No one else could make us feel the colors that Minnie Riperton brings–and this winter, a newly expanded edition of her breakthrough album, 1974’s Perfect Angel, will honor the singer for what would have been her 70th birthday.
Born on the South Side of Chicago, Minnie Riperton was a musical pro when she released Perfect Angel in 1974. Blessed with a five-octave range and a compelling high soprano, she’d sung background vocals on many Chess Records releases and had joined the label’s psychedelic soul combo Rotary Connection as a vocalist. Her first solo album, 1970’s Come To My Garden, featured writing, production and arrangement from her Rotary Connection bandmate Charles Stepney, as well as contributions from pianist Ramsey Lewis and drummer Maurice White. (White, of course, would found Earth, Wind & Fire, utilizing Lewis and Stepney as key early collaborators.)
After the commercial failure of Come To My Garden, Riperton took a break from the industry, living with her husband, songwriter Richard Rudolph, and their children. Eventually, Epic Records coaxed her out of semi-retirement, and she set to work on a new album with a key new collaborator: longtime fan Stevie Wonder, who produced the album alongside Rudolph (under the pseudonym “El Toro Negro”) and co-wrote both second single “Take a Little Trip” and the title track. (Wonder was recording his own Fulfillingness’ First Finale at the same time with largely the same band; released two weeks before Perfect Angel, it featured Riperton’s backing vocals on the tune “Creepin’.”)
But it was the album’s belated fourth single that finally earned Riperton her due as a pop artist. The last song recorded for the album started life as a lullaby Riperton sang to her young daughter Maya (an actress and comedian who appeared on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007); Riperton even sang to her then-two-year-old, who was in the studio at the time, on the final take. In April 1975, eight months after the album was released, “Lovin’ You” became Riperton’s biggest success, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for a week. While the remainder of Riperton’s career was bittersweet–she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1976 and succumbed to the disease in 1979, at just 31 years old–her voice, and the sweetness of songs like “Lovin’ You,” live on.
UMe’s deluxe edition of Perfect Angel, to be released December 1, is a two disc set with 11 bonus tracks. The original album is appended with the hit single version of “Lovin’ You,” edited and featuring a synth overdub as well as a studio count-off by Rudolph which has never been released. An alternate construction of the album, A More Perfect Angel, includes extended and alternate versions of every track on the album; highlights include a duet version of “Take a Little Trip” with vocals by Wonder and a full band version of “Lovin’ You.” One final bonus track is an early version of “Don’t Let Anyone Bring You Down,” later re-recorded for Riperton’s next album Adventures In Paradise (1975), with backing instrumentation by Wonder on most instruments and Hubert Laws on flute. A 24-page booklet features rare images and new liner notes by Rudolph on the making of the album.
Perfect Angel: Deluxe Edition (Capitol/UMe, 2017)
Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada (TBD)
Disc 1: Original album (released as Epic KE 32561, 1974) and bonus track
- Reasons
- It’s So Nice (To See Old Friends)
- Take a Little Trip
- Seeing You This Way
- The Edge Of a Dream
- Perfect Angel
- Every Time He Comes Around
- Lovin’ You
- Our Lives
- Lovin’ You (Single Version – Epic single 8-50057, 1974) (includes unreleased countdown)
Disc 2: A More Perfect Angel (previously unreleased)
- Reasons (Extended Version)
- It’s So Nice (To See Old Friends) (Extended Version)
- Take a Little Trip (Duet with Stevie Wonder)
- Seeing You This Way (Acoustic Version)
- The Edge Of a Dream (Extended Version)
- Perfect Angel (Extended Version)
- Every Time He Comes Around (Extended Version)
- Lovin’ You (Alternate Band Version)
- Our Lives (Extended Version)
- Don’t Let Anyone Bring You Down (Perfect Angel Version)
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The lead track, “Reasons”, had been (until very recently) a forgotten favorite of mine. The soaring vocals and scorching guitar solo is the perfect introduction to the power of her voice and of her band. I highly recommend readers give it a listen. Great news that this defining album is being resurrected and expanded for others to discover. Hail Minnie!
This was from the era when I would mostly buy 45’s. Very few albums. I have never heard this full album. Looks like this is the right time to discover it.
Super excited about this one! Take a Little Trip with Stevie is really nice.
When did Epic release ‘Take a little trip’ as a single? The singles that came off the first album were: ‘Reasons’, ‘Seeing you this way’ and ‘Lovin’ you’. BILLBOARD magazine never featured ‘Take a little trip’ as a new single release and no listing exists for it on the DISCOGS and 45CAT websites here in the US.