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MINNIE
RIPERTON - THE SOUND OF SPRING 1975
There
was a summer bird chirping sound in the charts in
the summer of 1975 - in the United States it was at
the top of the Hot 100 in early April, and would make
No.2 in the UK a little later.
The
bird chirping accompanied a very gentle, high pitched
and sexy voice singing the simplest yet most beautiful
of love songs.
Loving
You by Minnie Riperton was the song and for many it
would become the sound of spring 1975.
Minnie
had been singing since the early Sixties. Born in
Chicago in 1947 , she had studied drama, music and
dance at the city's Lincoln Centre and had thought
about a career in opera.
But
instead in 1961, she joined a pop group called The
Gems who were on the Chess label, where she appeared
on a number of singles. She also recorded as a backing
singer with Fontella Bass and Etta James.
But
when The Gems broke up, Minnie was faced with having
to leave Chess. However she was given the job of the
label's receptionist and then signed with the record
company as a solo act and released her first single
under the name Andrea Davis. The song was called Lonely
Girl.
Minnie
thought he big breakthrough might come in 1968 when,
as a member of of The Rotary Connection, the group's
singles Amen and Lady Jane began to get airplay on
several FM stations. But they failed to take off.
She
tried another solo release - Come To My Garden - but
that 1970 release still failed break through.
Minnie
decided to take two years out, going first to Florida
and then to Los Angeles where she worked with one
of the greats - Stevie Wonder. She became one of his
backing singers as part of the well known Wonderlove.
It
was an association which would provide the impetus
for commercial success. In 1974 Stevie Wonder agreed
to co produce her album Perfect Angel, which included
the song Loving You.
It
was a huge hit both in her native US and in the UK.
Just
as she was making it commercially, tragedy struck.
Minnie
was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent a
mastectomy in 1976 and became a spokeswoman for the
American Cancer Society, for which she was given a
Society Courage Award by President Jimmy Carter.
Minnie
Riperton continued performing despite her ailing health.
She
died in Los Angeles on the 12 July 1977.
In
the eighties, Love Lives Forever, a collection of
her work, some of it previously un-released was made
available.
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