''The Songstress'' is the debut solo album by the 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 ...

. It was originally released in 1983 by Beverly Glen Music, and was Baker's only album for that label prior to signing with Elektra Records with whom she had a string of hit albums. ''The Songstress'' was not a commercial success upon its initial release, though the album met with moderate success on the R&B charts. It did have a 1984 compact disc release and was one of the first independently released compact Discs. Notorious drug trafficker

"Freeway" Rick Ross Ricky Donnell "Freeway Rick" Ross (born January 26, 1960) is an American author and convicted drug trafficker best known for the drug empire he established in Los Angeles, California, in the early to mid 1980s. He was sentenced to life in pris ...

helped provide the money for the album. Baker became a major international success after signing with

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

(a division of

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

) in 1986, and Elektra acquired the rights to ''The Songstress'' and re-released it with a new cover in 1991. Between 1992-2007, the album sold 307,000 copies in the US according to

SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

figures.

Reception

"No More Tears" peaked at number 49 on Billboard's Hot Black Singles chart, becoming Baker's first entry on the Billboard's singles chart;''VH1 Rock Stars Encyclopedia''
p. 58 "Angel," number five on the same chart; "You're the Best Thing Yet," number 28. Alex Henderson of ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' rated the album three and a half stars, praising her ballads and 'slow jams' (such as "No More Tears", "Angel", and "You're the Best Thing Yet"), calling them "honest ndheartfelt", along with faster material such as "Squeeze Me" (which he referred to as "a sweaty taste of

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

-drenched

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 ...

Track listing

# "Angel" (

Patrick Moten Patrick Lawrence Moten (March 17, 1957 – November 22, 1999) was an American musician, songwriter, producer, and arranger. He primarily performed on piano and organ. Moten was best known as the musical director for Bobby Womack and Gerald A ...

Sandra Sully Sandra Sully (born 18 February 1965) is an Australian news presenter and journalist and editor for '' 10 News First'' in Sydney and Queensland. Sully attended Brisbane State High School, graduating in 1978. Life and career Sully was the fir ...

) - 4:57 # "You're the Best Thing Yet" (Moten, Geronne C. Turner) - 5:36 # "Feel The Need" (Moten) - 5:35 # "Squeeze Me" (Moten) - 4:40 # "No More Tears" (

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 ...

) - 5:38 # "Sometimes" (Moten, Sully) - 5:53 # "Will You Be Mine" (Moten, Carlos Turrentine) - 5:24 # "Do You Believe Me" (Moten) - 3:55

Personnel

* Anita Baker – lead vocals *

– keyboards, rhythm section arrangements, BGV arrangements *

David T. Walker David T. Walker (born June 25, 1941) is an American guitarist, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to numerous session musician duties since the early 1970s, Walker has issued fifteen albums in his own name. Career David T. Walker was born to ...

– guitar * Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar * James Macon – guitar * Craig Cooper – guitar *

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 * Raymond Calhoun – drums *

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 * Otis Smith – backing vocals arrangements *

Gene Page Eugene Edgar Page Jr. (September 13, 1939 – August 24, 1998) was an American conductor, composer, arranger and record producer, most active from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. His sound can be heard in the arrangements he did for Jeffer ...

– string arrangements * Anthony T. Coleman – string contractor * Billy Page – string contractor * "The Waters": Maxine Waters, Julia Waters, Luther Waters and

Oren Waters Oren Waters is an American vocalist best known for his work with the backup singing group The Waters, his siblings: Luther, Maxine and Julia. As an ensemble, Waters has been a part of 260 gold and over 100 platinum albums with artists ranging from ...

– backing vocals * Carmen Twillie – backing vocals *

Phil Perry Philip Eugene Perry (born January 12, 1952) is an American R&B singer, songwriter, musician and a former member of the soul group, The Montclairs, from 1971 to 1975. He was also known for performing the opening song to Disney’s sitcom, ''Goof ...

– backing vocals *

Jim Gilstrap James Earl Gilstrap (born November 10, 1946)''U.S. Public Records Index'' Vol 1 (Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.), 2010. is an American singer, considered one of the most prolific session musicians in the industry. He is best known for ...

– backing vocals * Clydene Jackson – backing vocals * Bunny Hull – backing vocals

Production

* Executive Producer – Otis Smith * Producers – Patrick Moten and Otis Smith * Engineer – Barney Perkins * Assistant Engineer – Tom Cummings * Recorded at Kendun Recorders (Burbank, CA). * Mastered by John Matousek at Hitsville Studios (Hollywood, CA). * Digital Remastered and Edited by John Matousek and Gerard Smerek at Soundworks West (Hollywood, CA). * Art Direction and Design – John Coulter Design * Artwork – Ginny Livingston * Original Photography – Richard Arrindell * Front Cover and Inside Photo – Kevin Winter * Back Cover Photo – Adrian Buckmaster

Charts

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Songstress, The 1983 debut albums Anita Baker albums albums arranged by Gene Page