Blue Lights in the Basement
Blue Lights in the Basement is the sixth studio album by American singer Roberta Flack released by Atlantic on December 13, 1977. The album was a commercial success, peaking at number eight on the US Billboard 200, becoming her third consecutive top-ten album on the chart and reaching number five on the R&B albums chart. On February 27, 1978, the album received a Gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments over 500,000 copies.[2]
| Blue Lights in the Basement | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | December 13, 1977 | |||
| Recorded | 1976–1977 | |||
| Genre | R&B, soul, folk, disco | |||
| Label | Atlantic | |||
| Producer | Rubina Flake, Joe Ferla, Gene McDaniels | |||
| Roberta Flack chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Blue Lights in the Basement | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [1] |
The album features the single "The Closer I Get to You", a duet with best friend and fellow soul musician Donny Hathaway, which became the biggest hit from the album, peaking at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reaching #1 on the Hot Soul Singles chart. The collaboration with Hathaway would be one of his final singles released in his lifetime before his death in 1979.
The Blue Lights in the Basement track "After You" would be the first of several Michael Masser compositions Flack would record (with the 1983 Peabo Bryson duet "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" becoming a million-seller): in 2008 Flack would cite "After You" as one of her favorite recordings.[3]
Track listing
| Track No | Song title | Songwriter | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Why Don't You Move in with Me" | Gene McDaniels | 4:51 |
| 2 | "The Closer I Get to You" Duet with Donny Hathaway |
Reggie Lucas, James Mtume | 4:39 |
| 3 | "Fine, Fine Day" | Rachel Perry | 4:49 |
| 4 | "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" | Pat Grant, Gwen Guthrie | 4:23 |
| 5 | "25th of Last December" | Gene McDaniels | 4:31 |
| 6 | "After You" | Michael Masser, Ron Miller | 3:55 |
| 7 | "I'd Like to Be Baby to You" | Morgan Ames | 4:27 |
| 8 | "Soul Deep" | Wayne Carson | 2:22 |
| 9 | "Love Is the Healing" | Gene McDaniels | 3:42 |
| 10 | "Where I'll Find You" | David McHugh | 3:10 |
Personnel
- Roberta Flack – lead vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, arrangements
- Paul Griffin – keyboards
- Ronnie Foster – keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals
- Don Grolnick – keyboards
- Rob Mounsey – keyboards
- Leon Pendarvis – keyboards, backing vocals, musical arrangements
- Harry Whitaker – keyboards, musical arrangements
- Reggie Lucas – guitar
- Hugh McCracken – guitar, musical arrangements
- Jeff Mironov – guitar
- David Spinozza – guitar
- John Tropea – guitar
- Anthony Jackson – electric bass
- Basil Fearrington – electric bass
- Will Lee – electric bass
- Gary King – electric bass, musical arrangements
- Steve Gadd – drums
- Allan Schwartzberg – drums
- Jimmy Wong – drums
- Howard King – drums
- Idris Muhammad – drums
- Crusher Bennett – percussion
- David Carey – percussion
- Jimmy Maelen – percussion
- James Mtume – percussion, backing vocals
- Michael Kamen – oboe solo (10), musical arrangements
- Donny Hathaway – lead vocals (2)
- Jim Gilstrap – backing vocals
- Lani Groves – backing vocals
- Gwen Guthrie – backing vocals
- Yvonne Lewis – backing vocals
- Gene McDaniels – backing vocals
- Zach Sanders – backing vocals
- Brenda White – backing vocals
- Deniece Williams – backing vocals
Production
- Joe Ferla – producer, engineer, remixing
- Rubina Flake – producer
- Gene McDaniels – producer
- Ahmet Ertegun – executive producer
- Brian Christian – engineer
- Mike Moran – engineer
- Ralph Moss – engineer
- Phil Schier – engineer
- Ted Spencer – engineer
- Jack Adelman – mastering
- Stewart Bosley – album design
- Gazebo Group – album design
- Dave Gahr – back photography
- John Pinderhughes – front photography
- Studios
- Recorded at The Hit Factory, Columbia Recording Studios, RCA Studios and Record Plant N.Y.C. (New York, NY); Record Plant and Westlake Audio (Los Angeles, CA); Kendun Recorders (Burbank, CA); P.S. Recording Studios (Chicago, IL).
Charts and certifications
| Year | Album | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Billboard 200[4] | Top Soul Albums[4] | ||
| 1978 | Blue Lights in the Basement | 8 | 5 |
Certifications
| Country | Certification (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|
| United States | Gold (RIAA)[2] |
References
- Elias, Jason. Blue Lights in the Basement at AllMusic
- Hackensack Record 8 February 2008 "Celebrating Her Love of Love: Flack to pour her heart into Valentine's Day performance" by Ian Spelling p.15
