Be What You Are | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | December 8, 1973 | |||
Recorded | 1973 | |||
Genre | Soul | |||
Length | 51:56 | |||
Label | Stax | |||
Producer | Al Bell | |||
The Staple Singers chronology | ||||
|
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B [2] |
Be What You Are is a soul album by the Staple Singers, released on December 8, 1973. It reached number 13 on the Billboard Top Soul LPs chart. The first single, "Be What You Are", fared poorly; however, the follow-up, "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)", was a top ten hit, peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the R&B Singles chart. The third single, "Touch a Hand, Make a Friend" charting at number 23 on the Hot 100 and number three on the R&B chart in 1974.
Guitarist Jimmy Page played acoustic and electric guitars as well as a solo on the last song, "Heaven." Stax engineer Terry Manning was a friend of Page's and worked on Led Zeppelin III. [3]
# | Title | Writer(s) | Time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Be What You Are" | Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson, Carl Hampton | 5:03 |
2 | "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)" | Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson, Carl Hampton | 4:29 |
3 | "Medley: Love Comes in All Colors/Tellin' Lies" | Bettye Crutcher/Carl Smith | 8:51 |
4 | "Touch a Hand, Make a Friend" | Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson, Carl Hampton | 4:04 |
5 | "Drown Yourself" | Bettye Crutcher | 4:38 |
6 | "I Ain't Raisin' No Sand" | Darryl Carter, Mack Rice | 6:33 |
7 | "Grandma's Hands" | Bill Withers | 2:43 |
8 | "Bridges Instead of Walls" | Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson, Carl Hampton | 4:04 |
9 | "I'm on Your Side" | Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson, Carl Hampton | 4:00 |
10 | "That's What Friends Are For" | Parsons, Penney, Mack Rice | 4:16 |
11 | "Heaven" | Terry Manning | 3:36 |
Chart (1973) | Peak position |
---|---|
Billboard Top LPs [4] | 102 |
Billboard Top Soul LPs [4] | 13 |
Year | Single | Chart positions [5] | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
US Pop | US Soul | |||
1973 | "Be What You Are" | 66 | 18 | |
"If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)" | 9 | 1 | ||
1974 | "Touch a Hand, Make a Friend" | 23 | 3 | |
The Trammps are an American disco and soul band, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands.
Party is the fifth solo studio album by American rock singer Iggy Pop. It was released in June 1981 by record label Arista. For this record, Pop collaborated with Ivan Kral, who is best known as the guitar and bass player for Patti Smith in the 1970s.
"The Weight" is a song by the Canadian-American group The Band that was released as a single in 1968 and on the group's debut album Music from Big Pink. It was their first release under this name, after their previous releases as Canadian Squires and Levon and the Hawks. Written by Band member Robbie Robertson, the song is about a visitor's experiences in a town mentioned in the lyric's first line as Nazareth. "The Weight" has significantly influenced American popular music, having been listed as No. 41 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time published in 2004. Pitchfork Media named it the 13th best song of the 1960s, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named it one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. PBS, which broadcast performances of the song on Ramble at the Ryman (2011), Austin City Limits (2012), and Quick Hits (2012), describes it as "a masterpiece of Biblical allusions, enigmatic lines and iconic characters" and notes its enduring popularity as "an essential part of the American songbook."
Eddie Money is the debut studio album by American musician Eddie Money, released in December 1977 by Wolfgang Records, a subsidiary of major label Columbia. Money, a Brooklyn native, grew up interested in music. In 1968, he moved to Berkeley, California, where he became a staple of Bay Area nightclubs. Rock impresario Bill Graham subsequently discovered Money and signed him to his Wolfgang imprint.
Tell Mama is the seventh studio album by American singer Etta James. Her second album release for Cadet Records, produced by Rick Hall at his FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, it was James's first album since 1964 to enter the Billboard 200 chart. It contained her first Top 10 R&B hits since 1964 – the title cut and "Security". The "Tell Mama" single gave James her all-time highest Billboard Hot 100 position, reaching number 23.
King & Queen is a studio album by American recording artists Otis Redding and Carla Thomas. It is Thomas' fourth album and Redding's sixth and the final studio album before his death on December 10, 1967. Influenced by Marvin Gaye's duets, the album features ten covers of soul classics and the eleventh finishing song co-written by Redding.
"I'll Take You There" is a song written by Al Bell, and originally performed by soul/gospel family band the Staple Singers. The Staple Singers version, produced by Bell, was released on Stax Records in February 1972, and spent a total of 15 weeks on the charts and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. By December 1972, it had sold 2 million units and is ranked as the 19th biggest American hit of 1972. It remains one of the best-selling gospel songs of all time.
Wrap Around Joy is the sixth album by American singer and songwriter Carole King, released in 1974. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 albums chart in late 1974 and spun off successful singles with "Jazzman", which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned King a nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female in the 17th Grammy Awards ; and "Nightingale", which reached number nine on the Hot 100 chart and number six on the Easy Listening chart.
Be Altitude: Respect Yourself is a soul album by The Staple Singers released on February 14, 1972.
(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People is the third studio album by American soul group the Chi-Lites, produced and largely written by lead singer Eugene Record. The album was released in 1971 on the Brunswick label.
"Sara Smile" is a song written and recorded by the American musical duo Hall & Oates. It was released as the third single from their album Daryl Hall & John Oates. The song was the group's first top 40 and first top ten hit in the US, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100.
Bootsy? Player of the Year is the third album by the American funk band Bootsy's Rubber Band. The album was released on Warner Bros. Records on January 20, 1978. At the height of the album's popularity, it competed head to head with Bootsy Collins' mentor George Clinton and his band Parliament, who had released the album Funkentelechy Vs. the Placebo Syndrome just two months earlier. The album was produced by Clinton and Collins and arranged by "The Player". The original vinyl version of the album contained a pair of cut out star shaped eyeglasses.
Movin' On is the third studio album by the Commodores, released by Motown Records in 1975.
"Respect Yourself" is a song by American R&B/gospel group the Staple Singers. Released in late 1971 from their album Be Altitude: Respect Yourself, the song became a crossover hit. The Staple Singers' version peaked at No. 12 on the Hot 100, No. 2 on the Hot Soul Singles chart, and is one of the group's most recognizable hits. In 2002, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2010 it was ranked #468 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, moving down 4 spots from #464 in 2004.
Rock On is the second album by Raydio, released in 1979 on Arista Records. The album reached No. 4 on the US Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 45 on the US Billboard 200 chart. Rock On was certified Gold in the US by the RIAA.
The Whispers is a studio album by American R&B/soul vocal group the Whispers, released on October 20, 1979, by SOLAR Records. It was the first hit album for the veteran group, peaking at number one on the Billboard Top Soul LPs chart, as well as number six on the Billboard Top LPs chart.
"Here We Go Again" is a country music standard written by Don Lanier and Red Steagall that first became notable as a rhythm and blues single by Ray Charles from his 1967 album Ray Charles Invites You to Listen. It was produced by Joe Adams for ABC Records/Tangerine Records. To date, this version of the song has been the biggest commercial success, spending twelve consecutive weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 15.
The Staple Swingers is a soul album by the Staple Singers, released on June 15, 1971.
"Mexico" is a song written by James Taylor that first appeared as the opening track of his 1975 album Gorilla. It was released as a single, with the album's title track as the B-side, and reached No. 49 on the Billboard Hot 100, but performed much better on the Adult Contemporary chart, reaching No. 5. "Mexico" has appeared on many of Taylor's live and compilation albums. It has been covered by Jimmy Buffett, Alex de Grassi and Lauren Laverne.
"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)" is a song recorded by American soul singer Marvin Gaye from his fifth studio album of the same name (1965). It was written in 1964 by the Motown songwriting team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, and produced by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. The song title was inspired by one of the actor and comedian Jackie Gleason's signature phrases, "How Sweet It Is!"