Randy Crawford | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Veronica Crawford |
Born | Macon, Georgia, U.S. [1] | February 18, 1952
Genres | Jazz, R&B, disco, smooth jazz |
Occupation | Singer |
Years active | 1975–2018 |
Labels | Columbia, Warner Bros., MCA, WEA, PRA |
Veronica "Randy" Crawford (born February 18, 1952) is a retired American jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist. [1] However, she has appeared on the Hot 100 singles chart twice. The first time was in 1979 as a guest vocalist on the Crusaders' top-40 hit "Street Life". She also dueted with Rick Springfield on the song "Taxi Dancing", which hit number 59 as the B-side of Springfield's hit "Bop Til You Drop". She has had five top-20 hits in the UK, including her 1980 number-two hit, "One Day I'll Fly Away", as well as six UK top-10 albums. Despite her American nationality, she won Best British Female Solo Artist in recognition of her popularity in the UK at the 1982 Brit Awards. [2] In the late 2000s, she received her first two Grammy Award nominations.
Crawford first performed at club gigs from Cincinnati to Saint-Tropez, but made her name in the mid-1970s in New York, where she sang with jazzmen George Benson and Cannonball Adderley. [3] She signed with Columbia Records and released her first single, "Knock On Wood" / "If You Say the Word" in 1972. [4] [5] Adderley invited her to sing on his album Big Man: The Legend Of John Henry (1975). [6] During a brief tenure at Columbia Records, Crawford recorded "Don't Get Caught in Love's Triangle". [6] She is also one of the vocalists on Fred Wesley & The Horny Horns' A Blow For Me, A Toot To You (1977). [7]
In 1978, Crawford sang vocals on "Hoping Love Will Last", the opening song on side two of Please Don't Touch! , which was the second solo album by the former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. [8]
She led R&B veterans The Crusaders on the transatlantic hit "Street Life" (1979). [3] [9] A specially re-recorded version was featured in the soundtrack for the films Sharky's Machine and Jackie Brown, [6] and appeared in commercials in the early 2000s. She later recorded for Warner Bros. Records. Crawford was named the 'Most Outstanding Performer' at the 1980 Tokyo Music Festival. [6] Crawford also recorded the love theme ("People Alone") for the film soundtrack of The Competition on MCA Records in 1980. [10] [11]
Her follow-up solo efforts included "One Day I'll Fly Away" (1980) and "You Might Need Somebody" (1981), which became soul standards, and a cover of the Tony Joe White song, popularised by Brook Benton, "Rainy Night in Georgia". The album Secret Combination (1981) stayed on the UK Albums Chart for sixty weeks, after which her profile dipped, despite a return to the UK Top Ten with "Almaz" in 1986. [3] In June 1981, Crawford also released another hit, "One Hello", from the album Windsong. She continued to record for Warner Bros through the 1990s, but was unable to score either a big R&B hit or major crossover success. [6]
Naked And True (1995) brought Crawford back to her roots: it included George Benson's "Give Me the Night", and confirmed her soul heritage by featuring Funkadelic members Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell and the Fred Wesley Horns. [3] She enjoyed her highest profile of the decade when rising starlet Shola Ama had a worldwide hit with her 1997 cover of "You Might Need Somebody". [3]
Crawford recorded a live session with Joe Sample on July 24, 2007, at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road . The episode she shared with David Gilmour and Amos Lee was screened on the Sundance Channel in the US and Channel 4 in the UK. [12]
She has sung with Bootsy Collins, Johnny Bristol, Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau, Rick Springfield, Katri Helena, Michael Kamen, Zucchero, David Sanborn, Steve Hackett, the Spanish band Presuntos Implicados, the Norwegian jazz-rock band Lava and Joe Sample amongst others. [13]
Randy Crawford was set to perform "The Farewell South Africa" tour in Cape Town and Pretoria in October 2018 but it was cancelled due to her suffering a stroke. [14] This would have been Crawford's final performance prior to retiring. [15]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
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2007 | "All Night Long" (with Joe Sample) | Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance | Nominated |
2009 | No Regrets (with Joe Sample) | Best Jazz Vocal Album | Nominated |
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
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1982 | Randy Crawford | Best British Female Solo Artist | Won |
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"Almaz" is a single by American female soul singer Randy Crawford, which was recorded in 1986. The song reached number four in the UK Singles Chart.
This is the discography for the American jazz singer Randy Crawford.
"You Might Need Somebody" is a song written by Tom Snow and Nan O'Byrne, and first recorded in 1980 by American singer and guitarist Turley Richards. The following year, American jazz and R&B singer and songwriter Randy Crawford released her version which reached No. 11 in the United Kingdom and was a modest hit in Flanders (Belgium) and New Zealand. In 1997, English singer Shola Ama's version reached the top-10 in the UK and in several other countries including Ireland, France, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
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The Very Best of Randy Crawford is a compilation album by American singer Randy Crawford, released in 1993. It features singles and album tracks from Crawford's studio albums Everything Must Change (1976), Raw Silk (1979), Now We May Begin (1980), Secret Combination (1981), Windsong (1982), Nightline (1983), Abstract Emotions (1986), Rich and Poor (1989) and Through the Eyes of Love (1992), plus one track from the live album Casino Lights (1982) and one track from The Crusaders album Street Life (1979), on which Crawford provided vocals.