''Chameleon'' is the sixth album by the American singing trio
Labelle. Though
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman.
LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul".
She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...
's autobiography ''Don't Block The Blessings'' revealed that LaBelle planned a follow-up to ''Chameleon'' entitled ''Shaman'', the album never materialized. The trio would not release another new recording until 2008's ''
Back to Now
''Back to Now'' is the seventh and latest studio album by American female vocal group Labelle, released on October 21, 2008. The album is the group's first in over thirty years though they had sung on songs together on occasion.
Labelle memb ...
''. The final album was moderately successful peaking at #94 at the Pop charts and #21 on the R&B charts. Only two singles made the charts which were "Get You Somebody New" which peaked at #50 on the Pop charts and their memorable song "Isn't It A Shame" which peaked at #18 on the R&B charts. "Isn't It A Shame" was later sampled by
Nelly
Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...
on his 2004 hit, "
My Place", which featured
Jaheim
Jaheim H. Hoagland (born May 26, 1978), known mononymously as Jaheim, is an American Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. He was signed by Naughty by Nature's Kaygee to Divine Mill Records in 2000, and released his debut album ''Ghetto Love (album), Ghe ...
.
Track listing
All tracks composed by
Nona Hendryx
Nona Bernis Hendryx (born October 9, 1944) is an American vocalist, record producer, songwriter, musician, and author.
Hendryx is known for her work as a solo artist as well as for being one-third of the trio Labelle, who had a hit with "Lady ...
; except where indicated
# "Get You Somebody New" (Joe Crane) (6:10)
# "Come into My Life" (6:44)
# "
Isn't It a Shame" (
Randy Edelman
Randy Edelman (born June 10, 1947) is an American musician, producer, and composer for film and television. He began his career as a member of Broadway's pit orchestras, and later went on to produce solo albums for songs that were picked up by ...
) (7:58)
# "Who's Watching the Watcher?" (4:15)
# "Chameleon" (5:15)
# "Gypsy Moths" (5:00)
# "A Man in a Trenchcoat (Voodoo)" (7:49)
# "Going Down Makes Me Shiver" (7:07)
Personnel
*
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman.
LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul".
She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...
,
Nona Hendryx
Nona Bernis Hendryx (born October 9, 1944) is an American vocalist, record producer, songwriter, musician, and author.
Hendryx is known for her work as a solo artist as well as for being one-third of the trio Labelle, who had a hit with "Lady ...
,
Sarah Dash
Sarah Dash (August 18, 1945 – September 20, 2021) was an American singer and actress. She first appeared on the music scene as a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles. Dash was later a member of Labelle, and worked as a singer, sess ...
- vocals
*James Ellison - piano, keyboards, synthesizer
*
David Rubinson David Rubinson (born August 7, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York)Internet Movie DatabaseMini-Biography of David Rubinson Retrieved 2012-06-05.as of 2017 it's 1962? is an American recording engineer and music producer, who was particularly involved in music ...
,
Tom Coster
Tom Coster (born August 21, 1941) is an American keyboardist, composer, and longtime backing musician for Carlos Santana.
Early years
Detroit-born and San Francisco-raised, Coster played piano and accordion as a youth, continuing his studies ...
- synthesizer
*
Eddie Martinez,
Ray Parker Jr.
Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song to the 1984 film '' Ghostbusters''. Previously, Parker achieved a US top-10 h ...
,
Wah Wah Watson
Melvin M. Ragin (December 8, 1950 – October 24, 2018), known professionally as "Wah Wah Watson", was an American guitarist who was a member of The Funk Brothers, the studio band for Motown Records.
Career
A native of Richmond, Virginia, Melvi ...
- guitar
*
Carmine Rojas
Carmine Rojas (February 14, 1953) is an American bass guitarist, musical director and composer. His musical styles include rock, R&B/funk, and jazz.
Music career
Early years, as sideman
Born in Brooklyn, Rojas toured the world with David Bowie ...
- bass guitar
*
James Gadson
James Gadson ( James Edward Gadson; born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and ...
- drums, percussion
*
Scott Mathews
Scott Mathews (born July 25, 1955) is an American music producer, composer, performer, and entrepreneur. He has appeared as a musician, songwriter or producer on recordings with sales of more than 40 million units which earned more than 20 gol ...
- drums
*
José Chepitó Áreas,
Leon Chancler - percussion
*
Emilio Castillo
Emilio Castillo (born September 24, 1950) is an American saxophone player and composer, best known as the founder of the band Tower of Power.
Background
In 1965, Emilio Castillo took to music after he and his brother Jack were caught stealing by ...
,
Lenny Pickett
Lenny Pickett (born April 10, 1954) is an American saxophonist and musical director of the ''Saturday Night Live'' band. From 1973 to 1981 he was a member of Tower of Power.
He is known for his skill in the altissimo register (executed by using ...
- tenor saxophone
*
Stephen Kupka
Tower of Power is an American R&B and funk based band and horn section, originating in Oakland, California, that has been performing since 1968. There have been a number of lead vocalists, the best-known being Lenny Williams, who fronted the ...
- baritone saxophone
*Kurt McGettrick - bass saxophone
*Fred Catero, David Rubinson - engineers
Basic song arrangements for Nona Hendryx material were: LaBelle, James "Budd" Ellison, Eddie Martinez and Rev. Batts
References
{{Authority control
1976 albums
Labelle albums
Albums produced by Dave Rubinson
Albums produced by Vicki Wickham
Epic Records albums
Albums recorded at Wally Heider Studios