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Live in Washington, D.C. serves up nearly 80 nonstop minutes with all the energy and attitude that define Patti LaBelle in performance. The venerable R&B diva -- heard here in front of a very responsive crowd -- is captured on the road supporting her then most recent long-player, 1982's The Spirit's in It. That early-'80s project marked LaBelle's multi-album run on Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International Records label. And according to their liner notes essay, it was in Gamble & Huff's tape vault that this concert has languished for the better part of three decades. The ensemble backing LaBelle includes her longtime musical director and keyboardist, James "Budd" Ellison, who leads the musicians through a thoughtfully chosen sampling of selections ranging from material from her concurrent effort and reaching all the way back to the days when she was the namesake of the glam-funk trio simply named LaBelle, alongside Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash. The artist pumps every ounce of her musical being into the riveting and edgy update of the chart-topping "Lady Marmalade." Likewise, the LaBelle ballad "Isn't It a Shame" retains all the command of the original. Patti LaBelle's most recent solo output dominates the remainder of the set. She certainly knows how to work the assembled masses as she quips, "[A]nything you want me to sing, just ask me baby and I'll do that for ya," adding, "That's what I came here for." LaBelle is greeted with an eruption of approval as she launches into a stunning reading of "Come What May" from 1979's It's Alright with Me. Two more tunes from that album -- "Music Is My Way of Life" and the title track -- are presented in a medley along with the last of the vintage LaBelle classics, "What Can I Do for You?" Although it would be another three years before Patti LaBelle would release her version, another standout comes from none other than the Gamble & Huff songbook as she reworks "If You Don't Know Me by Now" into her own statement. Other inspired inclusions are the groovy "Joy to Have Your Love" and the highly personalized and otherwise showstopping adaptation of "Over the Rainbow."
© Lindsay Planer /TiVo
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Leon Huff, Producer - Not Applicable, Composer - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Patti LaBelle, Performer
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
NATHANIEL CROCKETT, Synthesizer - Edward Batts, Background Vocal - Edward Batts, Guitar - Doug Grisby, Acoustic Bass - Johnny Ingram, Drums - Johnny Ingram, Background Vocal - Craig White, Mastering Engineer - Kenny Gamble, Composer - Kenny Gamble, Lyricist - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Sam Peat, Saxophone - Sam Peat, Keyboards - Miguel Fuentes, Percussion - Patti LaBelle, Performer - Leon Huff, Producer - C. Womack, Lyricist - C. Womack, Composer - Herb Smith, Guitar - Herb Smith, Background Vocal - James Ellison, Keyboards
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
Lasley David Eldon, Lyricist - Lasley David Eldon, Composer - NATHANIEL CROCKETT, Synthesizer - Edward Batts, Background Vocal - Edward Batts, Guitar - Doug Grisby, Acoustic Bass - Johnny Ingram, Drums - Johnny Ingram, Background Vocal - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Craig White, Mastering Engineer - Sam Peat, Saxophone - Sam Peat, Keyboards - Miguel Fuentes, Percussion - Patti LaBelle, Performer - Leon Huff, Producer - Herb Smith, Guitar - Herb Smith, Background Vocal - Willis Allee, Composer - Willis Allee, Lyricist - James Ellison, Keyboards
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
NATHANIEL CROCKETT, Synthesizer - Edward Batts, Background Vocal - Edward Batts, Guitar - Ray Parker, Jr., Lyricist - Ray Parker, Jr., Composer - Doug Grisby, Acoustic Bass - Johnny Ingram, Drums - Johnny Ingram, Background Vocal - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Craig White, Mastering Engineer - Sam Peat, Saxophone - Sam Peat, Keyboards - Miguel Fuentes, Percussion - Patti LaBelle, Performer - Leon Huff, Producer - Budd Ellison, Lyricist - Budd Ellison, Composer - Jeffrey Cohen, Composer - Jeffrey Cohen, Lyricist - Herb Smith, Guitar - Herb Smith, Background Vocal - James Ellison, Keyboards
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
NATHANIEL CROCKETT, Synthesizer - Edward Batts, Background Vocal - Edward Batts, Guitar - Doug Grisby, Acoustic Bass - Johnny Ingram, Drums - Johnny Ingram, Background Vocal - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Craig White, Mastering Engineer - Sam Peat, Saxophone - Sam Peat, Keyboards - Miguel Fuentes, Percussion - Patti LaBelle, Performer - Leon Huff, Producer - D. WANSEL, Lyricist - D. WANSEL, Composer - Herb Smith, Guitar - Herb Smith, Background Vocal - C. Biggs, Composer - C. Biggs, Lyricist - James Ellison, Keyboards
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
Bob Crewe, Composer - Bob Crewe, Lyricist - NATHANIEL CROCKETT, Synthesizer - Edward Batts, Background Vocal - Edward Batts, Guitar - Kenny Nolan, Composer - Kenny Nolan, Lyricist - Doug Grisby, Acoustic Bass - Johnny Ingram, Drums - Johnny Ingram, Background Vocal - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Craig White, Mastering Engineer - Sam Peat, Saxophone - Sam Peat, Keyboards - Miguel Fuentes, Percussion - Patti LaBelle, Performer - Leon Huff, Producer - Herb Smith, Guitar - Herb Smith, Background Vocal - James Ellison, Keyboards
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
NATHANIEL CROCKETT, Synthesizer - Edward Batts, Background Vocal - Edward Batts, Guitar - Randy Edelman, Composer - Doug Grisby, Acoustic Bass - Johnny Ingram, Drums - Johnny Ingram, Background Vocal - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Craig White, Mastering Engineer - Sam Peat, Saxophone - Sam Peat, Keyboards - Miguel Fuentes, Percussion - Patti LaBelle, Performer - Leon Huff, Producer - Herb Smith, Guitar - Herb Smith, Background Vocal - James Ellison, Keyboards
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
NATHANIEL CROCKETT, Synthesizer - Edward Batts, Background Vocal - Edward Batts, Guitar - Doug Grisby, Acoustic Bass - Johnny Ingram, Drums - Johnny Ingram, Background Vocal - Kenny Gamble, Composer - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Craig White, Mastering Engineer - Sam Peat, Saxophone - Sam Peat, Keyboards - Miguel Fuentes, Percussion - Patti LaBelle, Performer - Leon Huff, Producer - Leon Huff, Composer - Herb Smith, Guitar - Herb Smith, Background Vocal - James Ellison, Keyboards
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
NATHANIEL CROCKETT, Synthesizer - David Lasley, Lyricist - David Lasley, Composer - Edward Batts, Background Vocal - Edward Batts, Guitar - Doug Grisby, Acoustic Bass - Johnny Ingram, Drums - Johnny Ingram, Background Vocal - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Craig White, Mastering Engineer - Sam Peat, Saxophone - Sam Peat, Keyboards - Miguel Fuentes, Percussion - Patti LaBelle, Performer - Leon Huff, Producer - Peter Allen, Composer - Peter Allen, Lyricist - Herb Smith, Guitar - Herb Smith, Background Vocal - James Ellison, Keyboards
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
NATHANIEL CROCKETT, Synthesizer - Edward Batts, Background Vocal - Edward Batts, Guitar - G. Lee, Composer - Skip Scarborough, Composer - Doug Grisby, Acoustic Bass - Johnny Ingram, Drums - Johnny Ingram, Background Vocal - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Craig White, Mastering Engineer - Sam Peat, Saxophone - Sam Peat, Keyboards - Miguel Fuentes, Percussion - Patti LaBelle, Performer - Leon Huff, Producer - M. Sharron, Composer - Herb Smith, Guitar - Herb Smith, Background Vocal - James Ellison, Lyricist - James Ellison, Keyboards
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
Leon Huff, Producer - Not Applicable, Composer - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Patti LaBelle, Performer
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
NATHANIEL CROCKETT, Synthesizer - Edward Batts, Background Vocal - Edward Batts, Guitar - A. Edwards, Lyricist - A. Edwards, Composer - Doug Grisby, Acoustic Bass - Johnny Ingram, Drums - Johnny Ingram, Background Vocal - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Craig White, Mastering Engineer - Sam Peat, Saxophone - Sam Peat, Keyboards - Miguel Fuentes, Percussion - Patti LaBelle, Performer - Patti LaBelle, Composer - Patti LaBelle, Lyricist - Leon Huff, Producer - B. Ellison, Composer - B. Ellison, Lyricist - Herb Smith, Guitar - Herb Smith, Background Vocal - James Ellison, Keyboards
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
NATHANIEL CROCKETT, Synthesizer - Edward Batts, Background Vocal - Edward Batts, Guitar - E.Y. Harburg, Lyricist - E.Y. Harburg, Composer - Doug Grisby, Acoustic Bass - Johnny Ingram, Drums - Johnny Ingram, Background Vocal - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Craig White, Mastering Engineer - Sam Peat, Saxophone - Sam Peat, Keyboards - Miguel Fuentes, Percussion - Patti LaBelle, Performer - Leon Huff, Producer - H. Arlen, Composer - H. Arlen, Lyricist - Herb Smith, Guitar - Herb Smith, Background Vocal - James Ellison, Keyboards
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
Leon Huff, Producer - Not Applicable, Composer - Kenny Gamble, Producer - Patti LaBelle, Performer
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records
Album review
Live in Washington, D.C. serves up nearly 80 nonstop minutes with all the energy and attitude that define Patti LaBelle in performance. The venerable R&B diva -- heard here in front of a very responsive crowd -- is captured on the road supporting her then most recent long-player, 1982's The Spirit's in It. That early-'80s project marked LaBelle's multi-album run on Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International Records label. And according to their liner notes essay, it was in Gamble & Huff's tape vault that this concert has languished for the better part of three decades. The ensemble backing LaBelle includes her longtime musical director and keyboardist, James "Budd" Ellison, who leads the musicians through a thoughtfully chosen sampling of selections ranging from material from her concurrent effort and reaching all the way back to the days when she was the namesake of the glam-funk trio simply named LaBelle, alongside Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash. The artist pumps every ounce of her musical being into the riveting and edgy update of the chart-topping "Lady Marmalade." Likewise, the LaBelle ballad "Isn't It a Shame" retains all the command of the original. Patti LaBelle's most recent solo output dominates the remainder of the set. She certainly knows how to work the assembled masses as she quips, "[A]nything you want me to sing, just ask me baby and I'll do that for ya," adding, "That's what I came here for." LaBelle is greeted with an eruption of approval as she launches into a stunning reading of "Come What May" from 1979's It's Alright with Me. Two more tunes from that album -- "Music Is My Way of Life" and the title track -- are presented in a medley along with the last of the vintage LaBelle classics, "What Can I Do for You?" Although it would be another three years before Patti LaBelle would release her version, another standout comes from none other than the Gamble & Huff songbook as she reworks "If You Don't Know Me by Now" into her own statement. Other inspired inclusions are the groovy "Joy to Have Your Love" and the highly personalized and otherwise showstopping adaptation of "Over the Rainbow."
© Lindsay Planer /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 14 track(s)
- Total length: 01:18:23
- Main artists: Patti LaBelle
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Philadelphia International Records - Epic - Legacy
- Genre: Soul/Funk/R&B
(P) 2008 Assorted Music, Inc. d/b/a Philadelphia International Records.
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