Come to My Garden is the debut solo album by Minnie Riperton

Minnie Riperton

Minnie Julia Riperton was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You". She was married to songwriter and music producer Richard Rudolph from 1972 until her death in the summer of 1979. They had two children - music engineer Marc Rudolph and actress/comedienne Maya...

 -produced, arranged and orchestrated by Charles Stepney

Charles Stepney

Charles Stepney was a producer, arranger, songwriter and musician famous for his Orchestral Psychedelic soul sound with Chicago's Cadet/Chess records in the 1960s/1970s and afterwards with Earth, Wind & Fire....

- released in 1970. It was re-released on CD

Compact Disc

The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

 in 1999. It peaked at number one hundred and sixty on the U.S. Billboard 200

Billboard 200

The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 chart in 1974. Some versions of the cd-release don't include the last track "Whenever, Wherever." Riperton said she wanted a sound like the great Dionne Warwick

Dionne Warwick

Dionne Warwick is an American singer, actress and TV show host, who became a United Nations Global Ambassador for the Food and Agriculture Organization, and a United States Ambassador of Health....

 / Burt Bacharach

Burt Bacharach

Burt F. Bacharach is an American pianist, composer and music producer. He is known for his popular hit songs and compositions from the mid-1950s through the 1980s, with lyrics written by Hal David. Many of their hits were produced specifically for, and performed by, Dionne Warwick...

 collaborations for the album.

Minnie Riperton was presented as a solo artist by Ramsey Lewis

Ramsey Lewis

Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.-Biography:...

 on Saturday, December 26, 1970 at Chicago's famed London House. She performed several numbers from the album accompanied by Charles Stepney, the albums producer. Although commercially unsuccessful, Come to My Garden is considered a masterpiece by critics. "Les Fleurs" is probably the album's best known song and "Expecting" remains a favourite among fans.

The heavy rock aspect of Riperton's band Rotary Connection

Rotary Connection

Rotary Connection was an American psychedelic soul band, formed in Chicago in 1966. The highly experimental band was the idea of Marshall Chess, son of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess. Marshall was the director behind a start-up label, Cadet Concept Records, and wanted to focus on music outside...

 is absent here, replaced by lush orchestrations and a jazzy soft-pop feel that complements Riperton's magnificently expressive, multi-octave voice beautifully. The songs, mostly by Stepney and Riperton's husband Richard Rudolph

Richard Rudolph

Richard "Dick" Rudolph is an American composer, guitarist, musician, songwriter, and producer. He was the husband of late soul singer icon Minnie Riperton, and he co-wrote many of her songs including her hits "Lovin' You" and "Memory Lane" . He produced Teena Marie's second album, Lady T...

, are mostly minor-key ballads, with alternately sorrowful and poetic lyrics. The singer / songwritery results recall early albums by Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is notable for jazz, soul, R&B, and folk music...

 as well as the contemporary work by Riperton's future employer/mentor Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder

Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

.

Side 1

1. "Les Fleurs" (Charles Stepney
   Charles Stepney
   Charles Stepney was a producer, arranger, songwriter and musician famous for his Orchestral Psychedelic soul sound with Chicago's Cadet/Chess records in the 1960s/1970s and afterwards with Earth, Wind & Fire....
   
   , Richard Rudolph
   Richard Rudolph
   Richard "Dick" Rudolph is an American composer, guitarist, musician, songwriter, and producer. He was the husband of late soul singer icon Minnie Riperton, and he co-wrote many of her songs including her hits "Lovin' You" and "Memory Lane" . He produced Teena Marie's second album, Lady T...
   
   ) – 3:18
2. "Completeness" (Stepney, Rose Johnson) – 3:32
3. "Come to My Garden" (Rudolph) – 3:19
4. "Memory Band" (Stepney) – 4:05
5. "Rainy Day in Centerville" (Stepney, Rudolph) – 5:22

Side 2

1. "Close Your Eyes and Remember" (Stepney, Rudolph) – 3:38
2. "Oh, By the Way" (Stepney, Rudolph) – 2:58
3. "Expecting" (Stepney, Jon Stocklin) – 3:51
4. "Only When I'm Dreaming" (Stepney, Sidney Barnes) – 3:24
5. "Whenever, Wherever" (Stepney, Johnson) – 3:34

Personnel

• Backing Vocals - Elsa Harris, Kitty Hayward, Minnie Riperton
  Minnie Riperton
  Minnie Julia Riperton was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You". She was married to songwriter and music producer Richard Rudolph from 1972 until her death in the summer of 1979. They had two children - music engineer Marc Rudolph and actress/comedienne Maya...
  
  
• Drums - Maurice White
  Maurice White
  Maurice White is a Grammy Award–winning American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, arranger. He is the older brother of Verdine White and Fred White and the leader and founder of the band Earth, Wind & Fire...
  
  
• Guitar - Phil Upchurch
  Phil Upchurch
  Phil Upchurch is an American jazz and R&B guitarist and bassist.Upchurch started his career working with The Kool Gents, The Dells, and The Spaniels before going on to work with Curtis Mayfield, Otis Rush and Jimmy Reed. He then returned to Chicago to play and record with Woody Herman, Stan Getz,...
  
  
• Piano - Ramsey Lewis
  Ramsey Lewis
  Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.-Biography:...
  
  
• Arranged and Conductor - Charles Stepney
• Vocals - Minnie Riperton

Later samples

• "Rainy Day in Centerville"
  • "Where Y'all At" by Nas
    Nas
    Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who performs under the name Nas , formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in hip hop and one of the most skilled and influential rappers of all-time...
    
     from the album Hip Hop Is Dead
    Hip Hop Is Dead
    Hip Hop Is Dead is the eighth studio album by American rapper Nas, released December 15, 2006 on Def Jam Recordings. His first album for the label, it was co-financed by Nas's previous label, Columbia Records, which once distributed for Def Jam...
    
    

• "Only When I'm Dreaming"
  • "Hellucination" by Smif-n-Wessun
    Smif-N-Wessun
    Smif-n-Wessun is a hip hop duo consisting of members Tek and Steele . Smif-n-Wessun comprise two-fifths of the Brownsville, Brooklyn supergroup Boot Camp Clik, with Buckshot, Heltah Skeltah and O.G.C...
    
     from the album Dah Shinin'
    Dah Shinin'
    Dah Shinin' is the debut album from Brooklyn Hip Hop duo Smif-N-Wessun. Members Tek and Steele made their debut previously on Black Moon's classic 1993 album Enta Da Stage. Dah Shinin has become one of the most heralded New York Hip Hop albums from the mid-'90s, famous for its hardcore lyrical...