"I am controlled by your love"

Back when I was feeling my way around the vast world of soul music from the 60s, I bought a fair number of second hand or cheap Goldmine Soul Supply cds.  Their quality (and sometimes the quality of their mastering) was variable but through them I came to some real treasures which I still adore to this day.  Helene Smith's crisp, hot-stepping "Thrills and Chills"  (from "Way With The Girls: 30 Northern Soul Girl Group Classics") is one of the very best of them.  Until Saturday, however, I'd never heard any other songs she recorded.  Her 5 contributions, one of which is a slightly better mastered version of"Thrills and Chills", to Numero Group's "Eccentric Soul: The Deep City Label" are all of such quality that I feel a bit negligent/silly for not seeking them out before now.  Of the 'new' songs,  the majestically sung"I Am Controlled By Your Love" is the one which has clung on the tightest with its slightly creepy lyrics telling a tale of a pretty unhealthy relationship:

My heart can’t beat, baby
Unless you tell it to
My eyes can’t see, baby
Unless you tell them to
There are things I should do
But I know it’s just no use
Cos I’m controlled by your love
I’m controlled by your love
Oh, yes I am
Mmmm, hmmm

Now I can’t breathe, baby
Unless you tell me to
And I can’t speak, baby
Unless you tell me to
It sounds strange, this I know
But it’s really, really so
Cos I’m controlled by your love
I’m controlled by your love
Oh, yes I am
Mmmm, hmmm

Anything I say or do
Means nothing to me
I’m controlled by your love
And that’s plain to see
But I’m proud to be controlled
Proud to be controlled by your love
Mmmm, hmmm

My heart can’t beat, baby
Unless you tell it to
My eyes can’t see, baby
Unless you tell them to
It sounds strange, this I know
But it’s really, really so
Cos I’m controlled by your love
I’m controlled by your love
Oh, yes I am

What an arresting intro!  How exciting to learn that Helene Smith's career in music should be remembered for more than just her Northern Soul classic even if she does, bizarrely, add a 't' to the end of each 'unless' - it really is eccentric soul, I guess!  As with Numero Group's recent Dynamic Label overview, the Deep City round-up is strong from first to last.  Ordinarily, a work as luminous and dramatic as Betty Wright's "Paralyzed" would be a certain stand-out on a soul compilation.  On Eccentric Soul 007, however, it's just one in a procession of heart-stopping moments.

Update: More of Helene's recordings appear on Eccentric Soul: The Outskirts Of Deep City.  Why didn't I investigate these records before now?