For the recording of her follow-up to Wild and Peaceful, Teena Marie linked with songwriter and producer Richard Rudolph, who had just lost his wife and musical collaborator, the great Minnie Riperton, to breast cancer. “Lady T” smoothly picks up where Teena’s Rick James-produced debut left off. It’s also something like an organic extension of Riperton’s final proper album, “Minnie”, also released in 1979; Rudolph co-write one-third of the songs and brought in some of Riperton’s studio associates, including Jerry Hey's Seawind Horns.
Though Teena’s creative identity was established on the debut, Riperton’s spirit flows throughout the album. Ironically, it’s the wholly-Teena-penned “Aladdin’s Lamp” that most resembles Riperton, from the wistful, romantic lyrics to the vocal arrangement, weaving background “ba-ba-ba”s and “la-la-la”s that recall the supernatural singer's early work with Rotary Connection. It’s among a few songs here that one could easily imagine being sung by Riperton. There were only two charting singles: the minor hit “Can It Be Love,” a gentle ballad, and the Top Five club single “Behind the Groove,” a smacking disco-funk jam. Even so, some of the deeper album cuts, especially “Now That I Have You” all dreamy, blissed-out acoustic soul rival the best of Wild and Peaceful.
The album’s presentation, including a glamorous shot on the front and a tomboy shot on the back, strikingly contrasts with that of the mysterious debut. For those who had not caught Teena’s 1979 Soul Train performance, it must have come as a shock to see this sleeve and realize that the music was flowing out of a white body. In more ways than one, Teena had fully arrived, and she struck again in a matter of six months.
Track listing
01. "Behind The Groove" (Marie, Richard Rudolph) - 6:07
02. "Now That I Have You" (Art Philips, Richard Rudolph, Claudia Talbot) - 5:32
03. "Lonely Desire" (Marie, Richard Rudolph, Dwayne Wedlaw) - 4:39
04. "Aladdin's Lamp" (Marie) - 4:55
05. "You're All the Boogie I Need" (Mickey Hearn, Marie) - 5:44
06. "Can It Be Love" (Marie, Dwayne Wedlaw) - 4:24
07. "Young Girl in Love" (Jill Jones, Marie) - 3:55
08. "Why Did I Have To Fall in Love With You" (Marie, George Sopuch) - 4:45
09. "Too Many Colors (Tee's Interlude)" (Marie) - 3:10
10. "Why Can't I Get Next to You" (Marie) - 3:58
11. "Co-Pilot to Pilot" (Marie) - 4:23
Credits
Teena Marie- Acoustic Guitar, Lead and Backing Vocals
Nathan Watts, Eddie Watkins, Oscar Alston on "Behind The Groove" - Bass
Paulinho Da Costa - Percussion
Michael Boddicker - Synthesizer
Jeremy Lubbock - Fender Rhodes
Randy Waldman - Fender Rhodes, Piano, Synthesizer
Greg Hargrove, Tim May, Bob Bowles, Art Phillips - Guitar
Christopher Boehme, Paul Hines, Tony "T-Bird" Lewis - Drums
Gary Grant - Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Kim Hutchcroft - Flute, Saxophone
Jerry Hey - Flugelhorn, Trumpet
Charles Loper - Trombone
Steve Forman - Percussion
Everett Bryson - Conga, Percussion
James Stewart, Jr. - Piano
Thomas Bumpass - Trumpet, Backing Vocals
William Carroll White - Saxophone, Backing Vocals
Larry Williams - Flute, Saxophone
Ray Woodard - Saxophone, Backing Vocals
Robert Zimmitti - Cowbell, Percussion
Maya Rudolph, Dwayne Medlaw - Voices
Diahne Abbott, Brenda Lee Eager, Linda Little, Jill Jones, Bill Thedford - Backing Vocals
Art Direction – John Cabalka
Co-producer – Teena Marie
Design – Ginny Livingston
Engineer – Lewis Peters
Engineer [Assistant] – Philip Moores
Engineer [Mastering] – Jeff Sanders
Photography By – Ron Slenzak
Producer – Richard Rudolph
Notes
Released: February 14, 1980
Recorded and remixed at Conway Studios, Hollywood, CA.
Strings recorded at Evergreen Studios, Burbank, CA.
Genre: Soul, R&B
Length: 51:15
Label: Gordy
© 1980
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