Rejoice (The Emotions album)
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| Allmusic |   [1] |
Rejoice is a 1977 album by American vocal group The Emotions. Released on January 16, 1977 (US) on Columbia Records, This album was produced by Maurice White of Earth, Wind & Fire. The album contains the highly successful number one Pop, R&B and Disco hit "Best of My Love", and Rejoice has been certified platinum in the US by the RIAA.[2] Rejoice was also the third bestselling R&B album of 1977.[3] In a 2007 interview when asked which album that he produced, besides those that he did for Earth, Wind & Fire, is his favorite, White replied: "The Emotions's Rejoice because it had a great vibe, a great ‘feel’. Yeah, I'm proud of that production." [4]
Chart performance
The Emotions' most successful album to date Rejoice established them as one of the most successful female groups of the Disco period. Its success was mainly due to the single "Best of My Love". Even though only two singles were released from the album, most of the tracks contained by it enjoyed heavy airplay. The album debuted inside the Top 100 of the Billboard Top 200 and fueled by the immense success of its lead single "Best of My Love" it climbed at #7, quickly going Gold. Supported by the successful single "Don't Ask My Neighbors" the album achieved a slow and smooth descent on the charts which allowed it to eventually be certified Platinum.[5] It is officially their highest certified album by RIAA (the trio also released two Gold albums) and is generally considered to be an album of significant importance for the history of Disco music. In 2012, Gold Legion.com digitally remastered this and released it on CD. Though it does not contain bonus tracks, it does come with a beautifully designed 12 page booklet with liner notes detail the story of this album as told by Wanda Hutchinson-Vaughn.
Singles
The album spawned two singles, "Best of My Love" and "Don’t Ask My Neighbors". "Best of My Love" spent multiple weeks at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot Soul Singles chart and was certified Platinum by RIAA for selling over 1 million copies in the United States. "Best of My Love" also won a Grammy for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. "Don't Ask My Neighbors" reached #44 on the pop charts and #7 on the R&B charts. Additionally the rest of the album tracks received heavy airplay, even though they were never released as singles, a feat not usually followed by artists.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Best of My Love" | Maurice White, Al McKay | 3:40 |
| 2. | "A Feeling Is" | Sheila Hutchinson | 3:36 |
| 3. | "A Long Way to Go" | Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil | 3:48 |
| 4. | "Key to My Heart" | Verdine White, Robert Wright | 5:21 |
| 5. | "Love's What's Happenin'" | Sheila Hutchinson | 3:18 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "How'd I Know That Love Would Slip Away" | Deniece Williams, Clarence McDonald, Lani Groves | 4:41 |
| 7. | "Don't Ask My Neighbors" | Skip Scarborough | 4:26 |
| 8. | "Blessed" | Maurice White, Jerry Peters | 4:36 |
| 9. | "Rejoice" | Wanda Hutchinson, Keith Henderson, LaFayette Evans | 5:22 |
Personnel
The Emotions
- Wanda Hutchinson – vocals
- Sheila Hutchinson – vocals
- Pamela Hutchinson – vocals
- Jeanette Hutchinson – vocals
Musicians
- Clarence McDonald – piano, Clavinet
- Marlo Henderson (tracks 2-3, 6, 9), Al McKay (1, 4-5, 7-8) – guitar
- David Shields (tracks 2-3, 6, 9), Verdine White (1, 4-5, 7-8) – bass
- James Gadson (tracks 2-3, 6, 9), Fred White (1, 4-5, 7-8) – drums
- Paulinho DaCosta – percussion
- Larry Dunn – synthesizer (tracks 1, 5)
- Maurice White – drums (tracks 7-8), additional vocals (4)
- Jerry Peters (track 8), Skip Scarborough (7) – electric piano
- George Bohanon, Louis Satterfield, Lew McCreary, George Thatcher – trombones
- Oscar Brashear, Steve Madaio, Chuck Findley – trumpets
- Alan Robinson, Marilyn Robinson, Vince DeRosa, Sidney Muldrow, Richard Perissi – French horns
- Don Myrick – saxophones, flute
- Charles Veal, Jr. – concertmaster
- Israel Baker, Arnold Belnick, Janice Gower, Betty LaMagna, Dorothy Wade, Robert Sushel – violins
- Rollice Dale, Denyse Buffum, Paul Polivnick – violas
- Raymond Kelley, Selene Hurford, Dennis Karmazyn – cellos
- Dorothy Ashby – harp
- Tom Tom 84 (Thomas Washington) - horn and string arrangements
Charts
| Chart (1977) | Peak [6] |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Top LPs | 7 |
| U.S. Billboard Top Soul LPs | 1 |
- Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [6] |
US R&B [6] |
US Dan [6] |
UK [7] | ||
| 1977 | "Best of My Love" | 1 | 1 | 11 | 4 |
| "Don't Ask My Neighbors" | 44 | 7 | — | — | |
See also
References
- ^ Lytle, Craig. Rejoice > review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
- ^ RIAA Certification for Rejoice
- ^ Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums of 1977 - Billboard.com
- ^ "MAURICE WHITE: STILL BURNING BRIGHT". bluesandsoul.com. Retrieved May 24, 2009.
- ^ [1]
- ^ a b c d "US Charts > The Emotions". Billboard. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "UK Charts > The Emotions". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2012-10-29.