The Singer is the seventh studio album by Americansinger and actressLiza Minnelli, released in 1973. It marked her first release under Columbia Records and was highly anticipated by the public. Liza Minnelli signed with Columbia in March 1972 and began recording The Singer that September. The album was created during a peak in her career, following her Academy Award for Best Actress for Cabaret and the critical and commercial success of her Emmy-winning television special Liza with a Z. The project features songs by prominent singer-songwriters of the early 1970s, including James Taylor, Stevie Wonder and Carly Simon.
The Singer became one of Minnelli's most successful studio albums, reaching number 38 on the Billboard 200 and spending 20 weeks on the chart. It was promoted through magazine advertisements and radio commercials. The album received favorable reviews from critics, who noted Minnelli's interpretive skill in performing contemporary popular songs of the era.
Background
The change in Minnelli's discography began on March 1, 1972, when the actress and singer signed her contract with Columbia Records. In September 1972, recording sessions began for what would become The Singer. Originally, fellow label artist Barbra Streisand was set to release an album with the same title, featuring the track by Walter Marks, but the project was shelved, allowing Minnelli to breathe life into an album that would become a significant part of her own musical journey.[1]
In 1972, the singer was at the peak of her career due to her role in the successful film Cabaret which earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress.[2] During the same period, her television special Liza with a Z not only garnered high ratings but also won four Emmy Awards.[3] The soundtrack was certified gold (similar to the aforementioned film soundtrack) by the Recording Industry Association of America.[4]
Production and recording
The challenge with The Singer was to make it a showcase comparable to her previous projects. The title track bears resemblance to songs from Cabaret, and there is a sense of Liza's acting prowess in her renditions of tracks like "I'd Love You to Want Me" and "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight."[5]
The early 1970s were a period when singer-songwriters were on the rise, and the album's tracklist features songs by artists such as James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers, Mac Davis, and Carly Simon.[5] The selected songs are mostly summer hits from 1972 and 1973. In an interview with Record World, by journalists Robert Adels and Lenny Beer, the singer stated that, although she enjoyed working with producer Snuff Garrett and credited Marvin Hamlisch with "saving the whole thing", the album was not what she truly liked doing. Minnelli revealed that the project, which involved recording covers of other people's hits—a method she considered a "supposedly sure-fire system"—was done by following advice that, in hindsight, she found to be "strange" and because she had been "naive" in accepting it. She also made it clear that her artistic preference had always been to "go out on a limb" and seek out new and unpublished material, something no one else had done, like songs about divorce or interesting themes adapted from French, rather than resorting to other artists' hits. The experience taught her that she needed to "get on her own broom" and take control of her career, focusing on what truly motivated her: innovation and connection with the audience.[6]
Release and promotion
The album was promoted through full-page advertisements in various magazines (such as Billboard)[7] and radio commercials.[8] Columbia Records (under its UK arm, CBS) executed a comprehensive promotional campaign in the UK. The label coordinated the release with her three major concert dates in London — at the London Palladium, Royal Festival Hall, and Rainbow Theatre — maximizing visibility and audience engagement. To bolster in-store presence, CBS supplied 500 life-sized cutouts of Minnelli to dealers across the UK, along with extensive poster and display materials. Additionally, the company secured large-scale outdoor advertising, including prominent Minnelli posters displayed across 1,000 mainline railway station billboards, ensuring widespread public awareness leading up to and during the album’s release.[9]
Billboard magazine selected "Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?", "I'd Love You to Want Me]", "Where Is the Love?", and "Dancing in the Moonlight" as the standout tracks and considered the vocals clear and convincing while capturing the vibrant essence of the singer.[12] The Record World critic also praised the album, calling it a "striking success". He highlighted the song selection as a "terrific compilation of top material", citing specific tracks like "Dancing In The Moonlight" and "I'd Love You To Want Me". Regarding the song "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me", it was described as particularly effective and dramatic.[13]
Jack Garner of The Evening News praised the album, considering it a strong candidate for a Grammy. He described the title track as an authentic homage to the European music halls of the 1930s, sounding both campy and strangely contemporary. Garner celebrated Minnelli's versatility, highlighting how she found a soul groove in "Use Me", a warm sensuality in "I'd Love You To Want Me", a corny fun in "Oh, Babe, What Would You Say", and a vibrant feeling in an accelerated version of "Where Is the Love". The production by the duo Al Cappa and Marvin Hamlisch was also praised by him. Overall, the critic characterized the work as another winning effort from the singer.[14]
The Hour newspapper critic argued that the album deserved an award, framing it as a musical extension of Minnelli's Oscar-winning artistic excellence and a continuation of the Garland family's legacy.[15] Contrary to the critic, Robert Hilburn of The Leader-Post (originally from the Los Angeles Times) included The Singer in his 1973 annual list of "wasted vinyl" awards. In his critique, he expressed great disappointment, arguing that the album fell well below expectations for an artist of her caliber. Hilburn noted that while artists normally wait until the twilight of their careers to simply record covers of the latest hits, Minnelli—who was less established on record than in film and theater—had already begun adopting this approach prematurely, picking up recent hits like "Oh, Babe, What Would You Say" and "You're So Vain" rather than finding her own material.[16]
Record Mirror praised the album, highlighting Minneli's "very special" interpretation of Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" as a standout moment. Other tracks noted as "exceptional" included her versions of James Taylor's "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight," Mac Davis's "I Believe In Music," which opens the album, and the "plaintive" "Where Is The Love." The reviewer stated that Minnelli deserved her place in the superstar bracket and considered her one of the most thrilling vocal talents of the time.[17]
In a contemporary review William Ruhlmann of the website AllMusic stated that the tracklist consisted of songs that seemed to have been chosen based on what was popular during the summers of 1972 and 1973. Despite this, he gave it a three out of five-star rating and wrote that it seemed like the singer gave her best in her interpretations of the songs.[18]
Commercial performance
Commercially, The Singer became one of the biggest commercial successes of the singer's career. It reached number 38 on the Billboard 200,[19] and spent 20 weeks on the same chart.[20] On the Cash Box magazine best-selling albums chart, it peaked at number 39 and spent a total of 12 weeks on the chart.[21] On Record World magazine's chart, the album debuted at number 129 on March 31, 1973,[22] peaked at number 52 on May 26 of the same year,[23] and made its last recorded appearance on July 7, 1973, at number 117.[24]
According to Clive Davis, the album sold 20,000 copies in advance in the United Kingdom, as reported in Billboard magazine on May 26, 1973.[9]
↑ "Album picks"(PDF). Record World. Vol.28, no.1343. March 17, 1973. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 9, 2025. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
↑ "The Album Chart"(PDF). Record World. Vol.28, no.1345. March 31, 1973. p.38. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 9, 2025. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
↑ "The Album Chart"(PDF). Record World. Vol.28, no.1345. July 7, 1973. p.39. Archived(PDF) from the original on September 9, 2025. Retrieved September 9, 2025.
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