''Rags To Rufus'' is the gold-selling second studio album by

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 ...

band Rufus, released on the

ABC Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels befo ...

label in 1974. It reached #4 on both the Pop and Black Albums charts. It is notable for the hit singles "

Tell Me Something Good "Tell Me Something Good" is a song by Rufus and Chaka Khan, written by Stevie Wonder and released in 1974. The single was a hit in the United States, peaking at number three on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and spent one week at number one on the ' ...

" (US Pop #3, US R&B #3), written by

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 ...

, and "

You Got the Love "You Got the Love" is a song by British songwriting team The Source featuring American singer-songwriter Candi Staton. Originally released in 1986, the song was remixed and re-released in 1991, 1997, and 2006. It reached number three on the UK S ...

" (US Pop #11, US R&B #1), written by lead vocalist

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

and

Ray Parker Jr. Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song to the 1984 film '' Ghostbusters''. Previously, Parker achieved a US top-10 h ...

In 1975 "Tell Me Something Good" earned the band its first Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

History

In 1973, Rufus released their first album. While Khan handled lead vocals on seven of the tracks, then-member Ron Stockert also led on a number of tracks. While "Slip & Slide", Rufus' first single, with Stockert applying lead vocals, failed to chart, two numbers from the album ("Feel Good" and "Whoever's Thrilling You is Killing Me") were led by Khan. Reaction from the Khan-led singles gave ABC Records the push to make Khan the focal point of the group, something that didn't sit well with Ron Stockert, who was then the band's artistic leader. While Stockert would be featured on the album singing lead with Khan on their funky remake of the gospel ballad, "Swing Down Chariot" and was featured on the inner sleeve of the album, halfway through sessions, Stockert left the group. Keyboardist Nate Morgan replaced him. Tony Maiden (who later replaced Al Ciner on guitar) would bring an extra effort to their yet-established sound – the use of the talk box. While recording in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, the group was surprised by the unannounced arrival of

, who'd admired the group after hearing their rendition of his song "Maybe Your Baby". Wonder had several songs he had written for Khan. One of the songs – "Come and Get This Stuff" – was not received favorably by Khan which stunned Wonder, according to Khan (the song would later appear on his ex-wife Syreeta's second album '' Stevie Wonder Presents: Syreeta''). Wonder then asked Khan, then only twenty at the time, what her birth sign was, Khan replied "Aries-Pisces" and Wonder responded by introducing another song, "

". This time Khan approved and agreed to put her vocal stamp on it. When Khan chose to sing the song in her key, Wonder stopped the session abruptly and then guided Khan to sing it in the way he had written it. Khan recorded her Wonder-arranged vocal in one take and the rest of the band recorded their track the next day with Maiden providing the talk box effect on the song's chorus. "Tell Me Something Good" was one of the last songs the group recorded for the album and the album was released in the spring of 1974. On the strength of "Tell Me Something Good" and the Khan-written "

" ''Rags to Rufus'' later sold over a million copies later going

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

. After this release, founding member Al Ciner, Dennis Belfield, and Stockert would leave. And the lineup of the group by the time of their next album changed drastically.

Track listing

Personnel

;Rufus *

– lead vocals, background vocals *Dennis Belfield – background vocals, bass *André Fischer – drums, percussion, background vocals * Kevin Murphy – organ, clavinet, background vocals * Al Ciner – electric & acoustic guitars, background vocals *Ron Stockert – lead vocals, keyboards, background vocals

Production

*Bob Monaco, Rufus – producers *

Clare Fischer Douglas Clare Fischer (October 22, 1928 – January 26, 2012) was an American keyboardist, composer, arranger, and bandleader. After graduating from Michigan State University (from which, five decades later, he would receive an honorary doctorate ...

– orchestration *Don Sciarrotta – chief recording & re-mix engineer *Tony Sciarrotta – assistant engineer *Vic Zaslow – audio mastering *Ron Stockert, Dennis Belfield, Al Ciner – string & horn arrangements *Arthur Lee Hanson – photography

Charts

Album Singles

References

External links

*
Rags to Rufus
' 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 la ...

{{Authority control 1974 albums Rufus (band) albums Chaka Khan albums ABC Records albums