''Inseparable'' is the debut studio album by American singer

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the h ...

, released on May 11, 1975, by Capitol Records. The album became her first

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

-certified album and spawned the number-one R&B hits "

This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) "This Will Be" is a song written by Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy, arranged by Richard Evans and performed by American singer Natalie Cole. Often appended with "(An Everlasting Love)" but not released as such, this was Cole's debut single, releas ...

" and " Inseparable". The hit album and its singles earned Cole two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

s for

Best New Artist The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...

and

Best Female R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards ...

. .

History

By 1974, Natalie Cole, the daughter of legendary

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

/ pop crooner

Nat King Cole Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

, was struggling to get her own music career off the ground. Ever since she had started performing at clubs and festivals, Cole had tried to forge her own path away from the one that several of her father's fans thought she would turn to. Cole refused to record jazz material in fear she would be accused of riding her father's coattails. A longtime fan of soul and blues singers such as Janis Joplin and Aretha Franklin, Cole had instead inspired to follow in their footsteps. After performing at one club, she was spotted by musicians Chuck Jackson (step-brother of Jesse Jackson) and Marvin Yancy, who was shopping songs that had been turned down by Franklin herself. Cole, Yancy and Jackson recorded demos for songs that later led to Cole being signed to her father's label, Capitol Records.

Release and reaction

Released in the spring of 1975, ''Inseparable'' shot to the top of the R&B album charts and was also a top twenty hit on the ''Billboard'' pop album charts sparked by the album's first single, "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)". The song's Franklin-inspired production's catchy melodies and hooks helped to make it a number-one hit on the

Hot Soul Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart while also reaching number six on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The title track also became a hit reaching number-one on the R&B chart while reaching number thirty-two on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Altogether, the album went gold selling over a million copies and helping Cole win two Grammy Awards including

and

, where she broke the winning streak set by Aretha Franklin, who had won the award eight years in a row. (For a time before Cole's win, the award was nicknamed ''The Aretha Award''.) The album's success was the beginning of Cole's mid-1970s successes, as an R&B star releasing five gold albums and two platinum albums during her Capitol tenure.

Track listing

Personnel

*Chuck Jackson,

Marvin Yancy Marvin Jerome Yancy (May 31, 1950 – March 22, 1985) was an American gospel musician, pastor and Grammy-winning record producer, and former pastor of Fountain of Life Baptist Church. He started his music career, in 1971, with The Independents, w ...

, Richard Evans - arrangements *Janice Williams - spiritual advisor *Roger Anfinsen, John Janus - engineer, Curtom Studios *

Bruce Swedien Bruce Swedien (; April 19, 1934 – November 16, 2020) was an American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer. He was widely known for his work with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand. Swedien fi ...

, Rich Adler - engineer, Universal and Paragon Studios *Roy Kohara - art direction *David Alexander - photography

Charts

;Singles

Certifications

References

External links

*
Inseparable
' at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Inseparable (Natalie Cole album) 1975 debut albums Natalie Cole albums Capitol Records albums