Melody Fair is an album recorded by Lulu in 1970 for a release on Atco Records. She had recorded her first album for Atco, New Routes, in the fall of 1969 under the production auspices of top Atlantic Records execs Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin. Although New Routes had been a commercial disappointment, Wexler, Dowd and Mardin had Lulu record tracks for a follow-up album in March 1970 with virtually the same session personnel who had played on New Routes, although the latter album had been recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and the 1970 sessions were recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami.
The album's advance single "Hum a Song (From Your Heart)", co-credited to the Dixie Flyers and backed by the New Routes track "Where's Eddie", was issued in April 1970 to stall at #54 on the Billboard Hot 100. The track also fell short of the UK Top 50 despite a Top of the Pops performance broadcast on 18 June 1970.
Lulu completed recording for her upcoming album in May 1970 and after a further single release: the overlooked "After the Feeling is Gone", that June the Melody Fair album was issued in June 1970 with no significant commercial impact. A further single release, comprising the tracks "Melody Fair" and "To the Other Woman (I'm the Other Woman)", had an overlooked release that September.
Lulu began a third album at Criteria Studios in November 1970, but the project was not completed. Although she would remain contracted to Atco until 1972, she would have no further albums on the label, with only occasional overlooked singles. The material from New Routes and Melody Fair, augmented by her singles-only releases and unissued material, was released in 2007 as Lulu: the Atco Sessions, 1969 - 1972.
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality. Her career has spanned six decades. Her debut single, a cover version of The Isley Brothers song "Shout", reached the top ten of the UK Singles Charts in 1964. In 1967 she rose to international prominence after appearing in the film To Sir, with Love singing the theme song, which topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for five consecutive weeks.
James Luther Dickinson was an American record producer, pianist, and singer who fronted, among others, the band Mud Boy and the Neutrons, based in Memphis, Tennessee.
Arif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco and country. He worked at Atlantic Records for over 30 years, as producer, arranger, studio manager, and vice president, before moving to EMI and serving as vice president and general manager of Manhattan Records.
Dusty in Memphis is the fifth studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield. Initial sessions were recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis, while Springfield's final vocals and the album's orchestral parts were recorded at Atlantic Records' New York City studios. The album was released in March 1969 in the United States by Atlantic Records, and Philips Records distributed the record outside the U.S. Springfield worked on the album with a team of musicians and producers that included Jerry Wexler, Arif Mardin, Tom Dowd, conductor Gene Orloff, backing vocalists the Sweet Inspirations, bassist Tommy Cogbill, and guitarist Reggie Young.
Delia Juanita Warrick, known professionally as Dee Dee Warwick, was an American soul singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she was the sister of singer Dionne Warwick, the niece of Cissy Houston, and a first cousin of singers Whitney Houston and Leontyne Price.
Mr. Natural is the twelfth studio album by the Bee Gees, released in 1974. It was the first Bee Gees release produced by Arif Mardin, who was partially responsible for launching the group's later major success with the follow-up album Main Course. The album's rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and hard rock sounds initiated the group's reinvention as a disco and blue-eyed soul act, which would solidify on subsequent albums. However, Barry Gibb has said that the album was "whiter" than Main Course. The cover photograph was taken at 334 West 4th Street, Greenwich Village, New York City by Frank Moscati, which is today known as The Corner Bistro tavern.
A Brand New Me is the sixth studio album by English singer Dusty Springfield, released in 1970.
Criteria Studios is a recording studio in North Miami, Florida, founded in 1958 by musician Mack Emerman. Hundreds of gold, platinum, and diamond singles and albums have been recorded, mixed or mastered at Criteria, for many notable artists and producers.
See All Her Faces is the seventh studio album by singer Dusty Springfield, originally released on the Philips Records label in 1972. It contains a mixture of tracks from different recording sessions; some tracks were recorded with Jeff Barry for an aborted third album for Atlantic Records, other tracks were recorded for Philips in the UK between April and July 1970 – these came to be Springfield's final recordings with longtime producer and arranger Johnny Franz. Some, such as "Willie and Laura Mae Jones", recorded with Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin, had been previously released as singles in the US. See All Her Faces collects many of those tracks, recorded from 1969 to 1971, placing seven of the British recordings on Side A, while Side B comprises tracks recorded both in the UK and the US. As a result, the album has no cohesive sound, but offers many different styles of music. The album boasts eight producers, including Springfield herself. It has been suggested that See All Her Faces is best appreciated track by track, rather than as a whole stylistic statement, as her album Dusty in Memphis is often praised to be.
3614 Jackson Highway is the sixth album by American singer-actress Cher, released on June 20, 1969, by ATCO. This album was a commercial failure, peaking at 160, although it received praise and positive reviews from the music critics. 3614 Jackson Highway was the address of Muscle Shoals Sound Studios. The album is by and large a covers album.
D&B Together is the sixth album by Delaney & Bonnie and Friends and their first for Columbia Records. It was their last album of new material, as Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett would divorce soon after its release.
This Girl's in Love with You is the sixteenth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, released on January 15, 1970 by Atlantic Records. It reached Billboard's Top 20 and was reissued on compact disc through Rhino Records in 1993. Her version of The Beatles' "Let It Be" was the first recording of the song to be commercially issued. Songwriter Paul McCartney sent Franklin and Atlantic Records a demo of the song as a guide.
Soul '69 is the fourteenth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin; released in 1969 by Atlantic Records, the album features covered material. The album charted at number 1 on Billboard's R&B albums chart and at number 15 on Billboard's Top Albums, but launched two largely unsuccessful singles, "Tracks of My Tears", which reached number 21 on "Black Singles" and number 71 on "Pop Singles", and "Gentle on My Mind", which charted at number 50 and number 76 respectively. The album was re-released on compact disc through Rhino Records in the 1990s.
"Call Me" is a song written and recorded by American singer Aretha Franklin. The song was co-produced by Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin.
"Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby)" is the title of a Top 30 hit single for Lulu which was recorded in September 1969 in the Muscle Shoals Sound Studio sessions for Lulu's Atco Records album debut New Routes. The song has been most notably remade by Aretha Franklin, The Raes, Buster Poindexter, Tina Arena, and Ronnie Spector on English Heart (2016).
New Routes is an album by Scottish singer Lulu recorded between 10 September and 2 October 1969 at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, one of that facility's earliest recordings, for a 16 January 1970 release.
"Bury Me Down By the River" is a song written by Barry and Maurice Gibb and recorded separately by the Bee Gees and P.P. Arnold. The Bee Gees' version was recorded in May 1969 at IBC Studios and released in April 1970 on the album Cucumber Castle.
"Spirit in the Dark" is a song written and performed by Aretha Franklin. The song was produced by Arif Mardin, Jerry Wexler, and Tom Dowd.
What the World Needs Now Is Love is the third album by American recording gospel/soul female group the Sweet Inspirations released in 1968 on the label Atlantic Records. The album was produced by Tom Dowd and arranged by Arif Mardin. It features their cover versions of the classic songs; "Alfie", "Unchained Melody", "What the World Needs Now Is Love" and the Bee Gees' "To Love Somebody".
The Atlantic Singles Collection 1967–1970 is a compilation album of singer Aretha Franklin, released by Rhino Records in September 2018. The album contains her first 17 singles for Atlantic Records released in the United States from her debut for the label "I Never Loved a Man " of February 1967 through "Border Song " of October 1970. The Amazon sales website identifies these as digitally remastered versions of the original mono issues, although that is not indicated in the set's liner notes or packaging. The original recordings were produced by Jerry Wexler, at times in collaboration with Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin.
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