''Love Trippin'' is a 1980 studio album from

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

vocal group A musical ensemble, also known as a music group, musical group, or a band is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrume ...

the Spinners, released on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. This album comes after a shake-up in the band's sound, shifting from their

Philly soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The g ...

roots and a series of successful albums produced by

Thom Bell Thomas Randolph Bell (January 26, 1943 – December 22, 2022) was an American record producer, arranger, and songwriter known as one of the creators of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s. Hailed as one of the most prolific R&B songwriters and prod ...

to a

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

sound recorded with several New York-based jazz musicians on 1979's ''

Dancin' and Lovin' ''Dancin' and Lovin'' is a 1979 studio album from Philly soul vocal group the Spinners, released on Atlantic Records. This album comes after a long-time association with producer Thom Bell and marks a shift to disco, resulting in a commercial su ...

''. That album's producer

Michael Zager Michael Zager (born January 3, 1943) is an American record producer, composer, and arranger of original music for commercials, albums, network television, and theme music for films. He teaches music at Florida Atlantic University. Zager was a m ...

returned for this release which was a modest commercial and critical success and brought the musicians back to a more familiar

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

sound.

Reception

A review in ''

Orange Coast The Orange Coast is the string of cities and neighborhoods fronting the Pacific Coast in Orange County, California. From northwest to southeast, these cities are Seal Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Dana Point and San ...

'' by Keith Tuber praised the album for returning to the band's roots and avoiding "ill-fated" disco. The editors of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

scored this release three out of five stars, with reviewer Jason Ankeny opining that Zager's production was appropriate to bring the group's sound into the 1980s and they were wise to not lean too heavily into disco at the end of that genre's commercial success, but the music is mediocre, featuring "duds" and that this release began a decline in the band's quality in the coming decade. In a year-end round-up for ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', the Spinners were 22nd in Number One Soul Album Artists for both ''

'' and ''Love Trippin''.

Track listing

#"Love Trippin'" (

Deniece Williams June Deniece Williams (née Chandler; born June 3, 1950) is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great Soul music, soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs "Free (Deniece Williams song), Free", "Silly (song ...

and

) – 4:11 #"Heavy on the Sunshine" (Denny Henson) – 3:39 #"Medley: "

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid ( , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known as Amor (Latin: ...

"/"I've Loved You for a Long Time" (

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

/ Michael Zager) – 5:35 #"I Just Want to Be with You" (Alvin Fields and Michael Zager) – 3:29 #"Streetwise" (Victor Davis and Phil Vear) – 3:41 #"I Just Want to Fall in Love" (William Hatcher, Danny Omar, and Rickie Ross) – 3:52 #"Now That You're Mine Again" (Michael Zager) – 4:27 #"Split Decision" (Doug James, Chip Orton, and Eltesa Weathersby) – 3:32 #"I'm Takin' You Back" (Larry LaFalce, Ed Fox, and Alan Roy Scott) – 3:18 #"Pipedream" (Ed Fox and Alan Roy Scott) – 3:16

Personnel

The Spinners *

John Edwards Johnny Reid Edwards (born June 10, 1953) is an American lawyer and former politician who represented North Carolina in the United States Senate from 1999 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the vice presidential nominee under ...

– vocals; backing vocals; lead vocals on "Love Trippin'" "Heavy on the Sunshine", "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "Now That You're Mine Again", and "I'm Takin' You Back" *

Henry Fambrough Henry Lee Fambrough (May 10, 1938 – February 7, 2024) was an American vocalist, known for being a member of the R&B quintet The Spinners (also called The Detroit Spinners and The Motown Spinners) from 1954 until his retirement in April 2023. ...

– vocals, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Heavy on the Sunshine" and "I Just Want to Be with You" * Billy Henderson – vocals, backing vocals * Pervis Jackson – vocals, backing vocals * Bobby Smith – vocals, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Pipedream" Additional musicians *The Alfred V. Brown String Section – strings *

Rubens Bassini Rubens Bassini (January 26, 1933 in Rio de Janeiro – September 1985) was a Brazilian percussionist, who played bongos and congas above all. He played together with the band Os Ipanemas: Astor Silva; (trombone), Marinho (bass), Wilson das N ...

– percussion *Michael Brecker – lead solo on "Now That You're Mine Again";

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

on "Love Trippin'", "Heavy on the Sunshine", "Streetwise", "Now That You're Mine Again", "I'm Takin' You Back", flute on "Love Trippin'", "Heavy on the Sunshine", "Streetwise", "Now That You're Mine Again", and "I'm Takin' You Back" *Sam Burtis – trombone on "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Fall in Love", and "Split Decision" *Dave Carey –

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

*Francisco Centeno – bass guitar *Raymond Chew – keyboards on "Love Trippin'", "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Fall in Love", "Now That You're Mine Again", "Split Decision" and "I'm Takin' You Back" *

Ronnie Cuber Ronald Edward Cuber (December 25, 1941 – October 7, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. He also played in Latin, pop, rock, and blues sessions. In addition to his primary instrument, baritone sax, he played tenor sax, soprano sax, clarinet, ...

–

baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone (sometimes abbreviated to "bari sax") is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass saxophone, bass. It is the lowe ...

on "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Fall in Love", and "Split Decision" *

Cornell Dupree Cornell Luther Dupree (December 19, 1942 – May 8, 2011) was an American jazz fusion and Rhythm and blues, R&B guitarist. He worked at various times with Aretha Franklin, Bill Withers, Donny Hathaway, King Curtis, and Steve Gadd, appeared on ''L ...

– guitar on "Love Trippin'", "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Fall in Love", "Now That You're Mine Again", "Split Decision", and "I'm Takin' You Back" *

Jon Faddis Jon Faddis (born July 24, 1953) is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator, renowned for both his playing and for his expertise in the field of music education. Upon his first appearance on the scene, he became known ...

– flugelhorn on "Streetwise" and "Now That You're Mine Again", trumpet on "Streetwise" and "Now That You're Mine Again" *

Randy Brecker Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock music, rock, and R&B. Early life Brecker was ...

– flugelhorn on "Love Trippin'", "Heavy on the Sunshine", "Streetwise", "Now That You're Mine Again", and "I'm Takin' You Back"; trumpet on "Love Trippin'", "Heavy on the Sunshine", "Streetwise", "Now That You're Mine Again", and "I'm Takin' You Back" *John Gatchell – flugelhorn on "Love Trippin'" "Heavy on the Sunshine", "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Fall in Love", "Split Decision", and "I'm Takin' You Back"; trumpet on "Love Trippin'" "Heavy on the Sunshine", "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Fall in Love", "Split Decision", and "I'm Takin' You Back" *

Yogi Horton Lawrence "Yogi" Horton (October 1, 1953June 8, 1987) was an American R&B, funk, jazz and rock drummer. Horton worked and recorded as a session and touring drummer with a wide variety of musicians such as Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross, John Le ...

– drums on "Love Trippin'", "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Fall in Love", "Now That You're Mine Again", "Split Decision", and "I'm Takin' You Back" *Arnie Lawrence –

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

on "Love Trippin'", "Heavy on the Sunshine", "Streetwise", "Now That You're Mine Again", and "I'm Takin' You Back"; trumpet on "Love Trippin'", "Heavy on the Sunshine", "Streetwise", "Now That You're Mine Again", and "I'm Takin' You Back" *Steve Love – guitar on "Love Trippin'", "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Be with You", and "Split Decision" * Jimmy Maelen – percussion * Ullanda McCullough – lead vocals on "Heavy on the Sunshine" *Robert Millikan – flugelhorn on "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Fall in Love", and "Split Decision"; trumpet on "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Fall in Love", and "Split Decision" *Jeff Mironov – guitar on "Heavy on the Sunshine" and "Streetwise" *Cliff Morris – guitar on "Heavy on the Sunshine", "I Just Want to Be with You", "Streetwise", and "Pipedream" *Keith O'Quinn – trombone on "Love Trippin'", "Heavy on the Sunshine", "Streetwise", "Now That You're Mine Again", and "I'm Takin' You Back" *

Pat Rebillot Patrick Earl Rebillot (born April 21, 1935) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Early life and education Born in Louisville, Ohio, Rebilliot studied music at Mt. Union College and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music with Jeno Takacs. H ...

– synthesizer; keyboards on "Heavy on the Sunshine", "I Just Want to Be with You", "Streetwise", and "Pipedream" *Allan Ross – alto saxophone on "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Fall in Love", and "Split Decision"; flute on "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Fall in Love", and "Split Decision" *

Allan Schwartzberg Allan Schwartzberg (born December 28, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. He has been a member of the rock band Mountain, Peter Gabriel's first solo band, toured with Brecker Brothers' Dreams, B. J. Thomas, Linda Ronstadt, Stan Ge ...

– drums on "Heavy on the Sunshine", "I Just Want to Be with You", "Streetwise", "Pipedream" *

John Tropea John Tropea (pronounced 'tro-pay'; born January 7, 1946) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. Career Tropea began guitar studies at the age of 12. His musical education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jaz ...

– guitar on "Love Trippin'", "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Fall in Love", "Now That You're Mine Again", "Split Decision", and "I'm Takin' You Back" Technical personnel *Michael Barbiero –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

*Carl Beatty – engineering assistance *Bob Defrin –

art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

*Joe Gastwirt – mastering at Frankford/Wayne Mastering Labs on "Love Trippin'" "Heavy on the Sunshine", "Cupid"/"I've Loved for a Long Time", "I Just Want to Be with You", and "Streetwise" *Alec Head –

overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more a ...

engineering *Jim Houghton – photography *Dennis King – mastering at Atlantic Studios on "I Just Want to Fall in Love", "Now That You're Mine Again", "Split Decision", "I'm Takin' You Back", and "Pipedream" *Jerry Love –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

*Gene Orloff –

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German language, German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (UK) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (clarinet or oboe in a concert band). After the Conducting, conductor, the concertma ...

*Ed Walsh – synthesizer

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

*Michael Zager –

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

Chart performance

''Love Trippin'' reached 16 on the

R&B chart 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 ...

and peaked at 53 on the ''Billboard'' 200, a slight dip from their last album, but far ahead of their previous two.

References

External links