Norma Jean (album)
Encyclopedia
Norma Jean is the debut solo studio album
by American R&B singer Norma Jean Wright
, released on Bearsville Records
in 1978. The album was produced by Bernard Edwards
and Nile Rodgers
of the band Chic
, and was the project directly following the band's successful selftitled debut album Chic
, which featured Wright on vocals.
Norma Jean includes the singles "Saturday", a US R&B Top 20 hit (#15) in July 1978, "Having A Party" and "Sorcerer", and was followed by non-album single "High Society" (R&B #19, January 1980), also produced by the Chic team.
The album was reissued on CD with five bonus tracks by Sequel Records in 2000.
Side A:
Side B:
Bonus tracks 2000 CD reissue:
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by American R&B singer Norma Jean Wright
Norma Jean Wright
Norma Jean Wright was the lead vocalist of the soul, R&B and disco group Chic, from 1977 to 1978. Before joining Chic in 1977, she sang in the female trio, the Topettes, and toured for a short time with The Spinners...
, released on Bearsville Records
Bearsville Records
Bearsville Records was founded in 1970 by Albert Grossman. Artists included Todd Rundgren, Elizabeth Barraclough, Foghat, Halfnelson/Sparks, Bobby Charles, Randy VanWarmer, Paul Butterfield's Better Days, Lazarus, Jesse Winchester, and NRBQ. The label closed in 1984, two years before Grossman's...
in 1978. The album was produced by Bernard Edwards
Bernard Edwards
Bernard Edwards born in Greenville, North Carolina, was a bass player and record producer, both as a member of the Funk/Disco band Chic and on his own. He died of pneumonia while touring in Japan.-History:...
and Nile Rodgers
Nile Rodgers
Nile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.-Biography:...
of the band Chic
Chic (band)
Chic was an African American disco and R&B band that was organized during 1976 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It is known best for its commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " , "Everybody Dance" , "Le Freak" , "I Want Your Love" , "Good Times"...
, and was the project directly following the band's successful selftitled debut album Chic
Chic (album)
Chic is the debut album by American R&B band Chic, released on Atlantic Records in 1977. It includes the hit singles "Dance, Dance, Dance " - originally released on label Buddha Records - and "Everybody Dance"...
, which featured Wright on vocals.
Norma Jean includes the singles "Saturday", a US R&B Top 20 hit (#15) in July 1978, "Having A Party" and "Sorcerer", and was followed by non-album single "High Society" (R&B #19, January 1980), also produced by the Chic team.
The album was reissued on CD with five bonus tracks by Sequel Records in 2000.
Track listing
All tracks written by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers unless otherwise noted.Side A:
- "Saturday" (Carter, Edwards, Rodgers) - 6:06
- "Having a Party" (Cooke) - 4:31
- "I Believe in You" (Dawkins, Whiteside) - 5:13
Side B:
- "Sorcerer" - 5:01
- "So I Get Hurt" - 4:50
- "This Is the Love" (Miller, Wright) - 3:09
- "I Like Love" - 5:48
Bonus tracks 2000 CD reissue:
- "Hold Me Lonely Boy" - 3:40
- "High Society" (12" Mix) - 6:09
- "Saturday Nite" (Single Mix) - 3:28
- "Sorcerer" (12" Mix) - 7:15
- "Having a Party" (12" Mix) (Cooke) - 5:45
Personnel
- Norma Jean Wright - lead vocals
- Luther VandrossLuther VandrossLuther Ronzoni Vandross was an American 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...
- vocals - David LasleyDavid LasleyDavid Lasley is an American singer-songwriter, best known for his contributions as a background singer for such artists as Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor and Luther Vandross....
- vocals - Alfa Anderson - vocals
- Robin ClarkRobin ClarkRobin Clark is an American vocalist best known for her 1985 work with UK band Simple Minds in Once Upon A Time album and tour. She has also performed vocals on numerous other tours and albums, including work with David Bowie and Luther Vandross amongst others...
- vocals - Diva Gray - vocals
- Bernard EdwardsBernard EdwardsBernard Edwards born in Greenville, North Carolina, was a bass player and record producer, both as a member of the Funk/Disco band Chic and on his own. He died of pneumonia while touring in Japan.-History:...
- bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals - Nile RodgersNile RodgersNile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.-Biography:...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s, vocals - Kenny Lehman - woodwinds
- Tony ThompsonTony ThompsonAnthony T. "Tony" Thompson was a session drummer best known as a member of Chic. He was raised in the middle-class community of Springfield Gardens, in Queens, NY.-Chic:...
- drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... - David Friedman - tubular bellsTubular bellTubular bells are musical instruments in the percussion family. Each bell is a metal tube, 30–38 mm in diameter, tuned by altering its length. Its standard range is from C4-F5, though many professional instruments reach G5 . Tubular bells are often replaced by studio chimes, which are a smaller...
, vibraphoneVibraphoneThe vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family.... - Robert SabinoRobert SabinoRobert Sabino is an American rock keyboardist.. , The New York Times He was born and raised in the Bronx...
- keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments... - Andy Schwartz - keyboards
- Tom CoppolaTom CoppolaThomas Wilkinson Coppola is a pianist and arranger, known for being a principal member of the group Air...
- keyboards - George Young - fluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, tenor saxophoneTenor saxophoneThe tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble... - Vito Rendace - flute, tenor saxophone
- Jon FaddisJon FaddisJon Faddis is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator renowned for both his highly virtuosic command of the instrument and for his expertise in the field of music education...
- trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air... - Barry Rodgers - tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
- Sammy FigueroaSammy FigueroaSammy Figueroa is an American percussionist born in The Bronx, New York. At 18 he joined the band of bassist Bobby Valentín and also co-led the Brazilian/Latin fusion group Raices....
- percussion - Alfred Brown - stringsString instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
contractor - Gloria Augustini - harpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
Production
- Bernard EdwardsBernard EdwardsBernard Edwards born in Greenville, North Carolina, was a bass player and record producer, both as a member of the Funk/Disco band Chic and on his own. He died of pneumonia while touring in Japan.-History:...
- record producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Nile RodgersNile RodgersNile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, composer, arranger, and guitarist.-Biography:...
- producer