album rating: ★★★★☆
Genre: Soul / smooth soul / R&B. A Letter to Myself is the fifth studio album by The Chi-Lites, the Chicago soul vocal quartet whose peak years spanned the late 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's line-up on this album comprises lead singer Eugene Record, Marshall Thompson, Creadel Jones and Robert Lester. Record was the central creative force throughout the group's Brunswick Records era: lead singer, chief composer and sole producer, a triple role that gave the Chi-Lites' albums a distinctive personal voice. The Chi-Lites achieved back-to-back R&B number-one singles with 'Have You Seen Her' (1971) and 'Oh Girl' (1972), the latter reaching number 1 on both the pop and R&B charts and establishing them as one of the defining acts of early-1970s soul. A Letter to Myself continues in the same vein — orchestrated ballads of aching romantic loss and social observation — but also shows Record broadening his range. The title track is a melancholy interior monologue, the narrator pretending that a letter from himself is from the woman who left him. 'We Need Order' is a protest song set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. 'My Heart Just Keeps On Breakin'' marks a move toward country-influenced material, as noted by Amazon reviewers. The album is lavishly arranged: the core band includes drummer/musical director Quinton Joseph, arranger/pianist Tom Tom Washington, saxophonist Cliff Davis, bassist Rufus Reid, and trumpet/flugelhorn players Murray Watson and Raymond Orr, with French horns, cellos, violins and a full string section. Associate producer and recording engineer: Bruce Swedien.
Label: Brunswick Records (USA), released March 1973. Catalogue number: BL 754188.
Producer: Eugene Record. Associate producers: Quinton Joseph, Tom Tom Washington, Bruce Swedien.
Recording studio: Not individually specified in publicly available sources; recorded in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Critical reception: A Letter to Myself was warmly received as a further demonstration of Record's mature songwriting and the group's command of the smooth soul idiom. Amazon reviewers describe it as 'one of the best Chi-Lites albums' and note how Record 'slowly steered the group away from strict R&B into country and deeper social protest.' The album holds a 3.96 average rating on Discogs across 117 ratings. The Bear Family Records liner notes describe The Chi-Lites' Brunswick period as producing beautiful ballads in a '70s hitmaking formula that was singular and durable.
Commercial success: A Letter to Myself was the third of four consecutive gold albums for The Chi-Lites. 'We Need Order' peaked at number 13 on the R&B chart and number 61 on the Billboard Hot 100. The title track 'A Letter to Myself' was the bigger hit, reaching number 3 on the R&B chart and number 33 on the Hot 100. A third single, 'My Heart Just Keeps On Breakin'', charted at number 46 R&B and number 92 pop.
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