LP Review: Chaka
Released: 1978
LP Charts: #2 R&B (5 weeks); #12 pop
Chaka Khan getting a solo album in the fall of 1978 was an absolutely non-stunning event. Let us recall the trajectory of events…
Rufus’s first album, Rufus, had Khan as co-lead vocalist. Rufus’s second album, Rags to Rufus, had Khan as the only lead vocalist. Their third album, Rufusized, was officially credited as “Rufus featuring Chaka Khan”. Their fourth album, Rufus featuring Chaka Khan, had Chaka’s stylized lips slapped on the cover. Their fifth album, Ask Rufus, had Khan towering above teenie tiny pictures of her band mates. Lastly, their most immediate album, Street Player, essentially had Khan displayed on the album front as a separate entity instead of a featured singer within the band Rufus. In fact, her name was placed before the band’s on the cover. Oof…
So, surprise! A Chaka Khan solo album! Who ever could have seen this coming?
Of the old Rufus gang, only guitarist Tony Maiden shows up delivering a solo on the album closer, “I Was Made To Love Him” (yes, a cover of the Stevie Wonder song).
In the stead of Rufus was a galaxy of guest stars. Most prominent were Hamish Stuart (guitar, vocals) and Steve Ferrone (drums) of the Average White Band; Phil Upchurch on guitar; Randy and Michael Brecker on trumpet and saxophone; and Cissy Houston on vocals.
And Khan got a lot guest stars on the writing. Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson wrote the anthemic disco jam “I’m Every Woman” (#1 R&B, #21 pop). Longtime Rufus collaborators Gavin Christopher (“Life Is A Dance”) and Lalomie Washburn (“The Message in the Middle of the Bottom”) stop by bearing written gifts. Jazz virtuoso George Benson fresh off his turn to mainstream success duets with Khan on “We Got the Love”, which he wrote.
So, there’s some heft to this album. And it is pretty darn good.
All of that star power wasn’t wasted cuz Khan came here to sing her ass off. Even on some of the lighter material, her voice sounds excellent and the musicians don’t mail it in turning what could have been pedestrian fare into pleasant listening experiences.
And on the heavyweight material, we got awesomeness.
The aforementioned “I’m Every Woman” is stunning from the get-go with the sweeping strings. Khan’s vocal assault reaches its peak during the last minute or so as she belts over and over “I’m every woman!”. “Some Love” is funkier but still steeped in the disco.
“Love Has Fallen On Me”—an old Rotary Connection song written by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Stepney”—is delightfully dramatic as Khan and the band move methodically from upbeat piano portions to glorious sun shiny angelic vocalizing to softly quiet whispers.
Washburn’s “The Message In The Middle Of The Bottom” is reggae-infused funk, while “A Woman In A Man's World” packs a punch in its sweet strings and tumbling disco bass.
My favorite song is “Sleep On It”, which finds Ferrone earning every dollar he was paid on them drums. Definition of funky R&B.
ALBUM GRADE: B+
After the kinda stale Street Player, it’s refreshing to hear Khan sounding, well.. REFRESHED. She’d be back with Rufus soon enough, but would continue for the next few years juggling solo albums with her group obligations.
Song Scores
I’m Every Woman: 9/10
Love Has Fallen On Me: 8/10
Roll Me Through The Rushes: 7.5/10
Sleep On It: 8/10
Life Is A Dance: 6.5/10
We Got the Love: 6/10
Some Love: 7/10
A Woman In A Man's World: 7.5/10
The Message In The Middle Of The Bottom: 7.5/10
I Was Made To Love Him: 6/10