''Compositions'' is the fourth album by American R&B/soul singer

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career ...

. The album peaked at #5 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and was certified

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 ...

in 1990, making it Baker's third platinum selling album. The album also won the

Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance (previously called Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female) was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards ...

at the

1991 Grammy Awards The 33rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 20, 1991. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Quincy Jones was the night's biggest winner winning a total of six awards including Album of the Year. Performers ...

. ''Compositions'' would be the last album and collaboration between Baker and producer

Michael J. Powell Michael J. Powell is an American R&B musician, record producer and arranger who is best known for his work as producer for eight time Grammy Award-winning soul / R&B vocalist Anita Baker. Powell was born in Chicago and lived there until his fam ...

Track listing

# "Talk to Me" (Baker, Vernon Fails, Michael Powell) - 5:03 # "Perfect Love Affair" (Baker, Joel Davis) - 5:19 # "Whatever It Takes" (Baker,

Marc Gordon Marcus Melvin "Marc" Gordon (October 14, 1935 – June 16, 2010) was an American Grammy-winning record producer, songwriter and music executive, best known for his work with Hal Davis at Motown, and for his later involvement with The 5th Dimensio ...

Gerald LeVert Gerald Edward Levert (July 13, 1966 – November 10, 2006) was an Americans, American singer-songwriter and producer. Levert was best known for singing with his brother, Sean Levert, and friend Marc Gordon of the vocal group LeVert. Levert ...

) - 5:35 # "Soul Inspiration" (

Terry Britten Terence Ernest Britten (born July 1947) is an English-Australian singer-songwriter and record producer, who has written songs for Tina Turner, Cliff Richard, Olivia Newton-John, Status Quo and Michael Jackson amongst many others. Britten (along w ...

Graham Lyle Graham Hamilton Lyle (born 11 March 1944, in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. Between 1970 and 1997, he co-wrote 18 British Top 40 hits, 9 Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 entrie ...

) - 5:17 # "Lonely" (Baker) - 4:29 # "No One to Blame" (Baker, Fails) - 4:41 # "More Than You Know" (Baker, Vernon Fails, Michael Powell) - 4:48 # "Love You to The Letter" (James McBride) - 7:20 # "Fairy Tales" (Baker, Fails, Powell) - 7:55

Personnel

– lead and backing vocals * Vernon Fails – keyboards *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, singer-songwriter, and musical director based in Los Angeles, California. A prolific session musician, Phillinganes has contributed the role of keyboards to numerous alb ...

– acoustic piano, backing vocals (7) * Ben Keys – programming * David Ward – programming *

– guitar (1-4, 6, 7, 9), backing vocals (7) *

Earl Klugh Earl Klugh ( ; born September 16, 1953) is an American acoustic guitarist and composer. He has won one Grammy award and thirteen nominations. Klugh was awarded the “1977” Best Recording Award For Performance and Sound” for his album “Fi ...

– guitar (7) *

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass player and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts degr ...

– bass, backing vocals (7) *

Ricky Lawson William Riser III (November 8, 1954 – December 23, 2013), better known as Ricky Lawson, was an American drummer and composer. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he worked extensively as a session musician, collaborating with Stevie Wonder, Mich ...

– drums (1, 4, 5, 7) *

Steve Ferrone Steve Ferrone (born 25 April 1950) is an English drummer. He is known as a member of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from 1994 to 2017, replacing original drummer Stan Lynch, and as part of the "classic lineup" of the Average Whi ...

– drums (2, 3, 6, 8, 9) * Paulinho da Costa – percussion (1, 2, 4-9) * Perri (Carol, Darlene, Lori and Sharon Perry) – backing vocals (2, 4, 7), BGV arrangement (4)

Production

* Producer – Michael J. Powell * Executive Producer – Anita Baker * Engineer – Barney Perkins * Second Engineers – Tom Beiner, Steve Gallagher and Bart Stevens. * Assistant Engineer – Milton Chan * Additional Engineers – Darroll Gustamachio, Elliott Peters and Gerard Smerek. * Mixing – Barney Perkins (Tracks 1, 3 & 5-9); Gerard Smerek (Tracks 2 & 4). * 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 ...

Bernie Grundman Mastering 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 ...

(Hollywood, CA). * Art Direction – Anita Baker and Carol Bobolts * Photography – Adrian Buckmaster * Management – Randy Bash, Sherwin Bash and Ricki Sellner for BNB Associates, Ltd.

Awards

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{Authority control 1990 albums Anita Baker albums Elektra Records albums Albums produced by Michael J. Powell