Jump to content

Minnie riperton


tpj1965

Recommended Posts

Minnie Julia Riperton (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American soul singer from Chicago, Illinois, most noted for her abilities in the whistle register and her 1975 hit single "Lovin' You". Possessing a rare five-octave vocal range, she displayed the ability to imitate instrumentation and even birds.

In 1973, a college rep for Epic Records found Minnie Riperton, then a semi-retired homemaker and mother of two in Gainesville, Florida. After he heard a demo of the song "Seeing You This Way", the rep took the tape to Don Ellis, VP of A&R for Epic. Minnie signed with Epic Records and the family moved to Los Angeles, California. "Perfect Angel" turned out to be one of Minnie Riperton's best selling albums. It turned out to be the best in the UK and US. Including the rock-soul anthem "Reasons", the second single "Take A Little Trip", and the third single "Seeing You This Way", sales of the album started out slow. Epic was ready to move on to the next record, but Rudolph convinced them to release another single. With the fourth single "Lovin' You", the album really caught on. In 1974, the song went to the top of the charts in the US, number two in the UK in 1975, and number three on the R&B charts in the US. The album Perfect Angel went gold, and Minnie was finally revered as the "lady with the high voice". The album also featured the song "Every Time He Comes Around", featuring Deniece Williams as the operatic soprano in the background. People who don't know the music of Riperton well may believe her to be a one-hit wonder, despite having a fairly successful R&B career.

According to the liner notes of Riperton's Petals compilation, the melody to Lovin' You was created as a distraction for Maya when she was a baby, so that Minnie and Richard could hang out.

The song became a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 in the UK, and #3 on the R&B charts in the US. The song is notable not least because of Riperton's use of the whistle register. The song has been covered several times, notably by R&B singer Shanice. The song has also appeared in several movies and TV-shows, such as "South Park".

In 1976 Riperton revealed to Flip Wilson, who was guest-hosting for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, that she had undergone a mastectomy due to breast cancer. At the time of her diagnosis, Minnie found out that her cancer had already spread to the lymphatic system. In spite of such a grim prognosis, Minnie continued touring in 1977 and 1978, and became the National spokesperson for the American Cancer Society 78-79, but eventually the cancer would take its toll. By June of 1979 Minnie was confined to bed and she entered Cedars Sinai Hospital for the last time on Monday July 9. On Thursday July 12, 1979, Minnie Julia Riperton died peacefully in her husband´s arms as they listened to a recording of a song Stevie Wonder had written for her.[citation needed] Her family inscribed the headstone on her grave with words of her most famous song 'Lovin you is easy cos you're beautiful' From Wikipedia

Minnie_Riperton_Perfect_Angel.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Our picks

    • Wait, Burning Man is going online-only? What does that even look like?
      You could have been forgiven for missing the announcement that actual physical Burning Man has been canceled for this year, if not next. Firstly, the nonprofit Burning Man organization, known affectionately to insiders as the Borg, posted it after 5 p.m. PT Friday. That, even in the COVID-19 era, is the traditional time to push out news when you don't want much media attention. 
      But secondly, you may have missed its cancellation because the Borg is being careful not to use the C-word. The announcement was neutrally titled "The Burning Man Multiverse in 2020." Even as it offers refunds to early ticket buyers, considers layoffs and other belt-tightening measures, and can't even commit to a physical event in 2021, the Borg is making lemonade by focusing on an online-only version of Black Rock City this coming August.    Read more...
      More about Burning Man, Tech, Web Culture, and Live EventsView the full article
      • 0 replies
    • Post in What Are You Listening To?
      Post in What Are You Listening To?
    • Post in What Are You Listening To?
      Post in What Are You Listening To?
    • Post in What Are You Listening To?
      Post in What Are You Listening To?
    • Post in What Are You Listening To?
      Post in What Are You Listening To?
×
×
  • Create New...