| Here I Am | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1966 | |||
| Studio | Hitsville USA, Detroit and in Los Angeles [1] [2] | |||
| Genre | Soul, pop, jazz | |||
| Label | Motown | |||
| Barbara McNair chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Here I Am | ||||
| ||||
Here I Am is the fifth studio album by singer Barbara McNair released on the Motown label.
This album was McNair's first album on the Motown label, released in 1966. McNair recorded several singles before this album was released. The album featured songwriters Clarence Paul, Smokey Robinson, Eddie Holland, and Ron Miller. [3] However, the album failed to chart. [3] The only single, "Here I Am Baby", peaked at No. 125 on the Billboard Hot 100. [4] [5] The album appeared on the New Album Releases on Billboard magazine, the only album on the Motown category. [6] "Here I Am Baby" was later covered by the Marvelettes for their Sophisticated Soul album. [7]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
Rob Theakston from AllMusic stated "Here I Am is a far cry from the sexy Motown sessions and takes a turn into vocal standards and sultry jazz numbers, but McNair is equally up to the task to deliver a fine session of performances. It was also a precursor for many of the outstanding vocal spotlights she would perform on her critically acclaimed variety show five years later." [8] Billboard wrote that "Miss McNair tackles recent pop hits, adds her own stylings with emphasis on the blues feel, and the result is a programming delight with much sales potential." [9]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "My World Is Empty Without You" | Holland–Dozier–Holland | 3:03 |
| 2. | "Message to Michael" | Burt Bacharach, Hal David | 2:51 |
| 3. | "Everything is Good About You" | Eddie Holland, James Dean | 3:24 |
| 4. | "Here I Am Baby" | Smokey Robinson | 2:50 |
| 5. | "Steal Away Tonight" | Clarence Paul, Dave Hamilton | 3:00 |
| 6. | "For Once in My Life" | Ron Miller, Orlando Murden | 3:00 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | "The Shadow of Your Smile" | Johnny Mandel, Paul Francis Webster | 3:02 |
| 8. | "I Will Wait for You" | Michel Legrand, Jacques Demy | 3:12 |
| 9. | "The Sweetheart Tree" | Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer | 2:21 |
| 10. | "What A Day" | R. Miller | 2:48 |
| 11. | "Strangers in the Night" | Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder | 2:59 |
| 12. | "Fancy Passes" | Avery Vandenburg, R. Miller, William O'Malley | 3:29 |
| Year | Single | Chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| US [10] | ||
| 1967 | "Here I Am Baby" | 125 |
Cynthia Ann Birdsong is an American singer who became famous as a member of The Supremes in 1967, when she replaced co-founding member Florence Ballard. Birdsong had previously been a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles.
Velma Jean Terrell is an American R&B and jazz singer. She replaced Diana Ross as the lead singer of The Supremes in 1970.
The Marvelettes were an American girl group that achieved popularity in the early to mid-1960s. They consisted of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart, and Georgia Dobbins, who was replaced by Wanda Young prior to the group signing their first deal. They were the first successful act of Motown Records after the Miracles and its first significantly successful female group after the release of the 1961 number-one single, "Please Mr. Postman", one of the first number-one singles recorded by an all-female vocal group and the first by a Motown recording act.
For Real is an American R&B and soul quartet, that formed in 1990. In the latter part of that decade they were nominated for a Billboard Music Award and a Soul Train Music Award. The ladies have now reunited and are touring.
The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, Jimmy Ruffin, Edwin Starr, the Supremes, the Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers, among others. It is estimated they appeared on 20,000 recordings.
Kim Weston is an American soul singer, and Motown alumna. In the 1960s, Weston scored hits with the songs "Love Me All the Way" and "Take Me in Your Arms ", and with her duet with Marvin Gaye, "It Takes Two".
"All I Do Is Think of You" is a song released by the Jackson 5 on the Motown label in 1975. It was initially released as the B-side to the group's single "Forever Came Today" before being released as an A-side single months later. The song is the final charted single by the group before they left Motown for Epic Records in 1976.
"Please Mr. Postman" is a song written by Georgia Dobbins, William Garrett, Freddie Gorman, Brian Holland and Robert Bateman. It is the debut single by the Marvelettes for the Tamla (Motown) label, notable as the first Motown song to reach the number-one position on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart. The single achieved this position in late 1961; it hit number one on the R&B chart as well. "Please Mr. Postman" became a number-one hit again in early 1975 when The Carpenters' cover of the song reached the top position of the Billboard Hot 100. "Please Mr. Postman" has been covered several times, including by the British rock group the Beatles in 1963. The 2017 song "Feel It Still" by Portugal. The Man draws on "Please Mr. Postman" and includes a credit for Brian Holland.
Frederick Earl "Shorty" Long was an American soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer for Motown's Soul Records imprint. He was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1980.
"Dedicated To The One I Love" is a song written by Lowman Pauling and Ralph Bass that was a hit for the "5" Royales, the Shirelles, the Mamas & the Papas and Bitty McLean. Pauling was the guitarist of the "5" Royales, the group that recorded the original version of the song, produced by Bass, in 1957. Their version was re-released in 1961 and charted at number 81 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965.
Uptown Festival is the first album credited to American R&B group Shalamar, released in 1977 on the Soul Train label. The album was in fact recorded by session singers. It peaked at #22 on the US R&B chart and #48 on the Billboard Albums chart.
"Where Did Our Love Go" is a 1964 song recorded by American music group the Supremes for the Motown label.
"Too Hurt to Cry, Too Much in Love to Say Goodbye" is a 1963 song and single written and composed by Motown's main production team Holland–Dozier–Holland. Credited to the Darnells, the performers on both sides of the single were the Andantes, Holland–Dozier–Holland, Mary Wilson of the Supremes (B-side), and members of the Marvelettes, the Four Tops, and the Temptations. Nobody involved with the production on either side was pleased with the false credit. The single peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.
Andrew Alexander "Mike" Terry was an American saxophonist, songwriter, arranger, producer and musical director. His baritone sax solos feature on the breakthrough hits of Martha and the Vandellas, and The Supremes. As a member of the Funk Brothers he performed on thousands of Motown recordings from 1960 to 1967, including at least seven US #1 hits. As was Motown's policy at the time, none of the studio musicians were credited by name. Terry was the musical arranger of the 1966 hit "Cool Jerk" by The Capitols, and later became a record producer, with partners including George Clinton, Sidney Barnes, and Jack Ashford.
Out Here on My Own is the debut studio album by singer Lamont Dozier released on the ABC label.
There'll Come a Time is the fourth studio album by American singer Betty Everett, released in 1969 on the UNI label.
Martha Reeves is the debut album by singer Martha Reeves, released in 1974 on the MCA label. It is her first album after her position as lead singer in Martha and the Vandellas, who disbanded two years before the album's release. The album peaked at No. 94 in Australia.
If I Were Your Woman is the seventh studio album by American R&B quartet Gladys Knight & the Pips, released in 1971 on Soul Records.
Nitty Gritty is the sixth studio album by Gladys Knight & the Pips, released in 1969 on Motown's Soul Records imprint.