''Just a Little Lovin is a 1970

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Carmen McRae directed and produced by Arif Mardin. The recording in a studio of Atlantic Records in Miami was set up with a horn section, an occasional string section and The Sweet Inspirations as backing vocals on some tracks. The studio's own Dixie Flyers, a rhythm section founded by Sammy Creason, provided the contemporary electrified sound for a repertoire that derived mainly from only recently written pop songs, three alone by the Beatles, two by the Muscle Shoal crew like " Breakfast in Bed", written in 1968 for Dusty Springfield, and a Laura Nyro original. The electrified orchestral sound is advanced twice, on "

Something Something may refer to: Philosophy and language *Something (concept) *Something, an English indefinite pronoun Music Albums * ''Something'' (Chairlift album), 2012 * ''Something'' (Shirley Bassey album), 1970 * ''Something'' (Shirley Scott a ...

" with the use of a cimbalom (remotely similar sounding like a sitar), and with a

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on "

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" that harmonizes with the strings. Slightly out of the pop vein are a straightforwardly played

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, "

I Love the Life I Live ''I Love the Life I Live'' was a jazz and blues album by the American musician Mose Allison, released in 1960. Allison became notable for playing a unique mix of blues and modern jazz, both singing and playing piano. After moving to New York i ...

" by

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, and "Didn't We", an intimate duet with guitarist

Al Gafa Alexander "Al" Gafa (born April 9, 1941, New York City) is an American jazz guitarist. Career Gafa worked extensively as a session musician for recordings in the mid and late 1960s in New York. In jazz he worked in that decade with Kai Winding, M ...

. There were several singles issued before and alongside the album's release, although the songs chosen for the most part didn't make it on the final album. They were reissued in 1991 as additional tracks on a Japanese digital re-release. "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" and "Just a Dream" were recorded already in September 1969 and Mardin had not thought of a horn section yet, instead the strings are emphasized.

Track listing

# "Just a Little Lovin'" (

Barry Mann Barry Mann (born Barry Imberman; February 9, 1939) is an American songwriter and musician, and part of a successful songwriting partnership with his wife, Cynthia Weil. He has written or co-written 53 hits in the UK and 98 in the US. Early li ...

Cynthia Weil Cynthia Weil (born October 18, 1940) is an American songwriter who wrote many songs together with her husband Barry Mann. Life and career Weil was born in New York City, and was raised in a Conservative Jewish family. Her father was Morris Wei ...

) - 2:15 # "

" (

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

) - 3:07 # "I Thought I Knew You Well" ( Tony Joe White) - 3:42 # " I Want You" ( Tom Waits) - 2:10 # "

More Today Than Yesterday "More Today Than Yesterday" is a song written by Pat Upton and performed by Spiral Starecase, of which Upton was the lead vocalist. The song was produced by Sonny Knight and arranged by Al Capps. Background The principal idea of the song was ma ...

" ( Patrick Upton) - 2:59 # " Here, There and Everywhere" ( John Lennon, Paul McCartney) - 2:32 # " Carry That Weight" (Lennon, McCartney) - 2:45 # " Breakfast in Bed" (

Donnie Fritts Donald Ray Fritts (November 8, 1942 – August 27, 2019) was an American session musician and songwriter. A recording artist in his own right, he was Kris Kristofferson's keyboardist for over forty years. In 2008, he was inducted into the Alaba ...

, Eddie Hinton) - 3:12 # "

" (

) - 2:25 # "

" (Donnie Fritts, John Reid) - 3:35 # "Didn't We" ( Jim Webb) - 3:22 # "Goodbye Joe" ( Laura Nyro) - 2:30 ;Bonus tracks on 1991 Japanese Atlantic release (AMCY-1079) #

"I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" ( Al Kooper) - 3:37 # "Just a Dream" ( Bobby Worth) - 3:16 # "Silent Spring" (Allan Paul Shatkin) - 3:05 ''All tracks were recorded February 2, 1970, at Atlantic South-Criteria Studio in Miami, Florida, except "Didn't We" recorded May 18, 1970, at Atlantic Studios in New York. The single tracks "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" and "Just a Dream" were recorded September 15, 1969, at Regent Sound Studio, NY, and "Silent Spring" in March 1970 at Atlantic Studios in New York.Cf. Carmen McRae's sessionography for the 1970s on Jazzdiscography.com
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Personnel

* Carmen McRae - vocals * Arif Mardin - arranger, musical direction *Horn section (on all tracks except 11, 13-15) ** King Curtis - alto saxophone, tenor saxophone (soloist) **George Dorsey - alto saxophone ** Pepper Adams - baritone saxophone ** Joe Newman - trumpet (soloist) ** Garnett Brown - trombone **Wally Kane, George Marge, Romeo Penque - woodwind **Joseph DeAngelis, Anthony Miranda, Brooks Tillotson - french horn *The Dixie Flyers: ** Mike Utley - electric piano, organ ** Jim Dickinson - guitar, keyboards **Charlie Freeman - lead guitar **Tommy McClure - bass ** Sammy Creason - drums, percussion * The Sweet Inspirations - backing vocals (2, 3, 7, 12, 13) *Unknown string section conducted by Gene Orloff (1, 2, 7, 10, 13-15) ;"Didn't We" is a duo with *

- guitar

References

{{Authority control 1970 albums Carmen McRae albums Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Arif Mardin