Patti Austin (born August 10 1950, in
HarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, long known as a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands.Harlem has been defined by a series...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) is an American
GrammyThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
-winning R&B and jazz music singer.
She made her debut at the
Apollo TheaterThe Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with African-American performers. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is the home of Showtime at the Apollo, a...
at age four and had a contract with
RCA RecordsRCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1983 and a partner from 1983 to 1986.-The RCA family of labels:RCA is the name of three different co-owned record...
when she was only five.
Quincy JonesQuincy Delight Jones, Jr. is an American music conductor, record producer, musical arranger, film composer and trumpeter. During five decades in the entertainment industry, Jones has earned a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991...
and
Dinah WashingtonDinah Washington was a blues, R&B and jazz singer. Despite dying at the early age of 39, Washington became one of the most influential vocalists of the twentieth century,. She is a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.-Early life:Washington was born Ruth Lee Jones in Tuscaloosa, Alabama...
have proclaimed themselves as her
godparentA godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. Judaism has this equivalent in the circumcision ceremony. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
s.
By the late 1960s Austin was a prolific
session musicianSession musicians are instrumental performers or vocalists who are available for hire for live performances or recording sessions, as opposed to musicians who are either permanent members of a musical ensemble or who have acquired fame in their own right as bandleaders...
and commercial
jingleA jingle is a memorable slogan, set to an engaging melody, mainly broadcast on radio and sometimes on television commercials.- History :The jingle had no definitive debut: its infiltration of the radio was more of an evolutionary process than a sudden innovation...
singer. During the 1980s, signed to Jones's
Qwest RecordsQwest Records is the record label started by Quincy Jones in 1980 as a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records, although Quincy was still under contract with A&M records through 1981. George Benson's 1980 Give Me the Night LP was the first release on Qwest, although this release was shared with...
, she began her most prolific hitmaking period.
Patti Austin (born August 10 1950, in
HarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, long known as a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands.Harlem has been defined by a series...
,
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) is an American
GrammyThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
-winning R&B and jazz music singer.
Career
She made her debut at the
Apollo TheaterThe Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with African-American performers. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is the home of Showtime at the Apollo, a...
at age four and had a contract with
RCA RecordsRCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1983 and a partner from 1983 to 1986.-The RCA family of labels:RCA is the name of three different co-owned record...
when she was only five.
Quincy JonesQuincy Delight Jones, Jr. is an American music conductor, record producer, musical arranger, film composer and trumpeter. During five decades in the entertainment industry, Jones has earned a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend Award in 1991...
and
Dinah WashingtonDinah Washington was a blues, R&B and jazz singer. Despite dying at the early age of 39, Washington became one of the most influential vocalists of the twentieth century,. She is a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame.-Early life:Washington was born Ruth Lee Jones in Tuscaloosa, Alabama...
have proclaimed themselves as her
godparentA godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. Judaism has this equivalent in the circumcision ceremony. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...
s.
By the late 1960s Austin was a prolific
session musicianSession musicians are instrumental performers or vocalists who are available for hire for live performances or recording sessions, as opposed to musicians who are either permanent members of a musical ensemble or who have acquired fame in their own right as bandleaders...
and commercial
jingleA jingle is a memorable slogan, set to an engaging melody, mainly broadcast on radio and sometimes on television commercials.- History :The jingle had no definitive debut: its infiltration of the radio was more of an evolutionary process than a sudden innovation...
singer. During the 1980s, signed to Jones's
Qwest RecordsQwest Records is the record label started by Quincy Jones in 1980 as a joint venture with Warner Bros. Records, although Quincy was still under contract with A&M records through 1981. George Benson's 1980 Give Me the Night LP was the first release on Qwest, although this release was shared with...
, she began her most prolific hitmaking period. She charted twenty R&B songs between 1969 and 1991 and had success on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, where she hit number one in 1981 with "Do You Love Me?" / "The Genie".
The album containing that hit,
Every Home Should Have One, also produced her biggest mainstream hit. "
Baby, Come To Me"Baby, Come to Me" is an R&B song, written by Rod Temperton for a male-female duet. The original version, performed by Patti Austin and James Ingram , and produced by Quincy Jones, appeared on Austin's 1981 album, Every Home Should Have One. As a single it had minor chart success in early 1982...
", a duet with
James IngramJames Ingram is an American soul musician. He is best-known as a vocalist. He is also a self-taught musician who plays piano, guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. Additionally, he is a producer and songwriter.-Early life:...
, initially peaked at number 73 on the Hot 100 in early 1982. After being featured as the love theme in a prominent storyline on the
soap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
General HospitalGeneral Hospital is an American daytime television drama and is currently credited by the Guiness Book of World Records as being the second longest-running soap opera in production and the second longest running drama in television in production. It premiered on the ABC television network on April...
, the song re-entered the pop chart in October and went to number one in February 1983. The single was certified Gold by the RIAA. She would later team up again with Ingram for "How Do You Keep The Music Playing".
That year, Austin's single "It's Gonna Be Special" was featured on the soundtrack for the
Olivia Newton-JohnOlivia Newton-John AO, OBE is a British-born, Australian-raised singer and actress. She is a four-time Grammy award winner who has amassed five No. 1 and ten other Top Ten Billboard Hot 100 singles and two No. 1 Billboard 200 albums...
/
John TravoltaJohn Joseph Travolta is an American actor, dancer and singer. He first became known in the 1970s, after appearing on the television series Welcome Back, Kotter and starring in the box office successes Saturday Night Fever and Grease...
film
Two of a KindTwo of a Kind is a 1983 romantic comedy film starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. The original music score was composed by Patrick Williams.The film has Travolta as an inventor and Newton-John as a bank teller...
. Though the film was not the major success envisioned for the re-teaming of the
GreaseGrease is a 1978 film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Jim Jacobs' and Warren Casey's musical, Grease. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, Jeff Conaway, and Eve Arden.-Plot:...
stars, the soundtrack went Platinum and Austin's single, produced by Quincy Jones, became one of her highest-profile hits. "It's Gonna Be Special" peaked at #5 on the
DanceDance is a sport and art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
charts, #15 on the R&B charts, and charted on the Hot 100 in 1984. The song also appeared on her self-titled album of that year, and its follow-up, "Rhythm of the Streets", remixed by John "Jellybean" Benitez, narrowly missed
BillboardBillboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Dance Top Ten, though it peaked higher on
Hi-NRGHi-NRG is high-tempo disco music , as well as a more specific, derivative genre of electronic dance music that achieved mainstream popularity in the mid to late 1980s...
charts. The two songs were featured on a double-A-side 12" single. For "Rhythm of the Streets" Austin shot her first
music videoA music video is a short film or video that accompanies a complete piece of music/song. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings. Although the origins of music videos go back much further, they came into their own in the...
.
Austin released her third album in three years entitled
Gettin' Away With Murder. In addition to the title track, she had two more hit singles, "Honey For The Bees" (#24 R&B and #6 Dance) and "The Heat of Heat". Produced by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, noted for their later work with
Janet JacksonJanet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Born in Gary, Indiana, and raised in Encino, Los Angeles, California, she is the youngest child of the Jackson family of musicians...
, the latter track returned Austin to the top 15 of the R&B charts for what would be the last time to date. It would also be her last Hot 100 charting to date, although she would score a top-5 dance hit with the single
Reach that appeared originally on her 1994 CD
That Secret Place.
She next appeared with
Jeff BridgesJeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. His most notable films include The Last Picture Show, Tron, Starman, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Fisher King, Fearless, The Big Lebowski, The Contender, and Iron Man.-Personal life:Jeffrey Bridges was born in Los Angeles, California,...
and
Joan AllenJoan Allen is an American actress. She worked in theatre, television and film during her early career, and achieved recognition for her Broadway debut in Burn This, winning a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play in 1989.She has received three Academy Award nominations;...
in
Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola is an Italian-American film director, producer and screenwriter. Away from showbusiness, Coppola is also a vintner, magazine publisher and hotelier. He is a graduate of Hofstra University where he studied theatre. He earned an M.F.A. in film directing from the UCLA Film School...
's critically acclaimed period piece
Tucker: The Man and his DreamTucker: The Man and His Dream is a 1988 biographical film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Jeff Bridges. The film recounts the story of Preston Tucker and his attempt to produce and market the 1948 Tucker Sedan, which was met with scandal between the "Big Three automobile...
(1988). That year, Austin released
The Real Me, a collection of standards which garnered her the first of several Top 10 showings on the Jazz Albums chart.
She sang the duet "It's the Falling in Love" with
Michael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson , known as the "King of Pop", was an American musician and one of the most commercially successful and influential entertainers of all time...
on his album
Off The Wall. Other duet partners include
George BensonGeorge Benson is an Grammy Award winning American musician, whose recording career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist. He is also known as a pop, R&B, and scat singer. This one time child prodigy topped the Billboard 200 in 1976 with the triple-platinum album, Breezin...
("Moody's Mood for Love" and "Keep Your Dreams Alive"), and
Luther VandrossLuther Ronzoni Vandross was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, and record producer. During his career, Vandross sold over twenty-five million albums and won eight Grammy Awards including Best Male R&B Vocal Performance four times...
("I'm Gonna Miss You In The Morning"). In 1985 she sang lead vocals on a collaboration with her producer,
Narada Michael WaldenNarada Michael Walden is an American producer, drummer, singer, and songwriter. He was given the name Narada by guru Sri Chinmoy in the early 1970s and his musical career spans three decades, in which he was awarded several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards...
, and the single, "
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme"Gimme, Gimme, Gimme" is a 1985 song performed by Narada Michael Walden and Patti Austin....
", went top 40 on the R&B charts.
In 1991, she recorded the duet "You Who Brought Me Love" with music legend
Johnny MathisJohnny Mathis is an American singer of popular music.One of the last in a long line of traditional male vocalists who emerged before the 1960s, Mathis concentrated on romantic jazz and pop standards for the adult contemporary audience through to the 1980s...
, which was received with critical acclaim. That same year she was invited to be a guest on a Johnny Mathis television special that was broadcast across North America.
Austin led a new group of Raelettes for the 2006 album
Ray CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He brought a soulful sound to country music and pop standards through his Modern Sounds recordings, as well as a rendition of "America the Beautiful" that Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes called the "definitive version of...
+ Count Basie OrchestraThe Count Basie Orchestra is a 16 to 18 piece big band, one of the most prominent jazz performing groups of the swing era, founded by Count Basie. The band survived the late-forties decline in big band popularity and went on to produce notable collaborations with singers such as Frank Sinatra and...
= Genius². That group also featured veteran session singer Valerie Pinkston and members of the group Perry.
During a 2007 interview promoting her latest recording, Austin reflected how as a teenager she reluctantly attended one of
Judy GarlandJudy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years, Garland attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist, and on the concert stage. Respected for her versatility, she received a Juvenile Academy...
's last concerts and the experience helped focus her career, stating "She (Judy Garland) ripped my heart out. I wanted to interpret a lyric like that, to present who I was at the moment through the lyric."
http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/bal-li.popcol08mar08,0,4663600.column?track=rss
In 2008, fifty-three years after getting her first record contract, Patti Austin was awarded her first Grammy, winning Best Jazz Vocal Album for
Avant Gershwin at the 50th annual Grammy Awards.
http://www.pattiaustin.com The award came for her ninth nomination in that category.
She reported to Jim Newsom of Portfolio Weekly in 2006 “I just lost 140 pounds. “I had gastric bypass surgery a year and a half ago, and my life was saved by it. “I went to a doctor for a complete physical because I had a torn meniscus in my knee. He said, ‘You’ve got to lose this weight —- you’ve got type II diabetes, you have asthma and you’re menopausal. You’ve got to get rid of this weight and you’ve got to get rid of it fast. This is the best way for you to do it.’”
Albums
- 1976: End Of A Rainbow US #- (Jazz albums #31)
- 1977: Havana Candy US #116
- 1979: Live At The Bottom Line (re-released in 1991 with the original live vocals instead of studio overdubs) US #- (Jazz albums #33)
- 1980: Body Language US #- (Jazz albums #28, Black albums #62)
- 1981: Every Home Should Have One US #36 (Jazz albums #9, Black albums #16), UK #99
- 1984: Patti Austin
Patti Austin is the self-titled album by R&B singer Patti Austin.-Track listing:#It's Gonna Be Special #Rhythm Of The Street #All Behind Us Now...
US #87
- 1985: Gettin' Away With Murder US #182 (R&B #25)
- 1988: The Real Me US #- (Jazz albums #7, R&B #56)
- 1990: Love Is Gonna Getcha US #93 (Jazz albums #4, R&B #45)
- 1991: Carry On US #- (Jazz albums #13, R&B #75)
- 1992: Live US #- (Jazz albums #20)
- 1994: That Secret Place US #- (Jazz albums #12)
- 1996: Jukebox Dreams (Japan only, tracks mostly identical with In & Out Of Love)
- 1998: In & Out Of Love US #-
- 1998: Street Of Dreams (South Korea and Japan, released in the US in 1999)
- 2001: On The Way To Love US #- (Jazz albums #21)
- 2002: For Ella
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as "Lady Ella", and the "First Lady of Song", was an American jazz vocalist....
(also Japanese issue with bonus track) US #- (Jazz albums #7)
- 2007: Avant Gershwin US #- (Jazz albums #5)
- 2008: An Inspirational Holiday US #- (Concord Records)
Compilations
- 1983: In My Life US #- (Black albums #65)
- 1994: The Best Of Patti Austin (compilation of tracks for the CTI label 1977-79)
- 1995: The Ultimate Collection
- 1999: The Best of Patti Austin (Japan only compilation of tracks for Warner Music)
- 1999: Take Away The Pain Stain (French collection of tracks for Coral, 1965-67)
- 2000: The CTI Collection
- 2001: The Very Best Of Patti Austin (collection of singles, mostly Qwest/Warner)
- 2002: Collection
- 2003: Baby Come To Me And Other Hits
- 2007: Intimate Patti Austin
Singles
| | Year |
|---|
| | Single |
|---|
| | Peak positions |
|---|
| | Album |
|---|
| US R&B |
US Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
|
US A.C The Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
|
US Dance |
| 1969 |
"The Family Tree" |
45 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| 1977 |
"Say You Love Me" |
63 |
- |
- |
- |
End of a Rainbow |
| 1978 |
"Love, I Never Had It So Good" |
60 |
- |
- |
- |
Sounds...And Stuff Like That! |
| 1978 |
"We're in Love" |
90 |
- |
- |
- |
Havana Candy |
| 1980 |
"Body Language" |
45 |
- |
- |
- |
Body Language |
| 1980 |
"Do You Love Me?" / "The Genie" |
24 |
- |
- |
1 |
Every Home Should Have One |
| 1982 |
"Razzamatazz" |
17 |
- |
- |
- |
Every Home Should Have One |
| 1982 |
"Every Home Should Have One" |
55 |
62 |
24 |
- |
Every Home Should Have One |
| 1982 |
"Baby, Come to Me "Baby, Come to Me" is an R&B song, written by Rod Temperton for a male-female duet. The original version, performed by Patti Austin and James Ingram , and produced by Quincy Jones, appeared on Austin's 1981 album, Every Home Should Have One. As a single it had minor chart success in early 1982...
" (w/ James IngramJames Ingram is an American soul musician. He is best-known as a vocalist. He is also a self-taught musician who plays piano, guitar, bass, drums and keyboards. Additionally, he is a producer and songwriter.-Early life:...
) |
9 |
1 |
1 |
- |
Every Home Should Have One |
| 1983 |
"How Do You Keep the Music Playing" (w/ James Ingram) |
6 |
45 |
5 |
- |
Duets |
| 1983 |
"In My Life" |
92 |
- |
- |
- |
In My Life |
| 1984 |
"It's Gonna Be Special" |
15 |
82 |
- |
5 |
Patti Austin
Two of a Kind original soundtrack |
| 1984 |
"Rhythm of the Street" |
- |
- |
- |
11 |
Patti Austin |
| 1984 |
"Shoot the Moon" |
49 |
- |
- |
16 |
Patti Austin |
| 1985 |
"Honey for the Bees" |
24 |
- |
- |
6 |
Gettin' Away With Murder |
| 1985 |
"Gettin' Away With Murder" |
72 |
- |
- |
- |
Gettin' Away With Murder |
| 1986 |
"The Heat of Heat" |
13 |
55 |
- |
14 |
Gettin' Away With Murder |
| 1990 |
"Through the Test of Time" |
60 |
- |
9 |
- |
Love Is Gonna Get Cha |
| 1991 |
"Givin' Into Love" |
55 |
- |
- |
- |
Carry On |
| 1994 |
"Reach" |
- |
- |
- |
4 |
That Secret Place |
External links
See also