''Powerful People'' is the second studio album of Canadian singer

Gino Vannelli Gino Vannelli (born June 16, 1952) is a Canadian rock singer and songwriter who had several hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s. His best-known singles include "People Gotta Move" (1974), "I Just Wanna Stop" (1978), " Living Inside Myself" (1981) a ...

. The album was released in 1974, and was produced by Gino and his brother

Joe Vannelli Joe Vannelli (born 28 December 1950) is a Canadian musician, composer and record producer. He was credited on most records of his brother, Gino Vannelli, and in collaboration with youngest brother Ross Vannelli, the three have won many awards. V ...

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

(who produced Vannelli's first album) is credited as associate producer. After his debut ''Crazy Life'' had failed to chart due to poor record company promotion, Vannelli assembled a band to record his second album. He and brother Joe had played all the instruments on ''Crazy Life,'' but ''Powerful People'' is characterized by Joe Vannelli's first experiments with

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s and the use of session musicians. The

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

y " People Gotta Move" was Vannelli's first hit in the United States, when

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

music was gaining popularity. The song reached #22 on

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and #21 in Canada. "Powerful People" reached #34 in Canada. The last track, "Poor Happy Jimmy", is a tribute to American singer

Jim Croce James Joseph Croce (; January 10, 1943 – September 20, 1973) was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to pa ...

, who died in an airplane accident a year earlier. The album was on the Canadian charts four separate times totalling 28 weeks between November 16, 1974, and August 14, 1976.

Track listing

Charts

Personnel

Production

* Producers – Gino Vannelli and Joe Vannelli * Associate Producer – Herb Alpert * Engineer –

Tommy Vicari Thomas Vicari (born August 24, 1948) is an American recording engineer, mixing engineer, record producer and scoring mixer known for his work with Quincy Jones, Gino Vannelli, Nicholas Britell, Thomas Newman, Prince, George Duke and Barbra Streisan ...

* Assistant Engineer – Larry Forkner * Mastered by

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chris Bellman, Patricia Sullivan, and Mi ...

* Art Direction – Roland Young * Design – Junie Osaki * Photography –

Jim McCrary Jim McCrary (August 31, 1939 – April 29, 2012) was an American photographer known for his 1970s album covers, most notably Carole King's ''Tapestry'', The Carpenters' '' Ticket to Ride,'' and Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May ...

and John Rideout

Musicians

– lead and backing vocals *

– electric piano, synthesizers, horn and string arrangements * Richard Baker – organ, organ bass, synthesizers, horn and string arrangements *

Graham Lear Graham Lear (born July 24, 1949) is an English-born Canadian rock drummer, best known for his time with Gino Vannelli, Santana and REO Speedwagon. He was born in Plymouth, United Kingdom. Background In 1952 his family moved to London, Ontario, ...

– drums * John J. Mandel – percussion * Tony Golia – bongos, congas *

Lani Hall Lani Hall (born November 6, 1945) is an American singer, lyricist, and author. From 1966 to 1971 she performed as lead vocalist for Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '66. In 1972 Hall released her first solo album, ''Sun Down Lady''. She may be best know ...

– backing vocals

References

External links

Lyrics of "Powerful People" on www.ginov.com
* {{Authority control Gino Vannelli albums 1974 albums A&M Records albums Albums recorded at A&M Studios Albums produced by Herb Alpert