Big Mama Thornton: Stronger Than Dirt (Mercury)

ANYBODY WHO has ever seen Big Mama Thornton perform will vouch for the fact that she is a consummate entertainer. So good, in fact, that it's sometimes easy to leave a concert feeling so happy about having seen her (200-plus pounds of boogaloo) that the music is almost secondary. In the past, her albums have been for Arhoolie, and often difficult to find except in specialty shops.