Sunday, April 28, 2013

Perfect Angel - Minnie Riperton

From birth until I was four years old, my mother would sing Minnie Riperton's "Lovin You" to me before I went to sleep. She didn't do it every night, but she did it enough that I would recognize the song, and try to chime in during the few parts I understood. Of course, there were some lyrics that weren't exactly applicable to the mother/son relationship, but my mother was savvy enough to elude or ignore those parts. As I got older, and as my mother and father played records every Saturday, my parents would still pepper in this song, as I reminder of how things went down when I was younger. Of course as I wrote here a couple of years ago, now when I hear the song, it creeps me out because I know it'll make me sad when and if my mother passes away. I know that's a bit dramatic and morbid, but he this is how I think occasionally.


Anyway, once I got older, I was able to appreciate Minnie Riperton, "Perfect Angel" album in its entirety. Every song on this album (except for two) was written by Minnie and her husband Richard Rudolph (also known as Maya Rudolph's parents). The two other songs they didn't write were written by Stevie Wonder and they were: "Take A Little Trip" and "Perfect Angel". "Take A Little Trip" featured Michael Sembello (Mr. Maniac) on lead guitar. "Perfect Angel" featured a young Denise Williams on background vocals. This is just a great f**king album.

Here is Stevie Wonder singing "Perfect Angel" and "Lovin' You" a short time after Minnie died in 1979.

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