'Touch Me In The Morning' wasn't Diana Ross's biggest UK hit (it peaked at #9 in the summer of '73) but it was undoubtedly one of her most memorable. A slow, sensual ballad co-written by 'For Once In My Life' writer Ron Miller in tandem with a young Michael Masser - an erstwhile stockbroker who went on to pen chartbusters for George Benson ('The Greatest Love Of All') and Whitney Houston ('Saving All My Love For You') – 'Touch Me In the Morning' was the lead off single from a hit album of the same name that followed in the wake of Ross's success acting the role of Billie Holiday in the 1972 movie 'Lady Sings The Blues.'

Hip-O Select have just released a 2-CD expanded version of 'Touch Me In the Morning' and the first CD includes the original version of album, which features the infectious UK Top 10 hit 'All Of My Life' and Ross's slightly schmaltzy version of John Lennon's overrated ballad, 'Imagine.' Five alternate mixes of tracks from the album flesh out the rest of the first CD, including producer Deke Richards' echo-saturated mix of 'We Love You' (Richards explains in the liner notes that Motown boss Berry Gordy gave him a roasting for the mix, which mistakenly ended up on initial pressings of the LP).

For Ross collectors, the second CD represents the most exciting part of this compilation – it includes a previously unissued Ross LP from 1972 called 'To The Baby,' a collection of songs that were inspired by and dedicated to Ross's then recently born child, Rhonda. Although Berry Gordy canned the album – and initiated work on what became 'Touch Me In The Morning' - a couple of tracks ended up on 'Touch Me In The Morning.' The majority of it, though, has not been heard before. Given its source of inspiration, 'To The Baby' is naturally sentimental and a bit cloying at times but it's much more than a mere vanity project – the excellent jazz-tinged title track is co-authored by Leon Ware and Ross's brother, T-Boy, and there are also decent versions of Michael Jackson's 'Got To Be There' and the Ewan MacColl-penned Roberta Flack hit, 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face.' Interestingly, two tracks that ended up on 'Touch Me In The Morning' – 'Imagine' and a soulful retread of Marvin Gaye's 'Save The Children' – are presented segued together as a medley.

That's not all, as an additional bonus, a couple of miscellaneous Ross tracks have been appended to CD2: a previously unissued 1971 Smokey Robinson-helmed cut, 'Kewpie Doll,' and the rather twee 'When We Grow Up,' which first appeared when Ross guested on a 1972 album by actress Marlo Thomas. For the many Diana Ross devotees out there, there's no doubt that this fine compilation is a mandatory purchase.