''Stay in Love'' (full title: ''Stay in Love: A Romantic Fantasy Set to Music'') is the fourth studio album by American singer

Minnie Riperton Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use o ...

, released under

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

. The album features the hits "Young Willing and Able" and the

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

collaboration "Stick Together". Unlike her previous works, the soft soul elements here tend to fade, replaced by a more upbeat disco sound which was the musical trend at the time. "Stick Together" peaked at no. 23 on Billboard's Hot Dance Play, an alternate version known as "Stick Together (Part One)" reached no. 57 on the U.S.

Hot Black 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. ''Stay in Love'' was Riperton's first disco effort and the only of her releases predominantly in the genre. It was also her last album for

; she subsequently signed to

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 ...

(which she recorded two albums during her lifetime). Moreover, this was Ripperton's first album since her debut, ''

Come to My Garden ''Come to My Garden'' is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton which was produced, arranged and orchestrated by Charles Stepney and released in 1970 under ''GRT Records''. It was re-released in 1974 on the Janus la ...

'', that didn't feature her husband

Richard Rudolph Richard James Rudolph (born October 27, 1946) is an American songwriter, musician, music publisher, and producer. Life and career Richard Rudolph is the son of Muriel Eileen (Neufeld) and Sidney J. Rudolph. His grandfather, Julius Abraham Rud ...

as a producer or co-producer, although Rudolph still co-wrote the songs. In his place as producer was

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

veteran

Freddie Perren Frederick James Perren (May 15, 1943 – December 16, 2004) was an American songwriter, record producer, arranger, and orchestra conductor. He co-wrote and co-produced songs including "Boogie Fever" by the Sylvers, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gay ...

in his only collaboration with Ripperton.

Track listing

''All tracks written by Minnie Riperton and

, unless otherwise noted.''

Personnel

*Minnie Riperton - vocals, backing vocals *Don Peake - string and horn arrangements *

Odell Brown Odell Elliott Brown Jr. (February 2, 1940 – May 3, 2011) was an American jazz organist. He was active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, playing soul jazz and jazz funk with his backing band as Odell Brown & the Organ-Izers. Biography Brown was ...

- string arrangements on "Can You Feel What I'm Saying?" and "Stay in Love" *

Wade Marcus Wade Marcus was a music producer and arranger associated with the Motown sound during the 1970s. He composed the music to the film ''The Final Comedown'' with Grant Green. He also produced albums by The Blackbyrds, Gary Bartz, A Taste of Honey, T ...

- string and horn arrangements on "Gettin' Ready for Your Love" and "Wouldn't Matter Where You Are" *

Sonny Burke Joseph Francis "Sonny" Burke (March 22, 1914 – May 31, 1980) was an American musical arranger, composer, Big Band leader and producer. In 1937, he graduated from Duke University, where he had formed and led the jazz big band known as the Duke ...

, John Barnes - keyboards *

Dick Rudolph Richard Rudolph (August 25, 1887 – October 20, 1949), was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the New York Giants (NL), New York Giants and Boston Braves (baseball), Boston Braves through 13 seasons spanning 1910–1927. He attend ...

Tommy Tedesco Thomas Joseph Tedesco (July 3, 1930 – November 10, 1997) was an American guitarist and studio musician in Los Angeles and Hollywood. He was part of the loose collective of the area's leading session musicians later popularly known as The Wrec ...

- acoustic guitar *Bob "Boogie" Bowles,

Marlo Henderson Marlo Henderson was an American guitarist and saxophonist, who played in mainly blues and R&B genres. As a session musician he played on albums such as '' Off the Wall'' by Michael Jackson, '' Them Changes'' by Buddy Miles, '' Face to Face'' by Ev ...

- guitar *Scott Edwards,

Wilton Felder Wilton Lewis Felder (August 31, 1940 – September 27, 2015) was an American saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, later known as The Crusaders. Felder played bass on the Jackson 5's hits "I Wan ...

Chuck Rainey Charles Walter Rainey III (born June 17, 1940) is an American bass guitarist who has performed and recorded with many well-known acts, including Aretha Franklin, Steely Dan, and Quincy Jones. Rainey is credited for playing bass on more than 1,00 ...

- bass *

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 * Paulinho da Costa, Bob Zimmitti, Joe Clayton - percussion *

Plas Johnson Plas John Johnson Jr. (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and baritone sax ...

- flute on "Gettin' Ready for Your Love" *Billy Ford, Carolyn Dennis, Carolyn Majors Caston, Jim Gilstrap, John Lehman - backing vocals *

Pam Grier Pamela Suzette Grier (born May 26, 1949) is an American actress and singer. Described by Quentin Tarantino as cinema's first female action star (although, there are some who dispute that claim and believe Cheng Pei-pei actually holds that distin ...

, Vicki Alley, Minnie Riperton, The Pastells - finger snaps on "Stick Together" ;Technical *Larry Miles - recording and remixing engineer *

- rhythm arrangements, production *

Irving Azoff Irving Azoff (; born December 12, 1947) is an American entertainment executive and chairman of Full Stop Management, which represents recording artists. In the mid-1980s, he brought success to MCA Records. Since September 2013, he has been chai ...

- director * Kosh - design *David Alexander - photography * Kevin Gray - mastering Production credits taken from album liner notes.Minnie Riperton - Stay in Love (CD, Album)
Discogs.com

Charts

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stay In Love 1977 albums Epic Records albums Minnie Riperton albums Albums arranged by Wade Marcus Albums produced by Freddie Perren Albums recorded at United Western Recorders Albums recorded at Total Experience Recording Studios Disco albums by American artists