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In and Out of Love | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 1981 | |||
Recorded | 1980–1981 | |||
Genre | R&B, funk | |||
Length | 39:33 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Producer | Fonce Mizell Greg Perry | |||
Mary Wells chronology | ||||
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Singles from In and Out of Love | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
In and Out of Love is the tenth studio effort and first album in thirteen years for R&B/soul singer Mary Wells, released on the Epic label.
By 1980, Mary Wells had only recorded on occasion since her last album, 1968's Servin' Up Some Soul , which Wells recorded for Jubilee Records. After a second planned Jubilee release was shelved, Wells left the label in 1970 for Reprise Records but after becoming a mother she had all but abandoned live performing. In 1971 and 1974, Wells would record a couple of singles that were released to little success.
After 1974, Wells virtually retired from music. Having once spent a half-decade on top as one of the first stars to emerge from Motown Records, the former Motown diva was looking for a change after her marriage to Cecil Womack dissolved in 1977 and a stormy relationship with Cecil's brother Curtis became off and on. She went back on the road in 1977 and was spotted by CBS Records' urban-based president Larkin Arnold and was offered a deal with Epic in 1980, which Wells accepted.
Released in the late fall of 1981, In and Out of Love, produced by California-based R&B producer Greg Perry and the Mizell brothers (Fonce and Larry), the album was a departure for Wells as she incorporated funk elements into her sound with only "These Arms" being the obvious reference to her sixties past. The single, "Gigolo", was issued and created a buzz around the dance clubs in the U.S. The song's response was immediate, landing to number sixty-nine on the R&B chart, number two on the disco chart and number-thirteen on the club play chart. The album, however, failed to chart. Despite its relative mainstream failure, the album convinced Wells to continue her recording and performing career. She would release three more albums and several more singles on small labels until her death in 1992.
All songs written and produced by Greg Perry unless otherwise noted
Mary Esther Wells was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s.
Brenda Holloway is an American soul singer who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the hits "Every Little Bit Hurts", "When I'm Gone", and "You've Made Me So Very Happy". The latter, which she co-wrote, was later widely popularized when it became a Top Ten hit for Blood, Sweat & Tears. She left Motown after four years, at the age of 22, and largely retired from the music industry until the 1990s, after her recordings had become popular on the British "Northern soul" scene.
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".
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Cecil Dale Womack was an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He was one of the musical Womack brothers, and had success both as a songwriter and recording artist, notably with his wife Linda as Womack & Womack. In later years he took the name Zekkariyas.
The Mizell Brothers were an American record producing team in the 1970s, consisting of Larry Mizell and Alphonso "Fonce" Mizell. They worked together on a string of jazz fusion, crossover jazz, soul, R&B and disco records.
Black Byrd is a 1973 album by Donald Byrd and the first of his Blue Note albums to be produced by Larry Mizell, assisted by his brother, former Motown producer Fonce. In the jazz funk idiom, it is among Blue Note Records' best selling album releases. The title of the album inspired the name of Byrd's apprentice group, The Blackbyrds.
Womack & Womack was the singing and songwriting partnership of married American musicians Linda Womack and Cecil Womack. The duo were successful as songwriters for other artists and had several international hits as a singing duo in the 1980s and 1990s. Later recordings with other members of their family were credited to The House of Zekkariyas.
Servin' Up Some Soul is the eleventh overall album by R&B singer Mary Wells, released in 1968 on the Jubilee record label. Her first and only release with the once-fabled R&B company yield a modest charter with "The Doctor", Wells' final top 100 hit on the pop charts though Wells would continue to have R&B hits. It was her final album for thirteen years until 1981's In and Out of Love.
This is a full discography of albums and singles released by Motown singer Mary Wells during a 30-year career that spanned a repertoire of doo-wop, R&B, pop, soul, disco and dance. Throughout her career, she released a total of sixteen albums and twenty-seven singles that charted between 1960 and 1982. Among the singles, twelve of them reached the Top 40 with four reaching the top ten and one hitting number-one. On the R&B charts, eighteen in total reached the top 40, thirteen reached the top ten and three reached the number-one spot.
"Gigolo" is a dance single written and produced by Fonce and Larry Mizell and released by R&B singer Mary Wells on the Epic Records label. It was the former Motown star's first single with the CBS-operated label and brought Wells brief renewed success on the Billboard chart.
Renaissance is a 1973 album by R&B group The Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label. It was the first album by the group not to feature original lead singer Smokey Robinson on lead vocals, instead featuring him as executive producer. Robinson was replaced by lead singer Billy Griffin.
The Valentinos was an American family R&B group from Cleveland, Ohio, best known for launching the careers of brothers Bobby Womack and Cecil Womack. Bobby went on to find greater fame as a solo artist while Cecil became successful as a member of the husband and wife duo of Womack & Womack with Linda Cooke. The group was well known for R&B hits such as the original versions of "Lookin' for a Love", notably covered by the J. Geils Band and later a solo hit for Bobby Womack, and "It's All Over Now", covered by the Rolling Stones.
"The Doctor" is a 1968 single recorded and released by singer Mary Wells, released on the Jubilee Records label. The single was the first to be issued on Wells' debut Jubilee album, Servin' Up Some Soul. This was notable as the first released collaboration by Wells and then-husband, The Valentinos' backup singer Cecil Womack. Wells had married Womack in 1966 and as a result credits for the single were for "Mary Wells Womack" and "Cecil Womack". The single became a modest charter for Wells when released. Though Wells was given only scant promotion for the single, it peaked at number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number twenty-two on the R&B chart. The b-side of the single, the soulful ballad "Two Lovers' History", was later sampled by J Dilla for the instrumental, "History".
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Joyful Jukebox Music is a compilation album by American music group the Jackson 5, released by the Motown label on October 26, 1976, after the band had left the label. This is the third compilation released by the group, after Greatest Hits (1971) and Anthology (1976), yet the first to be entirely composed of previously unreleased material, recorded between 1972 and 1975. The compilation was released less than two weeks before the group's debut on their new label Epic Records.
A Taste of Honey is the debut album by the American rhythm and blues group A Taste of Honey. It was produced by Fonce Mizell and Larry Mizell for Sky High Productions and included the number one pop, soul and disco classic "Boogie Oogie Oogie".
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