![]() Between 19, the group Levert took a sabbatical while Gerald concentrated on his solo career. Most notably missing are the top 5 R&B hits "Sweet Sensation," "Pull Over" and "Gotta Get the Money" and top ten-charting "Rope-a-Dope Style." Family Reunion then focuses on recordings by Gerald Levert, beginning with the 1987 Miki Howard duet "That's What Love Is" and segueing into tracks from his solo albums and his touching 1995 collaboration with Eddie, Father and Son. 1 R&B, 1988), "Just Coolin'" with Heavy D (No. The set kicks off with eight of Levert's hits, including favorites such as "(Pop, Pop, Pop, Pop) Goes My Mind" (No. SoulMusic's Family Reunion: The Anthology draws on Levert's Atlantic albums but also expands its purview to include solo recordings from Gerald and Sean, as well as Gerald's duets album with his famous father Eddie. The group, featuring O'Jay Eddie Levert's children Gerald and Sean joined by their childhood friend Marc Gordon, embraced R&B, pop, dance, and hip-hop during their time on Atlantic Records. R&B charts, with six top ten albums and twelve top ten singles - including one ("Casanova") which crossed over to top five Pop. Compilation producer David Nathan brings his personal reflections on Esther to his liner notes in the 24-page booklet, and Donald Cleveland has remastered for optimal sound.īetween 19, the trio Levert (originally LeVert) became mainstays on the U.S. But that's no reflection on the singer's soul-deep talent. Only her disco revival of "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" (heard here in its single edit) became a crossover hit for Esther at Kudu, scoring not only on the R&B survey but going top 20 Pop and top 30 AC. The collection includes selections from her two collaborative albums with guitarist Joe Beck, and in addition to Beck, reflects her close collaboration with arrangers Pee Wee Ellis, Don Sebesky, and David Matthews. Phillips could be alternately playful and harrowing, but all of the songs seemed to have a deep meaning for the singer. (Two of those albums, 1972's From a Whisper to a Scream and 1976's Capricorn Princess have both been reissued in full by SoulMusic.)Ī Beautiful Friendship displays Phillips' great gift for reinterpretation, presenting songs from sources both likely and unlikely: Gil Scott-Heron ("Home is Where the Hatred Is"), Allen Toussaint ("From a Whisper to a Scream"), Marvin Gaye ("Baby, I'm for Real"), Gilbert O'Sullivan ("Alone Again, Naturally"), Bill Withers ("Use Me"), Billie Holiday ("God Bless the Child"), Jackie DeShannon ("Pure, Natural Love"), Glen Campbell and Jerry Capehart ("Turn Around, Look at Me"), and Isaac Hayes and David Porter ("Can't Trust Your Neighbor with Your Baby"). A Beautiful Friendship: The Kudu Anthology 1971-1976 collects 33 tracks on 2 CDs, culled from Phillips' seven albums for the label. ![]() At Kudu, Taylor recorded Phillips in a variety of settings from smooth pop to jazz, disco and funk, realizing the adaptability of her pinched, distinct style. But her singular talent for bringing raw, gritty emotional honesty to jazz, pop, soul, funk, and R&B was never in doubt. The former "Little Esther" had her first taste of success in 1949, just fourteen years old, and a taste of heroin not long after stories of her mercurial behavior have since entered into legend. ![]() A gifted vocalist, Phillips nonetheless struggled with personal demons throughout her too-short life. Cherry Red's SoulMusic Records label has added another quintet of releases to its rapidly-growing Anthology series, and this batch is among the most eclectic yet, blurring the lines of jazz, pop, and R&B with Esther Phillips, Levert, Tom Browne, Kashif, and Mtume.Īs the premier vocalist on CTI Records' Kudu imprint, Esther Phillips (1935-1984) played a key role in producer Creed Taylor's "Cool Revolution" at CTI.
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