish I could sing with the power that Tracy has, but I think it was bred into that little gal. And I learned in the process of recording with Irma that she literally plants her feet and sings directly to her audience. It gives . . . a power of delivery that I can only marvel at.”

Ball said she always envisioned Thomas and Nelson as women whose company she would enjoy.

“It’s turned out to be true. They’re both smart, funny and have wonderful adventures to share. It’s like traveling with sisters . . . and since none of us has any blood sisters, it’s really been special that way.”

* Marcia Ball, Tracy Nelson and Irma Thomas play Monday at the Long Beach Blues Festival, Cal State Long Beach Athletic Field. Also scheduled: Jimmie Vaughan, Taj Mahal and the Phantom Blues Band, the Duke Robillard Band and the James Harman Band. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. $25-$30, 12 and under free. (562) 498-8888 or (714) 740-2000 (Ticketmaster)