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Minnie Ripperton-Appreciate!

Here's 3 Riperton songs that should be in your library:

1.) Woman Of Heart And Mind (Joni Mitchell)
As good a cover song as any Riperton ever recorded IMHO. 'WOHAM' is about a modern woman experiencing the high and lows of relationships. She can't find what she's really longing for in a man, so she accepts what's available fully knowing it's not the holiest of choices. Highly recommended for adult ears only.
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2.) Respect (Otis Redding)
A completely different take on the classic '60's anthem. While other female pop artists were intimidated by the Rock movement in popular music, Riperton despite her delicate vocal style seemed to tackle it head first. 'Respect' is a great example of her broad musical style.
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3.) Perfect Angel (Stevie Wonder)
Soul music perfection found across the board here: writing, vocals, and musical themes.
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Marty In LA
 
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Marty In LA said:
Here's 3 Riperton songs that should be in your library:

1.) Woman Of Heart And Mind (Joni Mitchell)

As good a cover song as any Riperton ever recorded IMHO. 'WOHAM' is about a modern woman experiencing the high and lows of relationships. She can't find what she's really longing for in a man, so she accepts what's available fully knowing it's not the holiest of choices. Highly recommended for adult ears only.


2.) Respect (Otis Redding)

A completely different take on the classic '60's anthem. While other female pop artists were intimidated by the Rock movement in popular music, Riperton despite her delicate vocal style seemed to tackle it head first. 'Respect' is a great example of her broad musical style.

3.) Perfect Angel (Stevie Wonder)

Soul music perfection found across the board here: writing, vocals, and musical themes.
Click to expand...

Very random songs....I totally disagree. Those aren't 'essential'
 
I LOVE Les Fleurs, and God knows it!!! that woman was incredible, i have all her albums, everyone should discover this fantastical woman, she was a talented lady.
 
This is from a song later in her life but it is my first memory of here from a kid.

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Back Down Memory Lane
 
^^^^That was from the last album that was released while she was alive.
 
This song was from a Quincy Jones album.
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Minnie-Riperton-Perfect-Angel-Packshot-web-730.jpg

Minnie Riperton, the singer with a distinctively high upper vocal range, topped the charts around the world in 1975 with "Lovin' You," one of the period's most distinctive and iconic hits. But the song only scratches the surface of Riperton's remarkable musical career, which began in her teens and ended prematurely with her untimely passing in 1979, at the age of 31. And it's only one facet of the extraordinary album from which it emerged, Perfect Angel.
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Minnie's many facets are explored on Perfect Angel: Deluxe Edition, to be released as a 2-CD set, and in standard digital and 96k/24-bit high-resolution audio formats, by UMe on December 1, in celebration of the singer's 70th birthday. This set brings home the fact that, though not known at the time for contractual reasons, the original album is essentially a collaboration with Stevie Wonder, who co-produced the album with Minnie's husband Richard Rudolph; arranged the tracks with his band, Wonderlove; played keyboards, harmonica and drums; and wrote two songs.


The set offers an excellent representation of Riperton's interpretive gifts and remarkable talent, all the more extraordinary for Wonder's contributions, which were made while he was winning Grammy awards for Talking Book and Innervisions, and working on another LP, Fulfillingness' First Finale, which featured Minnie as a background vocalist on that album's "Creepin'" and was eventually issued just weeks after Perfect Angel in the summer of 1974. Wonder, a Taurean, was credited on Perfect Angel as "El Toro Negro"—the Black Bull.

"Minnie was my dear friend," said Stevie Wonder. "She was an extraordinary, vibrant person with an extra-special voice. I was a big fan of hers before we met and it was my honor to produce the album with Minnie and her husband Richard. Minnie had a positive energy that radiated throughout these sessions and throughout the rest of her life. When Minnie lived, she lived. She continues to live through this release."

"The whole experience was a total surreal experience and a pure joy from start to finish," Richard Rudolph now says of the making of Perfect Angel. "Working with Stevie Wonder in that intimate setting really was more that just a dream come true. And you can feel the 'wonder' throughout the entire album," Rudolph continues. "Minnie would be overjoyed to know that her music continues to touch people's lives."

Perfect Angel: Deluxe Edition includes 11 bonus tracks to the remastered original album, making in essence an alternate, extended version of Perfect Angel. Included is a duet version of "Take A Little Trip" with Stevie Wonder; an acoustic version of "Seeing You This Way;" and an alternate take of "Lovin' You," notable for its backing by the Wonderlove band, as the hit single version only used Rudolph on guitar and Wonder on keyboards. The seven-inch single version, with a synth overdub, plus a countdown by Rudolph not on the original, is also included. A bonus to the alternate LP is a 'Perfect Angel version' of "Don't Let Anyone Bring You Down," with Wonder playing most of the instruments, along with Hubert Laws on flute. The song was re-recorded with a different producer and band for Minnie's follow-up album, Adventures In Paradise.

Other cuts extend well past the LP's original fadeouts. They feature extraordinary solos and jams by Wonder and his band members, who were 20-year-old Michael Sembello and Marlo Henderson on guitars, Reggie McBride on bass and Ollie Brown on drums, with guests Sneaky Pete Kleinow on pedal steel guitar and percussionist Rocky Dzidzornu. On background vocals with Minnie are Wonderlove vocalists Deniece Williams, a future solo star, Lani Groves and Shirley Brewer, and the songwriter Yvonne Wright.

Also included is a 24-page booket with rare photos and extensive liner notes by Richard Rudolph that take the listener inside the album-making experience. Rudolph also comments on the story behind the album's "ice cream and coveralls" cover shot by Barry Feinstein, who was known for his Bob Dylan images and the LP covers for Janis Joplin's Pearl, Eric Clapton's solo debut and George Harrison's All Things Must Pass, among others.

Disc 1: Perfect Angel - Original Album

Reasons 3:26
It’s So Nice (To See Old Friends) 4:44
Take A Little Trip 4:08
Seeing You This Way 2:44
The Edge Of A Dream 4:23
Perfect Angel 3:42
Every Time He Comes Around 3:54
Lovin’ You 3:58
Our Lives 5:43
Lovin’ You (bonus track: single version with countdown) 3:36


Disc 2: A More Perfect Angel

Reasons (extended version) 4:13
It’s So Nice (To See Old Friends) (extended version) 8:46
Take A Little Trip (duet with Stevie Wonder) 4:15
Seeing You This Way (acoustic version) 3:26
The Edge Of A Dream (extended version) 5:06
Perfect Angel (extended version) 5:09
Every Time He Comes Around (extended version) 6:18
Lovin’ You (alternate band version) 4:51
Our Lives (extended version) 9:30
Don’t Let Anyone Bring You Down (Perfect Angel version) 3:43
[video=youtube;HGrEx9bMqe4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGrEx9bMqe4[/video]
 
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