Take It to Heart

Take It to Heart
Studio album by Michael McDonald
Released	May 15, 1990
Recorded	1989
Studio	A&M, Hollywood Can-Am, Tarzana Smoketree Ranch, Chatworth One on One, North Hollywood Axis, New York City
Genre	Blue-eyed soul
Length	53:43
Label	Reprise
Producer	Michael McDonald Ted Templeman Don Was David Gamson Gardner Cole
Michael McDonald chronology
Sweet Freedom (1986) Take It to Heart (1990) Blink of an Eye (1993)

Take It to Heart is the third solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Michael McDonald. It was released on May 15, 1990, on the label Reprise, five years after his previous studio album, No Lookin' Back . ^{[1] [2]}

The album was slated to be titled Lonely Talk to be issued in August 1989. It also had a different track list, containing a song called “Plain of Jars” and a cover of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” (which ended up on his 2000 greatest hits collection The Voice of Michael McDonald); there were also different versions of current tracks that made the official album. About 3 weeks prior to its original planned issue date, Reprise/Warner Bros. decided there were not enough potential singles; therefore, “Tear It Up,” “All We Got” and “Get the Word Started” were added, with “Take It to Heart” recorded and added, which meant some songs and some versions were removed or changed (details unknown).

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"All We Got"	Peter Leinheiser Michael McDonald	5:45
2.	"Get the Word Started"	McDonald David Pack	5:40
3.	"Love Can Break Your Heart"	Paul Carrack McDonald	4:54
4.	"Take It to Heart"	McDonald Diane Warren	5:57
5.	"Tear It Up"	Gardner Cole Seth Swirsky	4:25

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Lonely Talk"	McDonald Chuck Sabatino	4:40
7.	"Searchin' for Understanding"	Darrell Brown McDonald	3:42
8.	"Homeboy"	McDonald Ed Sanford	4:35
9.	"No Amount of Reason"	George Hawkins McDonald	4:37
10.	"One Step Away"	Chris Thompson Tom Whitlock	4:12
11.	"You Show Me"	Harry Garfield McDonald	4:59
Total length:			53:26

Personnel

• Michael McDonald  – lead and backing vocals, synthesizer programming and sequencing (1, 4, 10), keyboards (2, 6-9, 11)
• Peter Leinheiser – synthesizer programming and sequencing (1), guitars (1)
• Michael Hanna – keyboards (2), synthesizer programming and sequencing (4)
• John Tesh  – synthesizer programming and sequencing (4)
• Don Was  – synthesizer programming and sequencing (4)
• Michael Mason – synthesizer programming and sequencing (4)
• Gardner Cole  – synthesizer programming and sequencing (5)
• David Gamson  – synthesizer programming and sequencing (5)
• Bernie Chiaravalle  – guitars (2, 4, 7, 11), sitar (4)
• Michael Landau  – guitars (3, 5-9, 11)
• Charles Frichtel – bass (2)
• Abraham Laboriel  – bass (3, 6-9, 11), acoustic guitar (11)
• George Perilli – drums (2, 4)
• Jeff Porcaro  – drums (3, 6-9, 11), percussion (6, 7, 10, 11), African log drum (11)
• Debra Dobkin – congas (2)
• Paulinho da Costa  – percussion (4)
• Terry McMillan  – percussion (6, 7), backing vocals (6)
• Vince Denham – saxophone and solo (2)
• Kirk Whalum  – saxophone (3)
• Stan Getz  – saxophone (11)
• Paul Riser  – string arrangements (2, 4)
• Brian McKnight  – backing vocals (1)
• Chuck Sabatino – backing vocals (1, 6)
• Sweet Pea Atkinson  – backing vocals (2, 4, 5)
• Harry Bowens  – backing vocals (2, 4, 5)
• David Lasley  – backing vocals (2, 4)
• Kathy Walker – backing vocals (2)
• Amy Holland  – backing vocals (3)
• David Pack  – backing vocals (5, 7)
• Maureen McDonald – backing vocals (7)

Production

• Producers – Michael McDonald and Ted Templeman (tracks 1, 3 & 6-11); Don Was (tracks 2 & 4); David Gamson and Gardner Cole (track 5).
• Engineers – Ed Cherney, Jeff Hendricksen, Ross Pallone and Bob Schaper.
• Additional engineering – Ed Goodreau, Bob Schaper and Brian Schuble.
• Assistant engineers – Elaine Anderson, Michael Douglass, Lori Fumar, John Jackson, Rob Jaczko, Calvin Loser, Michael Mason, Eric Rudd, Scott Symington, Michael Tacci and Toby Wright.
• Remix on track 1 – Shep Pettibone
• Additional recording at Circle Seven Recording (Pacific Palisades, California); Ocean Way Recording (Hollywood, California); John Tesh Studios (Santa Monica, California).
• Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound (New York City, New York).
• Production coordinator – Joan Parker
• Photography – Andy Earl
• Art direction – Martyn Atkins, T&CP Associates, Hollywood, London.

Chart performance

Chart (1990)	Peak position
US Billboard 200 [3]	110
UK Albums (OCC) [4]	35

See also

• List of albums released in 1990
• Michael McDonald's discography

References

1. "Take It to Heart by Michael McDonald on iTunes". iTunes . Retrieved 2015-09-22.
2. Tim Griggs. "Take It to Heart - Michael McDonald | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
3. "Michael McDonald Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
4. "Michael McDonald | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved July 6, 2016.

External links

• Take It to Heart at Discogs (list of releases)