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Blue Lights In The Basement
''Blue Lights in the Basement'' is the sixth studio album by American singer Roberta Flack released by Atlantic on December 13, 1977. The album was a commercial success, peaking at number eight on the US ''Billboard'' 200, becoming her third top-ten album on the chart and reaching number five on the R&B albums chart. On February 27, 1978, the album received a Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments over 500,000 copies. The album features the single "The Closer I Get to You", a duet with best friend and fellow soul musician Donny Hathaway, which became the biggest hit from the album, peaking at #2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and reaching #1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. The collaboration with Hathaway would be one of his final singles released in his lifetime before his death in 1979. The ''Blue Lights in the Basement'' track "After You" (a song released originally by Diana Ross in 1976) would be the first of several Mich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roberta Flack
Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the Billboard Magazine, ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "Feel Like Makin' Love (Roberta Flack song), Feel Like Makin' Love", "Where Is the Love (Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway song), Where Is the Love" and "The Closer I Get to You", the latter two duets with Donny Hathaway. Flack is also noted for her influence on the subgenre of contemporary R&B called quiet storm, along with her interpretations of songs by various songwriters, such as Leonard Cohen and members of the Beatles. Flack was the first artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year in two consecutive years: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" won in 15th Annual Grammy Awards, 1973 and "Killing Me Softly with His Song" won in 16th Annual Grammy Awards, 1974. Early life Flack was born in Black Mountain, North Carolina, to parents Laro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hit Single
A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' usually refers to a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio airplay audience impressions, or significant streaming data and commercial sales. Historically, before the dominance of recorded music, commercial sheet music sales of individual songs were similarly promoted and tracked as singles and albums are now. For example, in 1894, Edward B. Marks and Joe Stern released ''The Little Lost Child'', which sold more than a million copies nationwide, based mainly on its success as an illustrated song, analogous to today's music videos. Chart hits In the United States and the United Kingdom, a single is usually considered a hit when it reaches the top 40 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 or the top 75 of the UK ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wayne Carson
Wayne Carson (born Wayne Carson Head; May 31, 1943 – July 20, 2015), sometimes credited as Wayne Carson Thompson, was an American country musician, songwriter, and record producer. He played percussion, piano, guitar, and bass. His most famous songs as a writer include " The Letter", "Neon Rainbow", " Soul Deep", and " Always on My Mind" (written with Mark James and Johnny Christopher). Biography Carson was born in Denver, Colorado, to Odie and Olivia Head, who played music professionally under the pseudonym Thompson. Juli Thanki, "'Always on My Mind' writer Wayne Carson dead at 72", ''The Tennessean'', July 20, 2015 Retrieved July 20, 2015 They met in Nebraska while working for radio station KMMJ, m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soul Deep (Box Tops Song)
"Soul Deep" is a song by The Box Tops. It was the third of three singles released from their 1969 ''Dimensions'' LP. Lead vocals were provided by Alex Chilton. The Box Tops' song became an international Top 40 hit, charting modestly at #22 in the UK and #18 in the U.S. It reached the Top 10 in Australia (#7) and in Canada (#9). "Soul Deep" did best in South Africa, where it reached #2. "Soul Deep" became the group's final U.S. Top 40 entry. Regionally, it peaked at #3 on KHJ (Los Angeles) on 30 July and on WLS (Chicago) on 18–25 August. "Soul Deep" was also part of the title of the group's 1996 anthology. Eddy Arnold cover "Soul Deep" was covered by Eddy Arnold in 1970. The track is included on his album, ''Love and Guitars.'' Arnold had a Top 40 Country as well as Adult Contemporary hit with the song in both the U.S. and Canada. Other cover versions Preceding the Box Tops' version by some three years, a version had been recorded by Robbie Lane and the Disciples in 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ron Miller (songwriter)
Ronald Norman Miller (October 5, 1932 – July 23, 2007) was an American popular songwriter and record producer who wrote for Motown artists in the 1960s and 1970s and attained many Top 10 hits. Some of his songs, such as "For Once in My Life," have become pop standards. History and career Ron Miller was described by his daughter Lisa as "a young, Jewish songwriter with a very Rodgers & Hammerstein musical theater writing style" who "wrote of peace and hope for a better tomorrow during a time of war and the Civil Rights Movement. He didn’t just write about it. He lived it." Born as Robert Norman Gould in Chicago, Ron Miller was the only son of Sue and Harry Gould. Harry died when Miller and his sisters were still very young, and after his mother remarried Joe Miller, Miller adopted his stepfather's surname. Ron Miller served in the U.S. Marines and then sold washing machines before he was discovered by Motown founder Berry Gordy while playing in a bar. After his discovery by Go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gwen Guthrie
Gwendolyn Guthrie (July 9, 1950 – February 3, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter and pianist who also sang backing vocals for Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Peter Tosh, and Madonna, among others, and who wrote songs made famous by Ben E. King, Angela Bofill and Roberta Flack. Guthrie is well known for her 1986 anthem "Ain't Nothin' Goin' on But the Rent," and for her 1986 cover of the song " (They Long to Be) Close to You." Life and career Guthrie was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey. In school, she studied classical music, and her father began teaching her piano when she was eight years old. By the early 1970s, she had joined vocal groups such as the Ebonettes and the Matchmakers, while working as an elementary school teacher. She was a backup singer on Aretha Franklin's 1974 single " I'm in Love". Guthrie soon began moonlighting as a singer of commercial jingles, sometimes with her friend Valerie Simpson of Ashford & Simpson fame. A song-writing part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
This Time I'll Be Sweeter
"This Time I'll Be Sweeter" is a soul ballad written by Haras Fyre (professionally known as Pat Grant) and Gwen Guthrie. Early versions The first release of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" was as the B-side of the May 1975 Arista Records single release "Love Blind" by Martha Reeves; both sides of Reeves' single were produced by Bert De Coteaux and Tony Silvester who had hired composers Gwen Guthrie and Haras Fyre (pka Patrick/Pat Grant) as staff writers for the De Coteaux/Silvester company Penumbra Music in 1973. The Martha Reeves version of "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" was included on Reeves' 1976 album release ''The Rest of My Life''. De Couteaux and Silvester also produced the version by Linda Lewis on her album '' Not a Little Girl Anymore'' released - also on Arista - in June 1975. Lewis' version - whose chorale consisted of the song's co-writer Gwen Guthrie with Deniece Williams - was released as the album's lead single in the US. It was later issued in the UK in September ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Mtume
James Forman (January 3, 1946January 9, 2022), known professionally as Mtume or James Mtume, was an American jazz and R&B musician, songwriter, record producer, activist, and radio personality. He came to prominence as a jazz musician, working with Miles Davis between 1971 and 1975. Mtume's R&B group, also called Mtume, is best known for the 1983 R&B hit song "Juicy Fruit", which has been repeatedly sampled. Mtume the band also had a top-five R&B hit with the single "You, Me, and He". Life and career Mtume was born James Forman on January 3, 1946, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the son of jazz saxophonist Jimmy Heath, and was raised by his mother, Bertha Forman, and his stepfather, a Philadelphia local jazz pianist, James "Hen Gates" Forman. He grew up in a musical environment with jazz musicians frequenting his parents' house. He learned to play piano and percussion; however, from his teenage years he was pursuing athletics as a swimmer, having achieved the title of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reggie Lucas
Reginald Grant Lucas (February 25, 1953 – May 19, 2018)Reggie Lucas Obituary legacy.com accessdate July 20, 2018 was an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Lucas is perhaps best known for producing the majority of 1983 self-titled debut album, and for playing rhythm guitar with the electric band during the first half of the 1970s. Early life Lucas was born on February 25, 195 ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tonight, I Celebrate My Love
"Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" is a romantic ballad written by lyricist Gerry Goffin with Michael Masser and recorded by Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack for their 1983 album of duets, '' Born to Love'', issued as the lead single. The track—produced by Masser—became a million-selling international hit. Overview "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" was one of two Michael Masser/ Gerry Goffin co-writes produced by Masser for the ''Born to Love'' album. Although the ''Born to Love'' sessions marked the first time either Peabo Bryson or Roberta Flack had been produced by Masser, Flack had previously recorded two Masser/ Goffin co-writes: "Independent Man" (album ''Roberta Flack''/ 1978) and "Stay With Me" (album ''Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway''/ 1980): also Masser's Ron Miller co-write "After You" was featured on Flack's 1977 album ''Blue Lights in the Basement''. Flack's first recording of a Gerry Goffin composition had been a remake of his earliest evocation of nocturnal inti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 has contributed to two Disney animated feature soundtracks. Bryson is a winner of two Grammy Awards. Early years and career Born Robert Peapo Bryson in Greenville, South Carolina, Peabo Bryson spent much of his childhood on his grandfather's farm in Mauldin, South Carolina. His love for music stemmed from his mother, who often took the family to concerts of well-known African-American artists at the time. Bryson marked his professional debut at age 14, singing backup for Al Freeman and the Upsetters, a local Greenville group. It was Freeman's difficulty in pronouncing Bryson's French West-Indian name, Peapo, that led Bryson to perform as Peabo. Two years later, he left home to tour the Chitlin' Circuit with another local band, Moses Dill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Masser
Michael William Masser (March 24, 1941 – July 9, 2015) was an American songwriter, composer and producer of popular music. Early life Born to a Jewish family in Chicago to Ester Huff and William Masser, he attended the University of Illinois College of Law. He became a stockbroker, but left to pursue his interest in music. Career Masser's first major composition hit, co-written with Ron Miller, was "Touch Me in the Morning", recorded by Diana Ross. He co-wrote several other hit songs in the 1970s and 1980s, including four made famous by Whitney Houston, "Didn't We Almost Have It All", "Saving All My Love for You", " All at Once" and "Greatest Love of All", originally recorded as "The Greatest Love of All" by George Benson for the 1977 film '' The Greatest''. Other Masser's songs by Benson are "In Your Eyes" (George Benson, Jeffrey Osborne), "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love for You" (George Benson, Glenn Medeiros) and "You Are the Love of My Life" (George Benson and Roberta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
