Minnie Riperton
Encyclopedia
Minnie Julia Riperton was an American
singer-songwriter
best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You
". She was married to songwriter and music producer Richard Rudolph
from 1972 until her death in the summer of 1979. They had two children - music engineer Marc Rudolph and actress/comedienne Maya Rudolph
.
Riperton grew up on Chicago
's South Side. As a child, she studied music, drama, and dance at Chicago's Lincoln Center. In her teen years, she sang lead vocals for the Chicago-based girl group, The Gems. Her early affiliation with the legendary Chicago-based Chess Records
afforded her the opportunity to sing backup for various established artist such as Etta James
, Fontella Bass
, Ramsey Lewis
, Bo Diddley
, Chuck Berry
, and Muddy Waters
. While at Chess, Riperton also sang lead for the experimental rock
/soul group Rotary Connection
, from 1967 to 1971. In 1969 Riperton, along with Rotary Connection, played in the first Catholic Rock Mass at the Liturgical Conference National Convention, Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, WI, produced by James F. Colaianni
. Riperton reached the apex of her career with her number-one hit single, "Lovin' You," on April 4, 1975. The single was the last release from her 1974 gold album entitled Perfect Angel
.
In January 1976 Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer
and underwent a radical mastectomy
. By the time of diagnosis
, the cancer had metastasized and she was given about six months to live. Despite the grim prognosis
, she continued recording and touring. Riperton was one of the first celebrities to go public with her breast cancer diagnosis, but did not disclose that she was terminally ill. In 1977, she became spokesman for the American Cancer Society
. In 1978, Riperton also received the American Cancer Society's Courage Award which was presented to her at the White House by President Jimmy Carter
. She died at age 31 on July 12, 1979.
and modern dance, Riperton's parents recognized her vocal and musical abilities and encouraged her to pursue music and voice.
At Chicago's Lincoln Center, Riperton received operatic vocal training from Marion Jeffery. She practiced breathing and phrasing, with particular emphasis on diction. Jeffery also trained Riperton to use her full range.
While studying under Jeffery, Riperton sang operetta
s and show tune
s, in preparation for a career in opera. Jeffery was so convinced of her pupil's abilities that she strongly pushed her to further study the classics at Chicago's Junior Lyric Opera. The young Riperton was, however, becoming very interested in soul
, rhythm and blues
, and rock
. After graduating from Hyde Park High School, now Hyde Park Career Academy
, she enrolled at Loop College
and became a member of the prestigious Zeta Phi Beta
Sorority, Incorporated. She dropped out of college to pursue her music career. In 1967, Riperton met songwriter Richard Rudolph
, whom she married five years later. They have a son named Marc, and their daughter is Maya Rudolph
, a television and film actress / comedienne that has appeared in the film Grown Ups
, and on NBC
's Saturday Night Live
variety program and the sitcom Up All Night
.
hit "Rescue Me
".
In 1964 the Gems released a local hit, I Can't Help Myself, and their last single, He Makes Me Feel So Good, was released in 1965. After that, the group released records under numerous names—most notably 1966's Baby I Want You by the Girls Three and 1967's My Baby's Real by the Starlets. The latter has achieved cult status with northern soul
fans and remains a favorite. It also was a Motown-style song reminiscent of Tammi Terrell
. In 1968 Watered Down was released as a follow-up, under the name The Starlets. It was the last release of Riperton's former girl group.
, a funk
y rock-soul group creation of Marshall Chess
, the son of Chess Records
founder Leonard Chess
.
Rotary Connection consisted of Riperton, Chess, Judy Hauff, Sidney Barnes and Charles Stepney. The group released their debut
in 1967, and eventually five more albums, 1968's Aladdin, the Christmas album Peace, Songs, and finally 1970's Dinner Music and "Hey Love."
—produced, arranged, and orchestrated by Charles Stepney, was released in 1970 by GRT Records. She was presented as a solo artist by Ramsey Lewis
on Saturday, December 26, 1970 at Chicago's famed London House
. She performed several numbers from the album accompanied by Charles Stepney, the album's producer. Although commercially unsuccessful, Come to My Garden is now considered a masterpiece by music critics and many others in the music industry.
found Riperton in semi-retirement. She had become a housewife and a 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. Riperton signed with Epic Records, and the family moved to Los Angeles
, California
. The subsequent record, Perfect Angel
, turned out to be one of Riperton's best-selling albums. Included were the rock-soul anthem "Reasons," the second single, "Take a Little Trip" (written by Stevie Wonder, who also co-produced the album), 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 caught on, and in April 1975 the song went to the top of the charts in the U.S. and twenty-four other countries. The song reached number two in the UK, and number three on the U.S. R&B charts. It sold more than one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
by the R.I.A.A. in April 1975. Perfect Angel went gold, and Riperton was finally revered as the "lady with the high voice and flowers in her hair." The album also featured the song "Every Time He Comes Around," with Deniece Williams
singing the background vocals.
Riperton's daughter is Saturday Night Live
actress Maya Rudolph
, who was a child when "Lovin' You
" was recorded. According to the liner notes from Riperton's Petals compilation CD, the melody to "Lovin' You
" was created as a distraction for Maya when she was a baby, so that Riperton and Richard Rudolph could spend time together. Near the end of the unedited "Lovin' You
", Riperton sings "Maya, Maya, Maya"; in concert, near her death, she changed this to "Maya, Maya, Ringo, Maya." Ringo was her nickname for her son, Marc. Maya Rudolph
can also be heard in discussion with Teena Marie
on the final track Too Many Colors (Tee's Interlude) of Teena's 1980 album Lady T.
(1975). Joe Sample
of The Crusaders
co-wrote the title song, "Adventures in Paradise," and Crusaders' producer Stewart Levine
, co-produced the album. While shooting a promotional clip for the album, she was attacked by a lion but was not seriously injured. During an appearance on The Sammy Davis, Jr. Show she played the footage of the incident for Sammy and her fellow guests, including Richard Pryor
. The album was a modest success. Despite the R&B hit Inside My Love (a number five U.S. R&B hit, later covered by Trina Broussard
and Chanté Moore
), the album did not match the success of Perfect Angel. Some radio stations refused to play Inside My Love due to the lyrics: "Will you come inside me?" Her fourth album for Epic Records entitled Stay in Love
featured another collaboration with Stevie Wonder
in the funky disco tune Stick Together. She also sang backup on Wonder's songs "Creepin'" from 1974's "Fullfillingness' First Finale" and Ordinary Pain from 1976's Songs in the Key of Life
and was mentioned prominently in his song "Positivity" on "A Time to Love".
In 1978, Riperton's attorney Mike Rosenfeld and her husband, Richard Rudolph
, orchestrated a move to Capitol Records
for Riperton and her CBS Records catalogue. In April 1979, Riperton released her fifth and final album, Minnie
. During the recording of the album, her cancer progressed to the point that she was in a great deal of pain. "Memory Lane
" was a hit from the album, and was arguably Riperton's greatest work. Riperton incorporated the sadness of the ending of a relationship while suddenly shifting to cries of "I don't want to go," "save me," "now I'm slippin' fast," "thought it was over; here I go again," and "travelin' down, faster than the speed of sound." It is thought that "Memory Lane" was her farewell to her family and to the world. Her last televised performance was on an episode of The Merv Griffin Show
(aired July 6, 1979), during which she performed Memory Lane and Lover and Friend.
, who was guest hosting for Johnny Carson
on The Tonight Show
, that she had undergone a mastectomy
in May 1976 due to breast cancer
. At the time of her diagnosis, Riperton found out that her cancer
had already spread to the lymphatic system
, and was given about six months to live. She continued touring in 1977 and 1978, and became the national spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society
1978–79 campaign.
Extreme lymphedema
immobilized her right arm in early 1979. In her final singing appearances on television (most notably on the Mike Douglas Show), her right arm would remain in a fixed position during her performances. By mid-June, she was confined to bed. She entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
in Los Angeles on July 10. On Thursday, July 12 at 10am, while lying in her husband's arms, Riperton died while listening to a recording Stevie Wonder
had made for her. That Sunday, following a funeral service attended by more than five hundred mourners, Riperton was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
in Los Angeles
. Her epitaph is the opening line of her most famous song, "Lovin' you is easy cause you're beautiful".
. Included, among others, were Peabo Bryson
, Michael Jackson
and Stevie Wonder
.
Riperton's last single, Give Me Time was released in 1980. Richard Rudolph
wrote the song, Now That I Have You for Riperton, but she never got the chance to record it; he gave the song to Teena Marie
, who recorded it (and co-produced it with Rudolph) on Marie's second LP, Lady T. Finally, in 1981, Capitol Records released The Best of Minnie Riperton
, a greatest hits collection. The "new" song on the album was a remake of Joni Mitchell
's "A Woman Of Heart And Mind," which was a holdover from the Minnie
sessions. Also included were an alternate mix of "Memory Lane," live versions of "Can You Feel What I'm Saying," "Lover And Friend," "Young, Willing and Able," and two "Moments With Minnie." It also included the hits "Perfect Angel," "Lovin' You,", "Inside My Love", "Adventures In Paradise", and two tracks from Love Lives Forever; the single "Here We Go" and "You Take My Breath Away".
During the 1990s, Riperton's music was sampled by many rap and hip-hop artists, including Tupac Shakur
, Dr. Dre
, A Tribe Called Quest
, Blumentopf
, and Tragedy Khadafi
.
, in which she had rare facility. Riperton possessed a five-octave vocal range (the liner notes to her Petals legacy album ascribe five-and-a-half octaves to her). Riperton's ability to enunciate in the high registers set her apart from most other whistle-register singers. This feature is most notably heard in the song Here We Go, where she sings "here we go" in the whistle register. Whistle-register enunciation can also be heard in songs such as Inside My Love, Adventures in Paradise, Expecting, Only When I'm Dreaming, and also in Teach Me How to Fly and Like a Rolling Stone
with the Rotary Connection
. Riperton was also noted for her ability to sound almost mechanical or instrumental in the whistle register. In You Take My Breath Away, she sang a portamento
ending two octaves above the staff. She has also been credited for her ability to sustain notes in the sixth and seventh octave for long periods of time, as in Reasons, Could It Be I'm in Love, Adventures in Paradise, and Inside My Love and also Love Me Now with the Rotary Connection. Having an innate ability to imitate many instruments helped lead to Riperton's discovery while she was a secretary at Chess Records. In her recordings. Riperton's highest recorded note reached in the whistle register was F7 on the third scale of You Take My Breath Away Minnie reached this extremely high note before on an early recording of Teach Me How To Fly and Could It Be I'm In Love. Also in a live performance of the song "Ruby Tuesday" from Rotary Connection, she sang an F#7. In a 1998 interview for Vibe Magazine, Mariah Carey
cites Riperton as an influence on her.
, son, Marc, daughter, Maya Rudolph
, sister, Sandra Riperton, and many others who worked with Riperton.
GRT Records: 1969–1970; Epic Records
: 1974–1977; Capitol Records
: 1979–1980
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You
Lovin' You
-Film:*Loving You, an Elvis Presley movie and soundtrack album*Loving You , a melodramatic love story film produced and distributed by Regal Films-Music:...
". She was married to songwriter and music producer Richard Rudolph
Richard Rudolph
Richard "Dick" Rudolph is an American composer, guitarist, musician, songwriter, and producer. He was the husband of late soul singer icon Minnie Riperton, and he co-wrote many of her songs including her hits "Lovin' You" and "Memory Lane" . He produced Teena Marie's second album, Lady T...
from 1972 until her death in the summer of 1979. They had two children - music engineer Marc Rudolph and actress/comedienne Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph
Maya Khabira Rudolph is an American actress, comedienne and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007, and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups, A Prairie Home Companion and MacGruber...
.
Riperton grew up on Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
's South Side. As a child, she studied music, drama, and dance at Chicago's Lincoln Center. In her teen years, she sang lead vocals for the Chicago-based girl group, The Gems. Her early affiliation with the legendary Chicago-based Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
afforded her the opportunity to sing backup for various established artist such as Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
, Fontella Bass
Fontella Bass
Fontella Bass is an American soul singer, who is best known for the 1965 R&B hit "Rescue Me", which she also co-wrote.-Early life:...
, Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.-Biography:...
, Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
, Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry
Charles Edward Anderson "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. With songs such as "Maybellene" , "Roll Over Beethoven" , "Rock and Roll Music" and "Johnny B...
, and Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
. While at Chess, Riperton also sang lead for the experimental rock
Experimental rock
Experimental rock or avant-garde rock is a type of music based on rock which experiments with the basic elements of the genre, or which pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique....
/soul group Rotary Connection
Rotary Connection
Rotary Connection was an American psychedelic soul band, formed in Chicago in 1966. The highly experimental band was the idea of Marshall Chess, son of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess. Marshall was the director behind a start-up label, Cadet Concept Records, and wanted to focus on music outside...
, from 1967 to 1971. In 1969 Riperton, along with Rotary Connection, played in the first Catholic Rock Mass at the Liturgical Conference National Convention, Milwaukee Arena, Milwaukee, WI, produced by James F. Colaianni
James F. Colaianni
James F. Colaianni is an American Catholic lay theologian, author, publisher, lawyer and activist.In 1939, Colaianni graduated from St. Joseph’s High School in Paterson, NJ and attended Seton Hall University...
. Riperton reached the apex of her career with her number-one hit single, "Lovin' You," on April 4, 1975. The single was the last release from her 1974 gold album entitled Perfect Angel
Perfect Angel
In 1973, a college intern for Epic Records found Riperton in semi-retirement. She had become a homemaker and a 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...
.
In January 1976 Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
and underwent a radical mastectomy
Radical mastectomy
Radical mastectomy is a surgical procedure in which the breast, underlying chest muscle , and lymph nodes of the axilla are removed as a treatment for breast cancer....
. By the time of diagnosis
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is the identification of the nature and cause of anything. Diagnosis is used in many different disciplines with variations in the use of logics, analytics, and experience to determine the cause and effect relationships...
, the cancer had metastasized and she was given about six months to live. Despite the grim prognosis
Prognosis
Prognosis is a medical term to describe the likely outcome of an illness.When applied to large statistical populations, prognostic estimates can be very accurate: for example the statement "45% of patients with severe septic shock will die within 28 days" can be made with some confidence, because...
, she continued recording and touring. Riperton was one of the first celebrities to go public with her breast cancer diagnosis, but did not disclose that she was terminally ill. In 1977, she became spokesman for the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
. In 1978, Riperton also received the American Cancer Society's Courage Award which was presented to her at the White House by President Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
. She died at age 31 on July 12, 1979.
Early life
Riperton was born in Chicago to Thelma and Daniel Riperton, a Pullman porter. The youngest of eight children in a musical family, Riperton embraced the arts early on. Although she began with balletBallet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
and modern dance, Riperton's parents recognized her vocal and musical abilities and encouraged her to pursue music and voice.
At Chicago's Lincoln Center, Riperton received operatic vocal training from Marion Jeffery. She practiced breathing and phrasing, with particular emphasis on diction. Jeffery also trained Riperton to use her full range.
While studying under Jeffery, Riperton sang operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
s and show tune
Show tune
A show tune is a popular song originally written as part of the score of a "show" , especially if the piece in question has become a "standard", more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context...
s, in preparation for a career in opera. Jeffery was so convinced of her pupil's abilities that she strongly pushed her to further study the classics at Chicago's Junior Lyric Opera. The young Riperton was, however, becoming very interested in soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, and rock
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
. After graduating from Hyde Park High School, now Hyde Park Career Academy
Hyde Park Career Academy
Hyde Park Career Academy is a public 4-year high school located in the Woodlawn neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It is a part of the Chicago Public Schools District 299.-Notable alumni:...
, she enrolled at Loop College
Harold Washington College
Harold Washington College is a community college within the City Colleges of Chicago system of Chicago, Illinois. It is located in the Loop at 30 E Lake St...
and became a member of the prestigious Zeta Phi Beta
Zeta Phi Beta
Zeta Phi Beta is an international, historically black Greek-lettered sorority and a member of the National Pan-Hellenic Council.Zeta Phi Beta is organized into 800+ chapters, in eight intercontinental regions including the USA, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean...
Sorority, Incorporated. She dropped out of college to pursue her music career. In 1967, Riperton met songwriter Richard Rudolph
Richard Rudolph
Richard "Dick" Rudolph is an American composer, guitarist, musician, songwriter, and producer. He was the husband of late soul singer icon Minnie Riperton, and he co-wrote many of her songs including her hits "Lovin' You" and "Memory Lane" . He produced Teena Marie's second album, Lady T...
, whom she married five years later. They have a son named Marc, and their daughter is Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph
Maya Khabira Rudolph is an American actress, comedienne and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007, and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups, A Prairie Home Companion and MacGruber...
, a television and film actress / comedienne that has appeared in the film Grown Ups
Grown Ups (2010 film)
Grown Ups is a 2010 American buddy-comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan and starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider. Sandler and Fred Wolf wrote the script. The film was produced by Sandler's production company Happy Madison and was distributed by Columbia...
, and on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
variety program and the sitcom Up All Night
Up All Night (TV series)
Up All Night is an American television comedy series created by Emily Spivey that premiered on NBC on September 14, 2011, at 10 p.m. , before assuming its regular time slot on Wednesday, September 21, 2011, at 8 p.m....
.
Early career
Riperton's first professional singing engagement was with The Gems, when she was fifteen. Raynard Miner, a blind pianist, heard Riperton singing during her stint with Hyde Park's A Capella Choir and became her musical patron. The Gems had relatively limited commercial success, but proved to be a good outlet for Riperton's talent. Eventually the group became a session group known as Studio Three and it was during this period that they provided the backing vocals on the classic 1965 Fontella BassFontella Bass
Fontella Bass is an American soul singer, who is best known for the 1965 R&B hit "Rescue Me", which she also co-wrote.-Early life:...
hit "Rescue Me
Rescue Me (Fontella Bass song)
"Rescue Me" is a song written by Fontella Bass, Raynard Miner and Carl William Smith. In 1965, it was released as a single by Fontella Bass. It would prove the biggest hit of Bass' career, reaching #1 on the R&B charts for four weeks and placing at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100...
".
In 1964 the Gems released a local hit, I Can't Help Myself, and their last single, He Makes Me Feel So Good, was released in 1965. After that, the group released records under numerous names—most notably 1966's Baby I Want You by the Girls Three and 1967's My Baby's Real by the Starlets. The latter has achieved cult status with northern soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
fans and remains a favorite. It also was a Motown-style song reminiscent of Tammi Terrell
Tammi Terrell
Thomasina Winifred Montgomery, known as Tammi Terrell was an American singer-songwriter most notable for her association with Motown and her duets with Marvin Gaye. As a teenager she recorded for the Scepter–Wand, Try Me and Checker record labels. She signed with Motown in April 1965 and enjoyed...
. In 1968 Watered Down was released as a follow-up, under the name The Starlets. It was the last release of Riperton's former girl group.
Andrea Davis
While a part of Studio Three, Riperton met her mentor, producer Billy Davis. He would write her first local hit, Lonely Girl, and also You Gave Me Soul. In honor of Davis, she used the pseudonym Andrea Davis for the release of those two singles.Rotary Connection
Some months after her Andrea Davis singles hit the radio, Riperton joined Rotary ConnectionRotary Connection
Rotary Connection was an American psychedelic soul band, formed in Chicago in 1966. The highly experimental band was the idea of Marshall Chess, son of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess. Marshall was the director behind a start-up label, Cadet Concept Records, and wanted to focus on music outside...
, a funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
y rock-soul group creation of Marshall Chess
Marshall Chess
Marshall Chess is the son and nephew of the founders of Chess Records, the Chicago-based independent record label that first recorded an unprecedented list of African-American, blues and early rock and roll artists such as: Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter, Bo Diddley, Sonny Boy...
, the son of Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
founder Leonard Chess
Leonard Chess
Leonard Chess was a record company executive and the founder of Chess Records. He was influential in the development of electric blues.- Early life :...
.
Rotary Connection consisted of Riperton, Chess, Judy Hauff, Sidney Barnes and Charles Stepney. The group released their debut
Rotary Connection (album)
Rotary Connection is the eponymous debut album by the American psychedelic soul music group of the same name. The album includes several cover songs by The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Lovin' Spoonful, and Sam & Dave.-Track listing:...
in 1967, and eventually five more albums, 1968's Aladdin, the Christmas album Peace, Songs, and finally 1970's Dinner Music and "Hey Love."
Come to My Garden
Riperton's first solo album, Come to My GardenCome To My Garden
Come to My Garden is the debut solo album by Minnie Riperton -produced, arranged and orchestrated by Charles Stepney- released in 1970. It was re-released on CD in 1999. It peaked at number one hundred and sixty on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart in 1974...
—produced, arranged, and orchestrated by Charles Stepney, was released in 1970 by GRT Records. She was presented as a solo artist by Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.-Biography:...
on Saturday, December 26, 1970 at Chicago's famed London House
The London House, Chicago
The London House was a jazz club and restaurant in Chicago located at the corner of Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue, in the London Guarantee and Accident Company building, 360 N Michigan...
. She performed several numbers from the album accompanied by Charles Stepney, the album's producer. Although commercially unsuccessful, Come to My Garden is now considered a masterpiece by music critics and many others in the music industry.
Perfect Angel and "Lovin' You"
In 1973, a college intern for Epic RecordsEpic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
found Riperton in semi-retirement. She had become a housewife and a mother of two in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
. After he heard a demo of the song "Seeing You This Way," the rep took the tape to Don Ellis, VP of A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
for Epic. Riperton signed with Epic Records, and the family moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The subsequent record, Perfect Angel
Perfect Angel
In 1973, a college intern for Epic Records found Riperton in semi-retirement. She had become a homemaker and a 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...
, turned out to be one of Riperton's best-selling albums. Included were the rock-soul anthem "Reasons," the second single, "Take a Little Trip" (written by Stevie Wonder, who also co-produced the album), 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
Lovin' You
-Film:*Loving You, an Elvis Presley movie and soundtrack album*Loving You , a melodramatic love story film produced and distributed by Regal Films-Music:...
", the album caught on, and in April 1975 the song went to the top of the charts in the U.S. and twenty-four other countries. The song reached number two in the UK, and number three on the U.S. R&B charts. It sold more than one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
by the R.I.A.A. in April 1975. Perfect Angel went gold, and Riperton was finally revered as the "lady with the high voice and flowers in her hair." The album also featured the song "Every Time He Comes Around," with Deniece Williams
Deniece Williams
June Deniece Chandler known by her stage name Deniece Williams is an American Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and record producer who achieved success in the 1970s and 1980s...
singing the background vocals.
Riperton's daughter is Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
actress Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph
Maya Khabira Rudolph is an American actress, comedienne and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007, and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups, A Prairie Home Companion and MacGruber...
, who was a child when "Lovin' You
Lovin' You
-Film:*Loving You, an Elvis Presley movie and soundtrack album*Loving You , a melodramatic love story film produced and distributed by Regal Films-Music:...
" was recorded. According to the liner notes from Riperton's Petals compilation CD, the melody to "Lovin' You
Lovin' You
-Film:*Loving You, an Elvis Presley movie and soundtrack album*Loving You , a melodramatic love story film produced and distributed by Regal Films-Music:...
" was created as a distraction for Maya when she was a baby, so that Riperton and Richard Rudolph could spend time together. Near the end of the unedited "Lovin' You
Lovin' You
-Film:*Loving You, an Elvis Presley movie and soundtrack album*Loving You , a melodramatic love story film produced and distributed by Regal Films-Music:...
", Riperton sings "Maya, Maya, Maya"; in concert, near her death, she changed this to "Maya, Maya, Ringo, Maya." Ringo was her nickname for her son, Marc. Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph
Maya Khabira Rudolph is an American actress, comedienne and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007, and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups, A Prairie Home Companion and MacGruber...
can also be heard in discussion with Teena Marie
Teena Marie
Mary Christine Brockert, better known by her stage name Teena Marie, was an American singer, songwriter and producer...
on the final track Too Many Colors (Tee's Interlude) of Teena's 1980 album Lady T.
Later career
After Perfect Angel, Riperton and Richard Rudolph started on Riperton's third album, Adventures in ParadiseAdventures in Paradise (Minnie Riperton album)
Adventures in Paradise is the third studio album by Minnie Riperton, produced by Stewart Levine with music by The Crusaders. Joe Sample co-wrote the title song "Adventures in Paradise". The album was a modest success, but didn't match the success of Perfect Angel. After Lovin’ You and Perfect...
(1975). Joe Sample
Joe Sample
Joseph Leslie "Joe" Sample is an American pianist, keyboard player and composer.He is one of the founding members of the Jazz Crusaders, the band which became simply The Crusaders in 1971, and remained a part of the group until its final album in 1991 .- Biography :Sample began playing the piano...
of The Crusaders
The Crusaders
The Crusaders are an American music group popular in the early 1970s known for their amalgamated jazz, pop and soul sound. Since 1961, more than forty albums have been credited to the group , 19 of which were recorded under the name "The Jazz Crusaders" .-History:In 1960, following the demise of a...
co-wrote the title song, "Adventures in Paradise," and Crusaders' producer Stewart Levine
Stewart Levine
Stewart Levine is an American record producer. He has worked with such artists as The Crusaders, Minnie Riperton, Lionel Richie, Simply Red, Boy George, Peter Blakeley, Joe Cocker, Oleta Adams, Curiosity Killed the Cat, Jamie Cullum, Aaron Neville, Sly Stone, Hugh Masekela and Killing Joke.Stewart...
, co-produced the album. While shooting a promotional clip for the album, she was attacked by a lion but was not seriously injured. During an appearance on The Sammy Davis, Jr. Show she played the footage of the incident for Sammy and her fellow guests, including Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...
. The album was a modest success. Despite the R&B hit Inside My Love (a number five U.S. R&B hit, later covered by Trina Broussard
Trina Broussard
Trina Broussard is a R&B singer and songwriter. Trina Broussard began career in 1997 when she covered Minnie Riperton's song Inside My Love. A year later in 1998, Broussard signed a record contract with Jermaine Dupri's label So So Def, later leave after first album was stalled...
and Chanté Moore
Chanté Moore
Chanté Moore is an American R&B and jazz singer.-Biography:Born to a gospel minister, she grew up singing in the church and was heavily influenced by the music of George Duke and Lee Ritenour. While in high school, she decided to make a career of singing...
), the album did not match the success of Perfect Angel. Some radio stations refused to play Inside My Love due to the lyrics: "Will you come inside me?" Her fourth album for Epic Records entitled Stay in Love
Stay in Love
Stay in Love is Minnie Riperton's fourth solo album. It features the hit "Young Willing & Able" and the Stevie Wonder collaboration "Stick Together". Unlike her previous works, the soft soul elements here tend to fade, replaced by a more upbeat sound. This was her last album for Epic Records before...
featured another collaboration with Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
in the funky disco tune Stick Together. She also sang backup on Wonder's songs "Creepin'" from 1974's "Fullfillingness' First Finale" and Ordinary Pain from 1976's Songs in the Key of Life
Songs in the Key of Life
Songs in the Key of Life is the 13th album by American recording artist Stevie Wonder, released September 28, 1976, on Motown Records. It was the culmination of his "classic period" albums. An ambitious double LP with a 4-song bonus EP, Songs in the Key of Life became among the best-selling and...
and was mentioned prominently in his song "Positivity" on "A Time to Love".
In 1978, Riperton's attorney Mike Rosenfeld and her husband, Richard Rudolph
Richard Rudolph
Richard "Dick" Rudolph is an American composer, guitarist, musician, songwriter, and producer. He was the husband of late soul singer icon Minnie Riperton, and he co-wrote many of her songs including her hits "Lovin' You" and "Memory Lane" . He produced Teena Marie's second album, Lady T...
, orchestrated a move to Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
for Riperton and her CBS Records catalogue. In April 1979, Riperton released her fifth and final album, Minnie
Minnie (album)
Minnie is the fifth and final studio album by Minnie Riperton. She died of cancer two months after its release. It was also her first album for Capitol Records....
. During the recording of the album, her cancer progressed to the point that she was in a great deal of pain. "Memory Lane
Minnie (album)
Minnie is the fifth and final studio album by Minnie Riperton. She died of cancer two months after its release. It was also her first album for Capitol Records....
" was a hit from the album, and was arguably Riperton's greatest work. Riperton incorporated the sadness of the ending of a relationship while suddenly shifting to cries of "I don't want to go," "save me," "now I'm slippin' fast," "thought it was over; here I go again," and "travelin' down, faster than the speed of sound." It is thought that "Memory Lane" was her farewell to her family and to the world. Her last televised performance was on an episode of The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show
The Merv Griffin Show is an American television talk show, starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, September 20, 1965 to September 26, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 at 11:30 PM ET weeknights on CBS and again in...
(aired July 6, 1979), during which she performed Memory Lane and Lover and Friend.
Illness and death
On August 24, 1976, Riperton told Flip WilsonFlip Wilson
Clerow Wilson, Jr. , known professionally as Flip Wilson, was an American comedian and actor. In the early 1970s, Wilson hosted his own weekly variety series, The Flip Wilson Show...
, who was guest hosting for Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
, that she had undergone a mastectomy
Mastectomy
Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. Mastectomy is usually done to treat breast cancer; in some cases, women and some men believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operation prophylactically, that is, to prevent cancer...
in May 1976 due to breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
. At the time of her diagnosis, Riperton found out that her cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
had already spread to the lymphatic system
Lymphatic system
The lymphoid system is the part of the immune system comprising a network of conduits called lymphatic vessels that carry a clear fluid called lymph unidirectionally toward the heart. Lymphoid tissue is found in many organs, particularly the lymph nodes, and in the lymphoid follicles associated...
, and was given about six months to live. She continued touring in 1977 and 1978, and became the national spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...
1978–79 campaign.
Extreme lymphedema
Lymphedema
Lymphedema , also known as lymphatic obstruction, is a condition of localized fluid retention and tissue swelling caused by a compromised lymphatic system....
immobilized her right arm in early 1979. In her final singing appearances on television (most notably on the Mike Douglas Show), her right arm would remain in a fixed position during her performances. By mid-June, she was confined to bed. She entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Originally established as Kaspare Cohn Hospital in 1902, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a non-profit, tertiary 958-bed hospital and multi-specialty academic health science centre located in Los Angeles, California, US. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over...
in Los Angeles on July 10. On Thursday, July 12 at 10am, while lying in her husband's arms, Riperton died while listening to a recording Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
had made for her. That Sunday, following a funeral service attended by more than five hundred mourners, Riperton was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Her epitaph is the opening line of her most famous song, "Lovin' you is easy cause you're beautiful".
Posthumous recordings
After Riperton died, several artists contributed vocals to tracks she had recorded before her death, to help compile Richard Rudolph's final tribute to his wife, Love Lives ForeverLove Lives Forever
Love Lives Forever is the sixth and final studio album by American soul singer Minnie Riperton. Released posthumously, it was co-produced by her husband Richard Rudolph and released on her then-label Capitol Records. It consists of unused vocal sessions, put in music and vocally completed by...
. Included, among others, were Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson
Peabo Bryson is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, born in Greenville, South Carolina...
, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
and Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
.
Riperton's last single, Give Me Time was released in 1980. Richard Rudolph
Richard Rudolph
Richard "Dick" Rudolph is an American composer, guitarist, musician, songwriter, and producer. He was the husband of late soul singer icon Minnie Riperton, and he co-wrote many of her songs including her hits "Lovin' You" and "Memory Lane" . He produced Teena Marie's second album, Lady T...
wrote the song, Now That I Have You for Riperton, but she never got the chance to record it; he gave the song to Teena Marie
Teena Marie
Mary Christine Brockert, better known by her stage name Teena Marie, was an American singer, songwriter and producer...
, who recorded it (and co-produced it with Rudolph) on Marie's second LP, Lady T. Finally, in 1981, Capitol Records released The Best of Minnie Riperton
The Best of Minnie Riperton
The Best of Minnie Riperton is a posthumous greatest hits album by Minnie Riperton, released in 1981. The album consists of the hits like "Perfect Angel", "Lovin' You", "Inside My Love", and "Adventures in Paradise"...
, a greatest hits collection. The "new" song on the album was a remake of Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
's "A Woman Of Heart And Mind," which was a holdover from the Minnie
Minnie (album)
Minnie is the fifth and final studio album by Minnie Riperton. She died of cancer two months after its release. It was also her first album for Capitol Records....
sessions. Also included were an alternate mix of "Memory Lane," live versions of "Can You Feel What I'm Saying," "Lover And Friend," "Young, Willing and Able," and two "Moments With Minnie." It also included the hits "Perfect Angel," "Lovin' You,", "Inside My Love", "Adventures In Paradise", and two tracks from Love Lives Forever; the single "Here We Go" and "You Take My Breath Away".
During the 1990s, Riperton's music was sampled by many rap and hip-hop artists, including Tupac Shakur
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur , known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor. Shakur has sold over 75 million albums worldwide as of 2007, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world...
, Dr. Dre
Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young , primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, entrepreneur, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records...
, A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...
, Blumentopf
Blumentopf
Blumentopf is a German hip hop band from Freising, near Munich.In the early days of the band, the members met irregularly and did not have ambitions to become professional musicians. Each week a new name was chosen . The band was invited to perform at a festival for their first live show...
, and Tragedy Khadafi
Tragedy Khadafi
Percy Chapman IV, known by his stage name Tragedy Khadafi, and formerly known as Intelligent Hoodlum, is an American rapper and producer who hails from the Queensbridge housing projects in Queens, New York, which has spawned other hip hop artists such as Nas, Cormega, Mobb Deep, Capone-N-Noreaga,...
.
Vocal ability
Aside from her various hits, Riperton is perhaps best remembered today for her ability to sing in the whistle registerWhistle register
The whistle register is the highest register of the human voice, lying above the modal register and falsetto register...
, in which she had rare facility. Riperton possessed a five-octave vocal range (the liner notes to her Petals legacy album ascribe five-and-a-half octaves to her). Riperton's ability to enunciate in the high registers set her apart from most other whistle-register singers. This feature is most notably heard in the song Here We Go, where she sings "here we go" in the whistle register. Whistle-register enunciation can also be heard in songs such as Inside My Love, Adventures in Paradise, Expecting, Only When I'm Dreaming, and also in Teach Me How to Fly and Like a Rolling Stone
Like a Rolling Stone
"Like a Rolling Stone" is a 1965 song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. Its confrontational lyrics originate in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England...
with the Rotary Connection
Rotary Connection
Rotary Connection was an American psychedelic soul band, formed in Chicago in 1966. The highly experimental band was the idea of Marshall Chess, son of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess. Marshall was the director behind a start-up label, Cadet Concept Records, and wanted to focus on music outside...
. Riperton was also noted for her ability to sound almost mechanical or instrumental in the whistle register. In You Take My Breath Away, she sang a portamento
Portamento
Portamento is a musical term originated from the Italian expression "portamento della voce" , denoting from the beginning of the 17th century a vocal slide between two pitches and its emulation by members of the violin family and certain wind instruments, and is sometimes used...
ending two octaves above the staff. She has also been credited for her ability to sustain notes in the sixth and seventh octave for long periods of time, as in Reasons, Could It Be I'm in Love, Adventures in Paradise, and Inside My Love and also Love Me Now with the Rotary Connection. Having an innate ability to imitate many instruments helped lead to Riperton's discovery while she was a secretary at Chess Records. In her recordings. Riperton's highest recorded note reached in the whistle register was F7 on the third scale of You Take My Breath Away Minnie reached this extremely high note before on an early recording of Teach Me How To Fly and Could It Be I'm In Love. Also in a live performance of the song "Ruby Tuesday" from Rotary Connection, she sang an F#7. In a 1998 interview for Vibe Magazine, Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress. She made her recording debut with the release of her eponymous studio album in 1990, under the guidance of Columbia Records executive Tommy Mottola, whom she later married in 1993...
cites Riperton as an influence on her.
Documentary
On June 7, 2009, TV One (US TV network's) Unsung series premièred a one-hour documentary on Riperton's career and life. It included interviews with her husband, Richard RudolphRichard Rudolph
Richard "Dick" Rudolph is an American composer, guitarist, musician, songwriter, and producer. He was the husband of late soul singer icon Minnie Riperton, and he co-wrote many of her songs including her hits "Lovin' You" and "Memory Lane" . He produced Teena Marie's second album, Lady T...
, son, Marc, daughter, Maya Rudolph
Maya Rudolph
Maya Khabira Rudolph is an American actress, comedienne and singer known for her comedic roles as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2000 to 2007, and for appearing in films such as Away We Go, Bridesmaids, Grown Ups, A Prairie Home Companion and MacGruber...
, sister, Sandra Riperton, and many others who worked with Riperton.
Discography
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
: 1974–1977; Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
: 1979–1980
Studio albums
- 1970: Come to My GardenCome To My GardenCome to My Garden is the debut solo album by Minnie Riperton -produced, arranged and orchestrated by Charles Stepney- released in 1970. It was re-released on CD in 1999. It peaked at number one hundred and sixty on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart in 1974...
- 1974: Perfect AngelPerfect AngelIn 1973, a college intern for Epic Records found Riperton in semi-retirement. She had become a homemaker and a 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...
- 1975: Adventures in ParadiseAdventures in Paradise (Minnie Riperton album)Adventures in Paradise is the third studio album by Minnie Riperton, produced by Stewart Levine with music by The Crusaders. Joe Sample co-wrote the title song "Adventures in Paradise". The album was a modest success, but didn't match the success of Perfect Angel. After Lovin’ You and Perfect...
- 1977: Stay in LoveStay in LoveStay in Love is Minnie Riperton's fourth solo album. It features the hit "Young Willing & Able" and the Stevie Wonder collaboration "Stick Together". Unlike her previous works, the soft soul elements here tend to fade, replaced by a more upbeat sound. This was her last album for Epic Records before...
- 1979: MinnieMinnie (album)Minnie is the fifth and final studio album by Minnie Riperton. She died of cancer two months after its release. It was also her first album for Capitol Records....
- 1980: Love Lives ForeverLove Lives ForeverLove Lives Forever is the sixth and final studio album by American soul singer Minnie Riperton. Released posthumously, it was co-produced by her husband Richard Rudolph and released on her then-label Capitol Records. It consists of unused vocal sessions, put in music and vocally completed by...
Compilations
- 1981: The Best of Minnie RipertonThe Best of Minnie RipertonThe Best of Minnie Riperton is a posthumous greatest hits album by Minnie Riperton, released in 1981. The album consists of the hits like "Perfect Angel", "Lovin' You", "Inside My Love", and "Adventures in Paradise"...
- 1993: Capitol Gold: The Best of Minnie Riperton
- 1998: Her Chess Years
- 2001: Petals: The Minnie Riperton Collection
- 2001: Les Fleurs: The Minnie Riperton Anthology
Singles
- 1974: "Reasons"
- 1974: "Seeing You This Way"
- 1975: "Lovin' YouLovin' You-Film:*Loving You, an Elvis Presley movie and soundtrack album*Loving You , a melodramatic love story film produced and distributed by Regal Films-Music:...
" - 1975: "Inside My Love"
- 1975: "When It Comes Down to It"
- 1976: "Simple Things"
- 1976: "Adventures in Paradise"
- 1977: "Stick Together" (Parts One and Two)
- 1977: "Wouldn't Matter Where You Are"
- 1977: "Can You Feel What I'm Saying"
- 1977: "Young, Willing and Able"
- 1979: "Memory LaneMinnie (album)Minnie is the fifth and final studio album by Minnie Riperton. She died of cancer two months after its release. It was also her first album for Capitol Records....
" - 1979: "Lover and Friend" / "Return To Forever"
- 1980: "Here We Go" / "Return To Forever"
- 1981: "Give Me Time"