The Woman I Am
Encyclopedia
The Woman I Am is the eighth studio album by American
R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan
, released on Warner Bros. Records
in 1992. It was Khan's first studio album since 1988's CK and due to artistic differences between Khan and Warner Bros. Records it was also to be her final full-length release for the label. The entire album was dedicated to her friend Miles Davis
, who died the previous year.
The Woman I Am which won Khan a Grammy Award
for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female in 1993 included no less than six single releases; "Love You All My Lifetime" written by German composer duo Klarmann/Weber
which became a number one on Billboard
s Dance Singles chart as well as #2 on R&B (Pop #68, UK #49), "You Can Make the Story Right" (US R&B #8), "I Want" (US R&B #62), "Give Me All", "Facts Of Love" and the Diane Warren
-penned ballad "Don't Look At Me That Way" (UK #73). Both lead single "Love You All My Lifetime" and "Give Me All" were issued in a wide variety of dance remixes by among others Frankie Knuckles
. The Woman I Am became Khan's highest-charting album on the US R&B Albums chart since 1984's I Feel for You
, peaking at #9.
The album mainly focussed on material from the genres contemporary R&B, soul and funk and was Khan's debut as executive producer in charge of production. The main producer on the album was the Grammy Award
winning jazz multi-instrumentalist Marcus Miller
but it also included Khan's first collaborations with Arif Mardin
since 1986's Destiny
; "This Time" and the closing track "Don't Look At Me That Way", both co-produced by Mardin's son Joe Mardin
. "Love You All My Lifetime" saw Khan teaming up with Scritti Politti
's David Gamson - who incidentally also had produced the opening track on Destiny wits its confusingly similar title; "Love of a Lifetime". The single track "I Want" featured a guest appearance by William Galison
on harmonica and the suggestive ballad "You Can Make The Story Right" was recorded with the late bassist and producer Wayne Braithwaite, best known for his work with Will Downing
and Kenny G..
In his review of The Woman I Am Allmusic's Alex Henderson describes the album as "high-tech, yet warm instead of mechanical. And on songs ranging from the melancholy "Telephone" to the introspective title song and the appealing single "Love You All My Lifetime," it's clear that Khan was given strong material to work with."
Since Khan's 1995 album Dare You To Love Me was shelved by the Warner Bros. Records
label and instead only partly made available on greatest hits compilations and movie soundtracks it was to be six years before she released another full-length album, the Prince co-produced Come 2 My House on his label NPG Records
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
, released on Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
in 1992. It was Khan's first studio album since 1988's CK and due to artistic differences between Khan and Warner Bros. Records it was also to be her final full-length release for the label. The entire album was dedicated to her friend Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, who died the previous year.
The Woman I Am which won Khan a Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female in 1993 included no less than six single releases; "Love You All My Lifetime" written by German composer duo Klarmann/Weber
Klarmann/Weber
Klarmann/Weber is a successful German producer and songwriter duo, consisting of Irmgard Klarmann and Felix Weber.The duo is composing and producing music since the late 70's. In the 80's Klarmann/Weber established their name in Germany as successful composers...
which became a number one on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
s Dance Singles chart as well as #2 on R&B (Pop #68, UK #49), "You Can Make the Story Right" (US R&B #8), "I Want" (US R&B #62), "Give Me All", "Facts Of Love" and the Diane Warren
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
-penned ballad "Don't Look At Me That Way" (UK #73). Both lead single "Love You All My Lifetime" and "Give Me All" were issued in a wide variety of dance remixes by among others Frankie Knuckles
Frankie Knuckles
Frankie Knuckles is an American DJ, record producer and remix artist. He played an important role in developing house music as a Chicago DJ in the 1980s and he helped to popularize house music in the 1990s, with his work as a producer and remixer...
. The Woman I Am became Khan's highest-charting album on the US R&B Albums chart since 1984's I Feel for You
I Feel for You (album)
I Feel for You is the Platinum certified fifth solo album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1984.-Overview:...
, peaking at #9.
The album mainly focussed on material from the genres contemporary R&B, soul and funk and was Khan's debut as executive producer in charge of production. The main producer on the album was the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winning jazz multi-instrumentalist Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller
Marcus Miller is an American jazz composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Miller is best known as a bassist, working with trumpeter Miles Davis, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonist David Sanborn, as well as maintaining a prolific solo career...
but it also included Khan's first collaborations with Arif Mardin
Arif Mardin
Arif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco, and country...
since 1986's Destiny
Destiny (Chaka Khan album)
Destiny is the sixth studio album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on Warner Bros. Records in 1986.Destiny was Khan's follow-up to the platinum-selling I Feel for You and was as high tech as its predecessor - symptomatically and characteristically for its period with more producers...
; "This Time" and the closing track "Don't Look At Me That Way", both co-produced by Mardin's son Joe Mardin
Joe Mardin
Joe Mardin is a music producer, arranger and engineer from New York City. He is a Berklee College of Music graduate and is the son of producer Arif Mardin...
. "Love You All My Lifetime" saw Khan teaming up with Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti
Scritti Politti are a British band, originally formed in 1977 in Leeds, Yorkshire, England. Although there have been various changes to the line-up, Cardiff-born singer-songwriter Green Gartside was the founding member of the band and the only member to have remained throughout the group's...
's David Gamson - who incidentally also had produced the opening track on Destiny wits its confusingly similar title; "Love of a Lifetime". The single track "I Want" featured a guest appearance by William Galison
William Galison
William Galison is an American jazz musician, most famous as a harmonica player but also known as a multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer.-Early life and rise to fame:...
on harmonica and the suggestive ballad "You Can Make The Story Right" was recorded with the late bassist and producer Wayne Braithwaite, best known for his work with Will Downing
Will Downing
Will Downing , is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Downing is known in the contemporary jazz and R&B music genres for his rich baritone vocals, and his interpretations of R&B and pop classics that stretch back to the early 1980s...
and Kenny G..
In his review of The Woman I Am Allmusic's Alex Henderson describes the album as "high-tech, yet warm instead of mechanical. And on songs ranging from the melancholy "Telephone" to the introspective title song and the appealing single "Love You All My Lifetime," it's clear that Khan was given strong material to work with."
Since Khan's 1995 album Dare You To Love Me was shelved by the Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
label and instead only partly made available on greatest hits compilations and movie soundtracks it was to be six years before she released another full-length album, the Prince co-produced Come 2 My House on his label NPG Records
NPG Records
NPG Records is the current active record label owned by Prince, founded in 1993 to release his music after Paisley Park Records. Paisley Park was shut down by Warner Bros. Records in 1993. Warner Bros. distributed one NPG release in 1995, The Gold Experience. "NPG" is short for "New Power...
.
Track listing
- "Everything Changes" (Khan, Ben Marguiles) - 4:38
- "Give Me All" (Jerry Barnes, Katreese Barnes) - 4:24
- "Telephone" (Hans Buchner, Khan) - 4:21
- "Keep Givin' Me Lovin'" (Camus Mare Celli, Khan, Andres Levin, Mica ParisMica ParisMica Paris is an English soul singer, radio and television presenter, and occasional actress. Her forename is pronounced Misha.-Beginnings:Paris' roots are in soul and gospel music...
) - 4:32 - "Facts of Love" (Werner Hammer, Khan, Harald Schneck, Ralf Zang) - 4:35
- "Love You All My Lifetime" (Irmgard Klarmann, Felix Weber) - 4:43
- "I Want" (Donald D. Bowden, Janice Dempsey, James McKinney) - 5:50
- "You Can Make the Story Right" (Wayne Braithwaite, Gabrielle Goodman) - 6:32
- "Be My Eyes" (Daryll Duncan, Khan) - 4:24
- "This Time" (David Lasley, Robin Lerner, Marsha Malamet) - 5:16
- "The Woman I Am" (Dyan Cannon, Khan, Brenda Russell) - 5:09
- "Love With No Strings" (Wesley Magoogan, Maggie Ryder) - 5:00
- "Don't Look at Me That Way" (Diane WarrenDiane WarrenDiane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
) - 4:50
Production
- Chaka KhanChaka KhanChaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
- executive 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...
in charge of production (entire album), producer track: 9 - Benny MedinaBenny MedinaBenny Medina is the CEO of The Medina Company and son of legendary Jazz drummer Ahmad "Benny" Medina. He has worked in the music business as a producer, talent manager and record executive...
and Steve Margo - executive album producers - Marcus MillerMarcus MillerMarcus Miller is an American jazz composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Miller is best known as a bassist, working with trumpeter Miles Davis, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonist David Sanborn, as well as maintaining a prolific solo career...
- producer tracks: 1, 3, 7, 11 - Jerry Barnes - producer track: 2
- Katreese Barnes - producer track: 2
- Ralf Zang - producer tracks: 4, 5
- David GamsonDavid GamsonDavid Gamson is a keyboardist/musician . He has worked with, among others, Ke$ha, Adam Lambert, Chaka Khan, Meshell Ndegeocello, Green Gartside, Sheila E., George Benson, Luther Vandross, Donny Osmond, Miles Davis, Al Jarreau and Roger Troutman.He is perhaps best known for his distinctive...
- producer track: 6 - Wayne Braithwaite - producer track: 8
- Gary Haase - producer track: 9, 12
- George Whitty - producer track: 9, 12
- Arif MardinArif MardinArif Mardin was a Turkish-American music producer, who worked with hundreds of artists across many different styles of music, including jazz, rock, soul, disco, and country...
- producer tracks: 10, 13 - Joe MardinJoe MardinJoe Mardin is a music producer, arranger and engineer from New York City. He is a Berklee College of Music graduate and is the son of producer Arif Mardin...
- producer tracks: 10, 13
Other notable personnel
- Terry BurrusTerry BurrusTerrance Corley Burrus is an American keyboardist and composer.Born in Brooklyn, New York, he started touring as a teenager playing with jazz fusion violinist Michał Urbaniak, singer Jean Carne, while still in High school in New York...
- synth solo track: 1 - Steve FerroneSteve FerroneSteven "Steve" Ferrone is a British drummer.He was a member of the Average White Band, and has recorded and performed with numerous other high-profile acts, including Slash, Chaka Khan, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Scritti Politti...
- drums track: 1 - Gene WilliamsGene WilliamsGene Williams is a former NFL guard who played nine seasons in the NFL from 1991–1999. He started in Super Bowl XXXIII for the Atlanta Falcons. He played his high school football at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha NE. His team went undefeated and won the Class A state title his senior year....
- programming, synths track: 2 - Mica ParisMica ParisMica Paris is an English soul singer, radio and television presenter, and occasional actress. Her forename is pronounced Misha.-Beginnings:Paris' roots are in soul and gospel music...
- songwriter track: 4 - Abe LaborielAbraham LaborielAbraham Laboriel, Sr. is a Mexican bassist of Garifuna descent who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. Guitar Player Magazine described him as "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the father of drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. and of producer, songwriter, and...
- bass track: 6 - Bobby LyleBobby LyleBobby Lyle is a jazz, soul jazz, and smooth jazz pianist. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee but grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota in a home near the corner of Park Avenue and 32nd Street. His father, reportedly, was a sports writer for the Star Tribune newspaper.He had his first gig at 16 and...
- rhodes and clavinet track: 6 - William GalisonWilliam GalisonWilliam Galison is an American jazz musician, most famous as a harmonica player but also known as a multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer.-Early life and rise to fame:...
- harmonica track: 7 - George WhittyGeorge WhittyGeorge Whitty is a musician/composer/producer/engineer currently living in Los Angeles. He's produced three Grammy Award winning CDs and was nominated for Emmy Awards for his composing on the long-running TV shows "One Life to Live" and "As the World Turns"...
- programming, synths, piano, bass and drums tracks: 9, 12 - Brenda RussellBrenda RussellBrenda Russell is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter and keyboardist. Known for her eclectic musical style, her recordings have encompassed several different genres, including pop, soul, dance, jazz and adult contemporary...
- songwriter track: 11 - Everette HarpEverette HarpEverette Harp , is an African American blues, jazz and gospel saxophonist who has recorded on Blue Note and Capitol Records. Harp's 2006 album, In the Moment, debuted in the number one position of Billboard’s Contemporary Jazz Chart.-Biography:Everette Harp started playing piano at two, and began...
- alto sax track: 11 - Maggie RyderMaggie RyderMaggie Ryder is an English singer, principally known as a backing singer for bands such as Eurythmics and Queen.Ryder had a solo record deal with Polydor Records in the 1970s and released a self-titled album in 1978. She worked as a backing singer and songwriter through the Eighties...
- songwriter track: 12 - Anthony Jackson - bass track: 12
- Diane WarrenDiane WarrenDiane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
- songwriter track: 13 - Dave KozDave KozDave Koz is an American smooth jazz saxophonist.- Life and career :Dave Koz was born on March 27, 1963 in Encino, California....
- saxophone track: 13
Non-album tracks and remixes
- "Love You All My Lifetime" (Album Version Edit) - 4:18
- "Love You All My Lifetime" (Love Suite 12" Mix Act 1) - 8:15
- "Love You All My Lifetime" (Love Suite 12" Mix Act 2 Dub) - 4:25
- "Love You All My Lifetime" (The Diva Edit) - 8:01
- "Love You All My Lifetime" (Diva Dub) - 7:03
- "Love You All My Lifetime" (Garage Mix W/Strings) - 6:50
- "Love You All My Lifetime" (House Mix) - 6:50
- "Love You All My Lifetime" (Love And Kisses Breakdown Mix) - 7:06
- "Love You All My Lifetime (Single Remix) - 4:02
- "Give Me All" (Classic Club Mix) - 6:22
- "Give Me All" (Extended Version R&B) - 7:13
- "Give Me All" (Fierce Club Version) - 7:00
External links
- The Woman I Am at DiscogsDiscogsDiscogs, short for discographies, is a website and database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. The Discogs servers, currently hosted under the domain name discogs.com, are owned by Zink Media, Inc., and are...