commodores [1977]

album rating: ★★★★☆

Genre

Funk, soul, and R&B. The album demonstrates the Commodores' defining strength: their ability to move with equal assurance between uncut funk - "Brick House," "Squeeze the Fruit", "Funky Situation" - and the tender romantic balladry that Lionel Richie was refining toward his eventual pop dominance, most memorably in "Easy" and "Zoom".

Release

Released on March 15, 1977, by Motown Records. It was the group's fifth studio album. The original vinyl release included a large fold-out poster of the band, visible in a scene of the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever. In the UK, the album was released under the title Zoom, after one of its tracks. The album is dedicated to Kathy Faye, the wife of bassist Ronald LaPread, who died of terminal tumours during its recording.

Production

Produced by the band alongside their regular collaborator James Anthony Carmichael. -"Brick House" was co-written by the entire group; "Easy" was written by Richie alone. The lyrics of "Brick House" were written by Shirley Hanna-King, wife of William King, while the band slept. Recorded, mixed, and mastered at Motown Recording Studios, Hollywood, California.

Reception

The album became the Commodores' first top-5 pop album, peaking at number 3 on the Billboard 200 and spending eight weeks at number one on the R&B Albums chart. "Brick House" reached number 5 on the Hot 100 and number 4 on the R&B chart. "Easy" reached number 4 on the Hot 100 and number 1 on the R&B chart. 

Commodores

The Commodores are an American R&B, funk, and soul group formed in 1968 at Tuskegee University, Alabama, by Lionel Richie (vocals, keyboards), Thomas McClary (guitar), Milan Williams (keyboards), William King (trumpet), Ronald LaPread (bass), and Walter Orange (drums, vocals). They signed to Motown Records in 1972 and built their reputation as one of the label's premier live acts, opening for the Jackson 5. Their run of albums between 1974 and 1981 produced a string of US top-ten singles, including "Three Times a Lady" and "Still" - both number-one pop hits written by Richie. Richie departed for a solo career in 1982; the remaining members won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group for "Nightshift" (1985). The group has sold over 70 million records worldwide and was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2003.

This text was generated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence.

easy

lionel richie: can't slow down

album rating: ★★★★☆

Genre

R&B, dance-pop, and soul. Can't Slow Down moves confidently across the tonal spectrum of early 1980s pop - from the Afro-Caribbean euphoria of "All Night Long (All Night)" and the funk-rock drive of "Running with the Night" to the adult contemporary balladry of "Hello" and the soft-rock intimacy of "Stuck on You" - unified by Richie's meticulous craftsmanship as both songwriter and melody-builder.

Release

Released on October 14, 1983, by Motown Records. It was Richie's second solo studio album.  The album was recorded between March and September 1983.

Production

Produced by James Anthony Carmichael and Lionel Richie, with David Foster producing "The Only One." Recorded at Ocean Way Studios, Hollywood, with vocals on "The Only One" at Sunset Sound; mixed at Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California.

Reception

Can't Slow Down won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1984, defeating albums by Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Prince, and Cyndi Lauper. It has been certified ten-times platinum by the RIAA, with over 20 million copies sold worldwide. It produced five major singles: "All Night Long (All Night)" (Hot 100 No. 1), "Running with the Night" (No. 7), "Hello" (No. 1), "Stuck on You" (No. 3), and "Penny Lover" (No. 8).

Lionel Richie

Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949, Tuskegee, Alabama) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, one of the most commercially successful pop artists of the 20th century. He grew up on the campus of Tuskegee University, where he enrolled on a tennis scholarship before co-founding the Commodores with fellow students. As Commodores songwriter he penned "Three Times a Lady," "Still," and "Easy"; as a solo artist he became one of only two songwriters in history to achieve number-one records for nine consecutive years. He co-wrote "We Are the World" (1985) with Michael Jackson for USA for Africa. His accolades include six Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for "Say You, Say Me" (1985), the Kennedy Center Honors (2017), the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (2022), and induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (2022). He has sold over 125 million records worldwide.

This text was generated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence.

stuck on you

off-album track

deep river woman

from the album dancing on the ceiling