Perfect Angel | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 24, 1974 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1973–1974 | |||
Studio | The Record Plant, Los Angeles | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 36:43 | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Producer | Stevie Wonder Richard Rudolph (as Scorbu Productions) | |||
Minnie Riperton chronology | ||||
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Singles from Perfect Angel | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [2] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B [3] |
Džuboks | (Favorable) [4] |
Pitchfork | 9.0/10 [5] |
Perfect Angel is the second studio album by American singer Minnie Riperton, released on May 24, 1974 [6] by Epic Records. The album contains the biggest hit of Riperton's career, "Lovin' You", which topped the U.S. Pop Singles chart for one week in early April 1975.
In 1973, a college intern for Epic Records found Riperton in semi-retirement. [7] She had become a homemaker and a mother of two in Florida. After he heard a demo of the song "Lie In The World", the rep took the tape to Gracie Allen, VP of A&R for Epic. Riperton signed with Epic Records, and the family moved to Los Angeles. [7]
Riperton's husband, Richard Rudolph, said that shortly after she was signed to Epic, Ellis asked them who they wanted to produce the album. Riperton requested Stevie Wonder, who was very busy at the time with his band Wonderlove. Rudolph said that Wonder was a huge fan of Riperton and agreed to produce Perfect Angel under one condition. [8] According to Rudolph, Wonder was signed to Motown and concerned that they would not allow him to work on the project. [7] Wonder then said that he would only produce it under a pseudonym and with Rudolph as co-producer. Therefore, Rudolph recounted, they created the name El Toro Negro for Wonder and a production company called Scorbu Productions. [9]
With associate producers Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff on hand engineering and programming the synthesizers, Riperton and company recorded Perfect Angel at the Record Plant in LA, Stevie Wonder's choice of studio on the West Coast. Perfect Angel was a musical romp through rock ("Reasons"), easy-going pop ("Seeing You This Way") with a wonderful message song that closed side one ("The Edge Of a Dream" – written in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.). Wonder wrote the title tune as well as "Take a Little Trip".
At the end of production, there were eight completed songs; Wonder wanted one additional song to bring the album closer to the industry standard of a 40-minute run time. He asked Riperton and songwriter husband Richard Rudolph to come up with a tune that they considered to be their "most embarrassing song". With hesitation, Riperton did mention a lullaby she sang to her daughter Maya to put her to sleep at night so that she and Rudolph could spend "grown-up time". [7] With Rudolph's help, Riperton eventually created "Lovin' You" from that lullaby, and the song was quickly recorded with Wonder on electric piano and synthesizers. Rudolph supplied the chirping birds from a sound effects reel.
Epic released Perfect Angel in June 1974, one month before Wonder's Fulfillingness' First Finale hit the record stores. While the album represented Riperton's eclectic musical directions, it posed a marketing dilemma with the label: is she a rock, soul or pop singer? [7] As for radio, "Reasons", the first single, was embraced by the rock stations, but R&B radio weren't too keen on the hard-rocking guitar work heard on the disc. "Every Time He Comes Around" and "Seeing You This Way" hit a similar brick wall. [7]
Sales started slow, and Epic was ready to move on to the next project [7] However, a few MOR (Middle Of the Road) radio stations were playing "Lovin' You" as an album cut. Riperton and Rudolph heard this and asked Epic to give the song a shot as a single release. The label agreed and "Lovin' You" was on 45 in November 1974.
The single made a slow three-month climb to #1 on the pop charts in April (#3 R&B), thanks to an intense promotional schedule (her TV appearances on American Bandstand and Soul Train aired the same Saturday afternoon) and several in-person concert appearances. The album went Gold on the strength of "Lovin' You" and remains the only Gold Album in Riperton's career. Minnie Riperton was finally revered as the "lady with the high voice and flowers in her hair". The album also featured the song "Every Time He Comes Around", with Deniece Williams singing the background vocals.
In December 2017, Capitol Records released a deluxe edition of Perfect Angel as a two CD set with outtakes and previously unreleased alternate versions of the original songs. [10]
All songs written by Minnie Riperton and Richard Rudolph except where indicated.
Side One
Side Two
Information adapted from the original album's Liner Notes [11]
Production
Weekly charts
Singles
| Certifications
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Four artists who performed on this album (Stevie Wonder, Deniece Williams, Michael Sembello, and Ollie Brown [of Ollie & Jerry]) would all find themselves sharing space on the pop singles charts within a year of each other, a decade after this album's release.
Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph was an American soul singer and songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You", her five-octave vocal range, and her use of the whistle register.
June Deniece Williams is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great soul voices" by the BBC.
Richard James Rudolph is an American songwriter, musician, music publisher, and producer.
Fulfillingness' First Finale is the seventeenth studio album by American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer Stevie Wonder, released on July 22, 1974, by Tamla, a subsidiary of Motown Records. It is the fourth of five albums from what is considered Wonder's "classic period".
Songs for the New Depression is the third studio album by the American singer Bette Midler, released in early 1976 on the Atlantic Records label. The album was released on CD for the first time in 1990. A remastered version of the album was released by Atlantic Records/Warner Music in 1995. A limited edition remastered version of the album was released by Friday Music in 2014.
Secret Agent is a studio album by Chick Corea, recorded and released in 1978. It is a musically diverse release that features Corea’s long-standing collaborators Joe Farrell on reeds and woodwinds, percussionist Airto, and vocalist Gayle Moran. Al Jarreau sings “Hot News Blues”, and a four piece brass section and string quartet also appear.
"Lovin' You" is a song recorded by American singer Minnie Riperton from her second studio album, Perfect Angel (1974). It was written by Riperton and her husband, Richard Rudolph, produced by Rudolph and Stevie Wonder, and released as the album's third single on November 29, 1974. The song peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 on April 5, 1975. Additionally, it reached number two on the UK Singles chart, and number three on the Billboard R&B chart. In the US, it ranked number 13 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1975.
Love Lives Forever is the sixth and final studio album by the American soul singer Minnie Riperton. Released posthumously in 1980, it was co-produced by her husband Richard Rudolph and released on her then-label Capitol Records. It consists of tracks that she recorded in 1978 during vocal sessions before her death, and music recorded after her early death, occurred on July 12, 1979.
Backtrackin' is a two-disc compilation album by Eric Clapton spanning the years 1966 to 1980. It was released in 1984. The compilation contains all of Clapton's best known songs with Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos, and his solo 1970s work through his 1980 live album Just One Night. This compilation album is made in Germany and is only available in the United States as an import. It was originally released by Starblend Records, and has since been reissued by Polydor Records. This 2 CD compilation is currently out of print in some markets while still available in some form in others.
Come to My Garden is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton which was produced, arranged and orchestrated by Charles Stepney and released in 1970 under GRT Records. It was re-released in 1974 on the Janus label, in the same time frame as Riperton's album Perfect Angel and her hit "Lovin' You."
Stevie Wonder Presents: Syreeta is the second studio album by American singer and songwriter Syreeta Wright, released by Motown on June 19, 1974.
Adventures in Paradise is the third studio album by Minnie Riperton issued in May 1975 by Epic Records. The album rose to No. 5 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart and No. 18 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Stay in Love is the fourth studio album by American singer Minnie Riperton, released under Epic Records. The album features the hits "Young Willing and Able" and the Stevie Wonder collaboration "Stick Together". Unlike her previous works, the soft soul elements here tend to fade, replaced by a more upbeat disco sound which was the musical trend at the time. "Stick Together" peaked at no. 23 on Billboard's Hot Dance Play, an alternate version known as "Stick Together " reached no. 57 on the U.S. Hot Black Singles chart.
Minnie is the fifth studio album by American R&B/jazz singer Minnie Riperton. This was her first album for Capitol Records. With a new record deal under her belt and a guarantee from the label of priority marketing and promotion, Minnie went right to work on what would be her final album. With husband Richard Rudolph, Keni St. Lewis, Gene Dozier, Randy Waldman, Marlo Henderson and Bill Thedford contributing songs, the album served as Minnie’s final statement to the music world and fans, as she died of cancer two months after its release.
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The Best of Minnie Riperton is a posthumous greatest hits album by American singer Minnie Riperton, released in 1981 and issued by Capitol Records. The album consists of the hits like "Perfect Angel," "Lovin' You," "Inside My Love" and "Adventures in Paradise". Also included are her last two released singles "Here We Go" and "You Take My Breath Away," both from the album Love Lives Forever.
Friendship is a studio album by American singer and pianist Ray Charles. It was produced by Billy Sherrill and released in August 1984 by Columbia Records and Epic Records. The album peaked at number 1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart.
Gold: The Best of Minnie Riperton is a 1993 greatest hits album by American singer Minnie Riperton, released by Capitol Records. The hits album features many of Riperton's popular hits, "Memory Lane", "Perfect Angel", "Inside My Love", and the No. 1 pop hit "Lovin' You".
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