Young, Gifted and Black is the eighteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Aretha Franklin, released in early 1972, by Atlantic Records. The album climbed to number 2 on Billboard's R&B albums survey and peaked at Number 11 on the main album chart. It was quickly certified Gold by the RIAA. Its title was cut from "To Be Young, Gifted and Black", recorded and released by Nina Simone in 1969.
Nina Simone was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop.
The Gap Band was an American R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it was named after streets in the historic Greenwood neighborhood in the brothers' hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Eulaulah Donyll "Lalah" Hathaway is an American singer. In 1990 Hathaway released her first album titled Lalah Hathaway. After releasing another album, titled A Moment (1994), it debuted at number 34 on the Top R&B albums chart. In 1999 she collaborated with Joe Sample on the album The Song Lives On. After a five-year hiatus, she returned with her fourth album, Outrun the Sky (2004). The single "Forever, For Always, For Love" peaked at number 1 on the Hot Adult R&B Airplay.
"Almost Doesn't Count" is a song by American singer Brandy Norwood. It was written by Shelly Peiken and Guy Roche and recorded by Norwood for her second studio album, Never Say Never (1998). Atlantic Records consulted Fred Jerkins III to recut the song to be more consistent with the overall sound of the album. He would subsequently share production credit along with Roche. A pop and R&B-ballad combining elements of country, it incorporates Latin flavored riffs. The song's lyrics are based on an on-again, off-again relationship that Peiken had experienced during her college years.
"Wild Is the Wind" is a song written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington for the 1957 film Wild Is the Wind. Johnny Mathis recorded the song for the film and released it as a single in November 1957. Mathis' version reached No. 22 on the Billboard chart. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song in 1958, but lost to "All the Way" by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn from The Joker is Wild.
"Feeling Good" is a song written by English composers Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the musical The Roar of the Greasepaint – The Smell of the Crowd. It was first performed on stage in 1964 by Cy Grant on the UK tour.
"Freeway of Love" is a song by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was written by Jeffrey Cohen and Narada Michael Walden and produced by the latter for Franklin's thirtieth studio album Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985). The song features a notable contribution from Clarence Clemons, the saxophonist from Bruce Springsteen’'s E Street Band. Sylvester, Martha Wash, and Jeanie Tracy provided backup vocals on "Freeway of Love".
"(At Your Best) You Are Love" is a song by R&B group the Isley Brothers. It was originally released on their album Harvest for the World. The song was dedicated to their mother, Sally. Although not a single, the song was a radio hit in 1976, and later became a hit for R&B singer Aaliyah in 1994.
Silk & Soul is the thirteenth studio album by American musician Nina Simone released in October 1967 by RCA Victor. It features the cuts "Go to Hell" and a cover of "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free".
Sings the Blues is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. This was Simone's first album for RCA Records after previously recording for Colpix Records and Philips Records. The album was also reissued in 2006 with bonus tracks, and re-packaged in 1991 by RCA/Novus as a 17-track compilation under the title The Blues.
'Nuff Said! is an album by jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It was recorded—excluding tracks 1, 8, and 11—at Westbury Music Fair, April 7, 1968, three days after the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. The whole program that night was dedicated to his memory. The album featured one of Simone's biggest hits in Europe, "Ain't Got No, I Got Life".
"Got to Be There" is the debut solo single by the American singer Michael Jackson, written by Elliot Willensky and released as a single on October 7, 1971, on Motown Records. The song was produced by Hal Davis and recorded at Motown's Hitsville West studios in Hollywood.
Forever, for Always, for Love is the second studio album by American R&B singer and songwriter Luther Vandross, released on September 21, 1982, by Epic Records. It became Vandross' second album to chart in the top 20 on the Billboard 200 and was his second album to top the R&B Albums chart where it spent three weeks.
"Ain't Got No, I Got Life" is a 1968 single by American singer-songwriter Nina Simone, from her album 'Nuff Said. It is a medley of two songs, "Ain't Got No" and "I Got Life", from the musical Hair, with lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. The combination of the two songs was rewritten by Simone to suit her purpose.
"To Love Somebody" is a song written by Barry and Robin Gibb. Produced by Robert Stigwood, it was the second single released by the Bee Gees from their international debut album, Bee Gees 1st, in 1967. The single reached No. 17 in the United States and No. 41 in the United Kingdom. The song's B-side was "Close Another Door". The single was reissued in 1980 on RSO Records with "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" as its flipside. The song ranked at number 94 on NME magazine's "100 Best Tracks of the Sixties". It was a minor hit in the UK and France. It reached the top 20 in the US. It reached the top 10 in Canada.
"To Be Young, Gifted and Black" is a song by Nina Simone with lyrics by Weldon Irvine. Simone introduced the song on August 17, 1969, to a crowd of 50,000 at the Harlem Cultural Festival, captured on broadcast video tape and released in 2021 as the documentary film Summer of Soul. Two months later, she recorded the song as part of her concert at Philharmonic Hall, a performance that resulted in her live album Black Gold (1970). Released as a single, it peaked at number 8 on the R&B chart and number 76 on the Hot 100 in January 1970. A cover version by Jamaican duo Bob and Marcia reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart in 1970.
Ledisi Anibade Young, better known simply as Ledisi, is an American R&B and jazz recording artist, songwriter, music producer, author and actress. Her name means "to bring forth" or "to come here" in Yoruba.
Everything Is Everything is the debut studio album by American soul artist Donny Hathaway, which was released on July 1, 1970 on the Atlantic Records' subsidiary, Atco.
Wasteland, Baby! is the second studio album by Irish musician Hozier, released on 1 March 2019 by Rubyworks Records. It is Hozier's first album since 2014. The album includes the songs "Nina Cried Power" and "Shrike" from the 2018 EP Nina Cried Power, as well as the single "Movement". It was promoted by a North American tour beginning in March 2019, and a European tour in late summer to fall 2019. Wasteland, Baby! debuted atop the Irish Albums Chart and the Billboard 200, and has since been certified gold in the US.
