If it were adapted for a film, then Jackie Shane’s story might read like the screenplay version of an Iceberg Slim or Donald Goines novel, except that it doesn’t end in betrayal and bloodshed—just tantalizing visions of what might have been. Born in Nashville in 1940, Shane knew from an early age that she was different, but it wasn’t until she reached her teenage years that she began to understand herself as a woman whose mind and soul happened to inhabit a man’s body. The very idea of coming out in the segregated Jim Crow South was dangerous enough; declaring yourself transgender was akin to a death wish. But as everyone who met her along the way quickly learned, Shane was confident, resourceful, fierce and not to be fucked with—all of which served her well when she found her path as a singer, drummer and spectacular performer with an unusually expressive range.

Any Other Way collects all six of the 45s she made after relocating to Toronto in 1959, as well as a sizzling live set recorded in early 1967 at the city’s aptly named Sapphire Tavern. By all accounts, Shane took over a room with her heat, flamboyance and glitter; quoted in Rob Bowman’s excellent liner essay, veteran soul singer-songwriter Eric Mercury refers to her as “living her life out loud,” while everyone from Jackie Wilson to Joe Tex saw that she had the star power to make it big.

Listen to the sweet-as-butter title cut (penned by William Bell, who, at the time, was forging his own career on the Stax label), or the heart-rending “Cruel Cruel World,” or her barn-burning live versions of“Knock on Wood” and “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” and it’s easy to hear why Shane had such an effect on people. She commits from the get-go, singing as though her life depends on it (sometimes literally), and seems to feed off the energy around her, whether it’s coming from the band in the studio or the crowd in the club. In 1971, she left her career behind to be with her elderly mother in Los Angeles, and she lives today, unapologetically reclusive, back in her hometown of Nashville. Thankfully, we have this incredible collection and a riveting tale of tenderness, faith, frailty and unbending determination to remember her by.