Showing posts with label Freda Payne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Freda Payne. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Freda Payne - Lonely Woman

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2013
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 38:51
Size: 90,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:29) 1. After the Lights Go Down Low
(3:01) 2. Sweet Pumpkin
(2:51) 3. Blue Piano
(2:36) 4. The Things We Love to Do
(2:16) 5. Awaken My Lonely One
(2:38) 6. Sweet September
(4:03) 7. I Cried for You
(4:27) 8. 'Round Midnight
(3:15) 9. Out of This World
(4:07) 10. Lonely Woman
(3:55) 11. I Wish I Knew
(2:07) 12. It's Time

The multi-talented Freda Payne is best known for her singing career, yet she has also performed in musicals and acted in movies over the years, and was briefly the host of her own TV talk show. Born Freda Charcilia Payne on September 19, 1942, in Detroit, Michigan, Payne developed an appreciation of music at an early age (due to such sultry jazz singers as Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Billie Holiday). Payne's own musical career blossomed soon after, as she began early singing radio commercial jingles, which brought the young vocalist to the attention of several music-biz heavyweights. Berry Gordy, Jr. attempted to sign Payne to his then-burgeoning record company Motown, while Duke Ellington employed Payne as the featured singer with his renowned orchestra for two nights in Pittsburgh, resulting in Ellington offering the teenager a ten-year contract. But in both cases, Payne's mother turned them down.

During the early to mid-'60s, Payne established herself as a fine jazz vocalist, touring the country with both Quincy Jones and Bill Cosby, and issuing a jazz/big band-based album in 1963, After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!. In addition to a sophomore effort surfacing three years later, How Do You Say I Don't Love You Anymore, Payne enjoyed further exposure via appearances on such TV shows as Johnny Carson, David Frost, and Merv Griffin. But it wasn't until Payne signed on to the Invictus label in 1969 (headed by longtime friends/former Motown songwriters/producers Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Brian Holland) and issued the fine album Band of Gold that she scored her breakthrough hit single, the album's title track, which peaked at number three in the U.S. and topped the chart in the U.K. in 1970.

Although Payne never enjoyed another hit as substantial as "Band of Gold," several other successful singles followed in the early '70s: "Deeper and Deeper," "Cherish What's Dear to You," "You Brought the Joy," and the Vietnam protest song "Bring the Boys Home." Further albums followed throughout the '70s, including such titles as Contact, Reaching Out, Payne & Pleasure, Out of Payne Comes Love, Stares & Whispers, Supernatural High, and Hot, which all failed to make an impression on the charts. Payne then switched her attention from music to TV, as she hosted her very own (yet short-lived) talk show in 1981, Today's Black Woman. The '90s saw Payne return to music, as such albums as An Evening with Freda Payne and Christmas with Freda & Friends were issued, while Payne also landed roles in such movies as Private Obsession, Sprung, and Ragdoll. Payne continued to balance an acting and music career during the early 21st century, as she appeared in the 2000 Eddie Murphy comedy Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and the made-for-TV movie Fire & Ice, plus issuing an all-new album in 2001, Come See About Me. Around the same time, several hits compilations were issued, including such titles as Band of Gold: The Best of Freda Payne, Unhooked Generation: The Complete Invictus Recordings, and The Best of Freda Payne: Ten Best Series. Impulse re-released After the Lights Go Down Low in 2005, but failed to add any bonus material. She returned in 2007 with the album On the Inside, which was a collection of her most personal songs. In 2009, she re-entered public consciousness with an appearance on American Idol, performing her most iconic song. In June 2014, she released a jazz-influenced studio album entitled Come Back to Me Love.~ Greg Prato https://www.allmusic.com/artist/freda-payne-mn0000796710/biography

Lonely Woman

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Freda Payne - Reaching Out

Styles: Vocal, Soul
Year: 1973
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:05
Size: 94,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:22)  1. Two Wrongs Don't Make A Right
(3:20)  2. Reaching Out
(2:37)  3. For No Reason
(4:14)  4. The Man Of My Dreams
(5:08)  5. Mother Misery's Favorite Child
(3:06)  6. We've Gotta Find A Way Back To Love
(3:07)  7. Mood For Love
(4:43)  8. Rainy Days And Mondays
(6:33)  9. If You Go Away
(3:50) 10. Right Back Where I Started From

Freda Payne was a onetime flagship of Invictus, the label established by Motown mutineers Holland-Dozier-Holland. Though she only made three albums with the former Detroit hit machine, it was through the first two singles both artist and label became instantly known. Parting with Motown proved the right decision for HDH in their search for more creative recognition. Through Payne's "Unhooked Generation" and " "Band of Gold" they nurtured a newfound soul style. Combining the infectious rhythmic base of their earlier efforts with the Supremes and the Four Tops, HDH ventured into a more funk-oriented approach, with a little less emphasis on the familiar orchestration. Payne's debut album may have been a standout. By the time Reaching Out was released, Holland-Dozier-Holland seemed to have focused their attention elsewhere. They only took writing credits for three compositions, leaving the bulk to Smith and co-producer Dunbar and some ill-advised cover versions. A little less attention to the packaging would have been at its place; not even a bikini-clad Payne can make up for a tragic misstep like treating listeners to her version of "If You Go Away." Her voice remains sensual throughout the album; however, it never comes close to the spine tickling capacities of the debut. Also, Reaching Out is heavily in need of more playful album tracks like "The Easiest Way to Fall" or "Love on Borrowed Time" from her debut album. Only in one instance does Payne revitalize the memory of earlier hits: the darkly grooving "Mother Misery's Favourite Child" reflects the way she had with domestic drama. Though it can't be all blamed on Payne; if only HDH and Dunbar had supplied her with some of the quality stuff they took to the Honey Cone. ~ Quint Kik http://www.allmusic.com/album/reaching-out-mw0000766672

Reaching Out

Friday, September 22, 2017

Freda Payne - Band of Gold

Styles: Vocal, Soul
Year: 1970
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 35:09
Size: 80,9 MB
Art: Front

(2:57)  1. Band of Gold
(3:18)  2. I Left Some Dreams Back There
(3:02)  3. Deeper & Deeper
(3:05)  4. Rock Me in the Cradle
(2:30)  5. Unhooked Generation
(2:58)  6. Love on Borrowed Time
(2:41)  7. Through the Memory of My Mind
(2:58)  8. This Girl Is a Woman Now
(2:58)  9. The World Don't Owe You a Thing
(3:10) 10. Now Is the Time to Say Goodbye
(2:50) 11. Happy Heart
(2:37) 12. The Easiest Way to Fall

Although much of soul vocalist Freda Payne's early '70s association with the mighty Invictus label would be fraught with stress, her 1970 debut album, Band of Gold, was nevertheless a masterpiece of epic proportions. Touted on the sleeve as "people music, for people who like pop, rhythm and blues, ballad, hymns  just about anything," Payne's set certainly reflects that wide range and, while the overall sonic tone of Band of Gold reflects her producers' Motown history, especially across songs like "Unhooked Generation" and the Holland-Dozier penned "The World Don't Owe You a Thing," there are other more spontaneous moments here as well. With a majority of the songs co-written by Ron Dunbar, who would go on to become part of the P-Funk empire, "Payne" wowed her audience first with the top hit "Band of Gold" before diving into "Deeper and Deeper." Both are downtempo love ballads, delivered with a maturity and richness that belies much of the balladeering of the era. 

Other standouts include the young love remembrances of "Through the Memory of My Mind," which allows Payne's vocals to stay fully in front and even includes a subtle Shangri-Las-y spoken work bridge and the smoky intro'd "This Girl Is a Woman Now." It must be said, however, that the title song truly one of the greatest soul ballads of all time so dominates proceedings that it is very easy to overlook these other gems, one reason why Band of Gold rarely attracts much attention today. ~ Amy Hanson http://www.allmusic.com/album/band-of-gold-mw0000861023

Band of Gold

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Ray Brown Jr. - Friends And Family

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:47
Size: 130.0 MB
Styles: R&B/Jazz/Soul
Year: 2008
Art: Front

[4:44] 1. Can’t Take My Eyes Off You (Feat. Jane Monheit)
[2:42] 2. I’m Beginning To See The Light (Feat. Melba Moore & Terry Gibbs)
[3:46] 3. Sunny Side Of The Street (Feat. James Moody)
[4:33] 4. Too Close For Comfort (Feat. Maria Muldaur)
[4:36] 5. I Wish You Love (Feat. Dionne Warwick & David Fathead Newman)
[3:30] 6. Lullaby Of Birdland (Feat. Freda Payne & Terry Gibbs)
[4:23] 7. Up On The Roof (Feat. Sophie B. Hawkins)
[4:27] 8. Ordinary Fool (Feat. Paul Williams)
[2:11] 9. A-Tisket-A-Tasket (Feat. Haylee)
[3:18] 10. Something’s Gotta Give (Feat. Freda Payne)
[4:03] 11. Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy (Feat. Dr. Lonnie Smith)
[3:43] 12. Girls On The Beach (Feat. Dave Somerville)
[3:55] 13. Laughter In The Rain (Feat. Kim Hoyer)
[3:22] 14. I Thought About You (Feat. Sally Kellerman)
[3:27] 15. How High The Moon (Feat. Ella Fitzgerald & Ray Brown Sr)

If you’re expecting any vocal similarity between Ray Brown Jr. and his mother, Ella Fitzgerald, you’ll be disappointed. Brown is, after all, not her natural son, but was adopted by Fitzgerald and Ray Brown in 1949, midway through their six-year marriage. But if his parents’ acute musicality isn’t in his genes, then he must have absorbed it, because Jr. is a first-rate performer with a deep, slightly raspy sound that suggests a blend of Bobby Short and Michael McDonald, plus a soupcon of Billy Eckstine.

The 59-year-old scion started out in the music business in the ’70s, toying with rock and then country before setting into a pop/soul groove. Friends and Family is his fourth album, but the first that inches toward jazz. The “friends” are an eclectic bunch, spanning young (Jane Monheit, Sophie B. Hawkins), old (septuagenarian David Somerville, one-time lead singer of the ’50s group the Diamonds), iconic (James Moody, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Dionne Warwick), obscure (little-known but impressive jazz chanteuse Kim Hoyer) and unexpected (Oscar-nominated M*A*S*H actress Sally Kellerman).

The results are generally excellent—particularly a funky “Memphis” featuring both Smith and Dr. John, a slow and sexy “Too Close for Comfort” with Maria Muldaur and a scorching “I’m Beginning to See the Light” with Melba Moore and Terry Gibbs. Unfortunately, the “family” portion of the program proves less rewarding. Brown teams with daughter Haylee for a rendition of “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” that zooms way past cute toward cloyingly sticky-sweet. Most disappointing is the disc-closing attempt at a family reunion, with Jr. awkwardly wedged into the middle of a muddy, old recording of mom and dad performing “How High the Moon.” ~Christopher Loudon

Friends And Family

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Freda Payne - Come Back to Me Love

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:00
Size: 147,7 MB
Art: Front

(4:23)  1. You'd Be so Nice to Come Home To
(3:54)  2. Haven't We Met
(3:52)  3. Lately
(5:24)  4. Come Back to Me Love
(3:23)  5. Whatever Happened to Me
(3:48)  6. You Don't Know
(5:21)  7. Save Your Love for Me
(3:55)  8. Guess I'll Hang My Tears out to Dry
(6:10)  9. The Island
(3:32) 10. I Should Have Told Him
(4:25) 11. I Just Have to Know
(5:38) 12. Midnight Sun
(4:47) 13. Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most
(4:23) 14. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water

In 1970, the spirited R&B/pop singer Freda Payne had a monster success with "Band of Gold," a bouncy love-gone-wrong song that was probably the first top 40 hit ever written about impotence. Decades later, with undiminished pipes, beauty, and impressive energy, Payne returns to the spotlight with this big-band outing from Mack Records on its Artistry Music imprint. Arranged and conducted by the brilliant pianist Bill Cunliffe, Come Back to Me Love features a full complement of brass and horns together with a cushion of violins, violas, cellos, and a guitar, vibraphone, and harp. It's an elaborate yet tasteful backdrop for the 14 songs in the session. 

These include six written by Gretchen C. Valade, the founder of Mack Records, whose lyrics are clever and ring true, but whose melodies don't rise to the classic level of "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To," "The Island" and "Midnight Sun" (Note: the "Lately" on this track list is not by Stevie Wonder.) Payne's versatile voice, with its echoes of Dinah Washington, Marlena Shaw and Nancy Wilson, sounds best when belting through a blazing arrangement of "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water," or sensuously wrapped around a beloved standard like "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry." 

It's ironic, given the luscious colors of all those horns and strings, that one of the album's standouts would be this simple quartet arrangement of ..."Tears" (bass, piano, brushes, guitar). Moreover at least to these ears Payne never sounds better than she does on "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most," which is just a duo with Cunliffe's eloquent and lyrical piano. Perhaps the intimacy of the setting makes the communication deeper and more direct; maybe Payne just had a special love for the song. It's also possible that things in the studio were simply more relaxed when it was recorded. In any case, it's a moving and memorable beauty, the crown jewel of a thoroughly enjoyable and versatile collection. ~ Dr Judith Schlesinger  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/come-back-to-me-love-freda-payne-mack-avenue-records-review-by-dr-judith-schlesinger.php#.U-ZoS2NryKI
 
Personnel: Freda Payne: vocals; Bill Cunliffe: piano, synth; David Stone: bass; Dan Lutz: bass; Jonathan Richards: bass; Curt Bisquera: drums; Joe LaBarbera: drums; Walter Rodriguez: percussion; John Chiodini: guitar; Alisha Bauer: cello; Vanessa Freebairn-Smith: cello; Pete Christlieb: saxophone; Tom Peterson: saxophone; Keith Fiddmont: saxophone; Brian Scanlon: saxophone; Bob Sheppard: saxophone; Nick Mancini: vibraphone; Bob McChesney: trumpet: Carl Saunders: trumpet; Bob Summers: trumpet; Kye Palmer: trumpet; John Papenbook: trumpet; Bijon Watson: trumpet; Jeff Driskill: flute; Ben Devitt: trombone; Andy Martin: trombone; Bob McChesney: trombone: Ira Nepus: trombone; Briana Bandy: viola; Scott Hosfeld: viola; Jessica Vanvelzen Freer: viola; Amy Shulman: harp; Clayton Haslop: violin; Sharon Jackson: violin; Peter Kent: violin; Barbara Porter: violin; Erica Walczak: violin; John Wittenberg: violin; Judy Yoo: violin.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Freda Payne - How Do You Say I Don't Love You Any More

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1966
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 32:20
Size: 75,1 MB
Art: Front

(2:37)  1. (How Do You Say) I Don't Love You Anymore
(3:03)  2. Yesterday
(2:29)  3. San Juan
(2:41)  4. You Never Should Have Loved Me
(3:15)  5. Let It Be Me
(2:03)  6. On Easy Street
(3:16)  7. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling
(2:57)  8. It's Here For You
(3:13)  9. Feeling Good
(1:55) 10. Sad Sad September
(2:35) 11. If You Love Me
(2:12) 12. Too Late

In 1966, when Freda Payne recorded How Do You Say I Don't Love You Anymore for MGM, she had already recorded a jazz LP for Impulse! but was still a few years away from Invictus and her commercial peak with the polished '70s soul of "Band of Gold." Although the LP was arranged by Benny Golson, one of the finest arranger/composers in jazz, it was closer to a pop date than vocal jazz. Payne sang "Yesterday" and "Let It Be Me" and "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," while the studio charts of Golson (and production by Tom Wilson) looked to the contemporary pop burgeoning across the pond from Petula Clark and Tony Hatch. (Think punchy but compressed brass, perfect for mono speakers in car radios and department stores.) Despite her early jazz leanings, Payne proves herself a far better pop-soul singer, sounding great on the two songs with the most hit potential, the title track and "You Never Should Have Loved Me." By comparison, her interpretations of the standards are clumsy; she holds notes a beat too long and wrings every last note of melodrama from "Yesterday" and "Let It Be Me." Overall, not a bad dry run for her Invictus recordings, which would begin in just a few years. ~ John Bush  http://www.allmusic.com/album/how-do-you-say-i-dont-love-you-anymore-mw0000811893