''Reaching for the Sky'' is the second album by soul vocalist

Peabo Bryson Robert Peapo "Peabo" Bryson (born April 13, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for singing soul ballads (often as a duet with female singers) including the 1983 hit "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" with Roberta Flack. Bryson ...

Reception

Released in 1978, ''Reaching for the Sky'' was Bryson's debut album on

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

, charting with

Quiet Storm Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album ''A Quiet Storm''. The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Lin ...

staple "Feel the Fire" at number 13 on the R&B singles chart. This tune was covered by

Stephanie Mills Stephanie Dorthea Mills (born March 22, 1957) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to stardom as "Dorothy" in the original seven-time Tony Award winning Broadway run of the musical ''The Wiz'' from 1974 to 1979. The song " Home" from t ...

in 1979 on her ''

What Cha' Gonna Do with My Lovin' ''What Cha Gonna Do with My Lovin is the third album by Stephanie Mills. Released in 1979 and produced by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas. Track listing *All songs written by James Mtume and Reggie Lucas except where indicated. Personnel *Ste ...

'' album and again in 1980 by

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American soul and R&B singer-songwriter. He was born in Kingstree, South Carolina. Pendergrass spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initially rose to musi ...

as a duet with Mills on his '' TP'' album. The midtempo title track, "Reaching for the Sky", was even more commercially successful, reaching number 6 on the R&B chart.

Track listing

All songs written by

#"Reaching for the Sky" - 4:56 #"Feel the Fire" - 5:03 #"A Fool Already Knows" - 4:02 #"Hold On to the World" - 4:41 #"Love from Your Heart" - 5:22 #"Love Walked Out on Me" - 5:36 #"You Haven't Learned About Love" - 3:32 #"Have a Good Time" - 4:58

Personnel

* Peabo Bryson – lead and backing vocals * Paul Libman – keyboards * Terry Fryer –

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

* Ross Traut – lead guitar, guitar solo (7) * Danny Leake – rhythm guitar * Larry Ball – bass *

Morris Jennings Morris Jennings was an American drummer and musician from Chicago. He recorded as Moe Jennings, M. Jennings, Maurice Jennings, Morris "Gator" Jennings, and Morris Jennings Jr. Jennings is best known for having played drums on the ''Electric Mud' ...

– drums, percussion * Bobby Christian –

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

, percussion, bells * Sonny Seals – saxophone solo (8) * Richard Evans – arrangements * Dr. Warric Carter – horn and string arrangements, conductor *

Johnny Pate John William Pate (born December 5, 1923) is an American former jazz bassist who became a producer, arranger, and leading figure in Chicago soul, pop, and rhythm and blues. He learned piano and tuba as a child and later picked up the bass guitar ...

– rhythm arrangements and conductor * Jynean Bell – backing vocals * Chuck Colbert – backing vocals * Sharon Johnson – backing vocals * Cynthia White – backing vocals

Production

* Producers – Peabo Bryson and Richard Evans * Executive Producer – Larkin Arnold * Recorded by Bob Brooks, Harry Brotman, Zollie Johnson, Barney Perkins, Jim Scheffler, Paul Serrano and Stu Walters. * Recorded and Mixed at P.S. Recording Studios (Chicago, IL). * Mastered by Ken Perry at

(Hollywood, CA). * Art Direction – Roy Kohara * Design – Art Sims * Photography – Dick Zimmerman

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

External links

Peabo Bryson-Reaching for the Sky at Discogs

References

{{authority control 1978 albums Peabo Bryson albums Albums conducted by Johnny Pate Capitol Records albums