''Born to Love'' is a 1983 studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

s by American singers

Peabo Bryson Robert Peapo "Peabo" Bryson ( ; born April 13, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for singing soul ballads (often as a duet with female singers) including the hit singles " Tonight, I Celebrate My Love", "You're Looking Like ...

and

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

. It was released by Bryson's label

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

on July 22, 1983, in the United States. The album yielded the hit single " Tonight, I Celebrate My Love", written by

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits " Will You L ...

and

Michael Masser Michael William Masser (March 24, 1941 – July 9, 2015) was an American songwriter, composer and producer of popular music. Early life Born to a Jewish family in Chicago to Ester Huff and William Masser, he attended the University of Illinois ...

. The track "Maybe" was written and recorded for the film ''

Romantic Comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a sub-genre of comedy and Romance novel, romance fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount all obstacles. Ro ...

'' (1983).

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor Rob Theakston called ''Born to Love'' "not an essential album by any means, but nonetheless an enjoyable listen."

Track listing

Personnel

Musicians * Roberta Flack – lead vocals, backing vocals (9) * Peabo Bryson – lead vocals, backing vocals (4) * Randy Kerber –

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

(1), acoustic piano (1) *

Michael Boddicker Michael Lehmann Boddicker (born January 19, 1953) is an American film composer and session musician, specializing in electronic music. He is a three times National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (N.A.R.A.S.) Most Valuable Player "Synthes ...

– synthesizers (2, 5) *

Greg Phillinganes Gregory Arthur Phillinganes (born May 12, 1956) is an American keyboardist, vocalist, and arranger. A session musician, Phillinganes has contributed to numerous albums over a broad array of artists and genres. He has toured with artists includin ...

– acoustic piano (2, 5) * Paul Delph – Prophet-10 programming (3), Prophet-10 (6) *

Bob Gaudio Robert John Gaudio (born November 17, 1942) is an American songwriter, singer, musician, and record producer, and the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the pop/rock band the Four Seasons. Gaudio wrote or co-wrote the vast majority of the ban ...

– acoustic piano (3), Rhodes electric piano (3), Prophet-10 (3), programming (3),

LinnDrum The LinnDrum, often erroneously referred to as the LM-2, is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold. Development The LinnDrum was designed by the American engineer Roger Linn. It was ...

(3), arrangements (3, 6, 8), vocal arrangements (3, 6, 8), synthesizers (6, 8) * Mark Parrish –

Oberheim OB-X The Oberheim OB-X was the first of Oberheim Electronics, Oberheim's OB-series polyphony (instrument), polyphonic Analog synthesizer, analog Subtractive synthesis, subtractive synthesizers. First commercially available in June 1979, the OB-X was ...

(4),

Prophet-5 The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential (company), Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith (engineer), Dave Smith and John S. Bowen (sound designer), John Bowen in 1977. It was the first Polyphony ...

(4) * Vance Taylor – Fender Rhodes (4), Oberheim OB-X (4),

Synclavier The Synclavier is an early digital synthesizer, polyphonic digital sampling system, and music workstation manufactured by New England Digital Corporation of Norwich, Vermont. It was produced in various forms from the late 1970s into the ea ...

(4) * Jai Winding – Rhodes electric piano (6), arrangements (6, 8) * Robbie Buchanan – keyboards (7), synthesizers (7), strings (7), arrangements (7) *

Jerry Corbetta Gerald Anthony James Corbetta (September 23, 1947 – September 16, 2016) was an American singer-songwriter, keyboardist and organist, record producer, best known as a frontman for the Colorado rock band Sugarloaf, best known for their classic ...

– Fender Rhodes (8), Prophet-10 (8), synthesizer solo (8), arrangements (8) *

Richard Tee Richard Edward Tee (born Richard Edward Ten Ryk; November 24, 1943 – July 21, 1993) was an American jazz fusion pianist, studio musician, singer and arranger, who had several hundred studio credits and played on such notable hits as " I'll B ...

– keyboards (9) *

Marcus Miller William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sa ...

– synthesizers (9), bass (9) *

Paul Jackson Jr. Paul Milton Jackson Jr. (born December 30, 1959) is an American Jazz fusion, fusion/urban jazz composer, arranger, producer and guitarist. In addition to being a recording artist in his own right, Jackson is also a session player, with a career ...

– guitars (1, 2, 5) * Dann Huff – guitars (2, 5) * John Hauser – guitars (4) * Richard Horton – guitars (4),

guitar synthesizer A guitar synthesizer is any one of a number of musical systems that allow a guitarist to access synthesizer capabilities. Overview Today's guitar synths are direct descendants of 1970s devices from manufacturers (often in partnership) such as ...

(4) * Tim May – guitars (6), acoustic guitar (8), electric guitar (8) * Georg Wadenius – guitars (9) *

Nathan East Nathan Harrell East (born December 8, 1955) is an American jazz, R&B, and rock bass guitarist and vocalist. With more than 2,000 recordings, East is one of the most recorded bass players in the history of music. East holds a Bachelor of Arts ...

– bass (1, 7) *

Abraham Laboriel Abraham Laboriel López (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the fathe ...

– bass (2, 5) *

Leland Sklar Leland Bruce Sklar (born May 28, 1947) is an American bassist and session musician. He rose to prominence as a member of James Taylor's backing band, which coalesced into a group in its own right, The Section, which supported so many of Asylu ...

– bass (6, 8) * Carlos Vega – drums (1, 6–8) *

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

– drums (2, 5) * John Gilston – Simmons drums (3) * Andre Robinson – drums (4) *

Paulinho da Costa Paulinho da Costa (, born Paulo Roberto da Costa on May 31, 1948) is a Brazilian percussionist. Beginning his career as a samba musician in Brazil, he moved to the United States in the early 1970s and worked with Brazilian bandleader Sérgio Me ...

– percussion (2, 5) * Charles Bryson – percussion (4) *

Bobbye Hall Bobbye Jean Hall is an American percussionist who has recorded with a variety of rock, soul, blues and jazz artists, and has appeared on 20 songs that reached the top ten in the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Early career, work for ...

–

bongos Bongos (Spanish language, Spanish: ''bongó'') are an Afro-Cubans, Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. The pair consists of the larger ''hembra'' () and the smaller ''macho'' ...

(8),

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest ...

s (8) * Anthony MacDonald – percussion (9) * Pete Christlieb – saxophone solo (3, 6) * Ron Dover – tenor saxophone (4), backing vocals (4) * Daniel Dillard – trumpet (4) * Thaddeus Johnson – trumpet (4),

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

(4) * Felipe Mantine –

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

(9) *

– rhythm arrangements (1) * Gene Page – rhythm arrangements (1), orchestration (1), strings (7) * Frank DeCaro – music contractor (2, 5) * Mary Bridges – backing vocals (3) * Jim Gilstrap – backing vocals (3) * Patricia Hall – backing vocals (3) * Luther Waters – backing vocals (3) * Oren Waters – backing vocals (3) * Mona Lisa Young – backing vocals (3, 6, 8) * Terry Young – backing vocals (3, 6, 8) * Myra Walker – backing vocals (4) * Dwight W. Watkins – backing vocals (4) * Shirley Brewer – backing vocals (6, 8) * Al Johnson – backing vocals (9), arrangements (9) Production * Don Grierson – executive producer * Varnell Johnson – executive producer * Michael Masser – producer (1, 7) * Burt Bacharach – producer (2, 5) * Carole Bayer Sager – producer (2, 5) * Bob Crewe – producer (3, 6, 8) * Bob Gaudio – producer (3, 6, 8) * Peabo Bryson – producer (4) * Ed Seay – assistant producer (4), engineer (4) * Roberta Flack – producer (9) * Al Johnson – associate producer (9) * Jeremy Smith – engineer (1, 7) * Howard Wolin – engineer (1, 7) * Bruce Swedien – engineer (2, 5) * Tony D'Amico – engineer (3, 6, 8), recording (3, 6, 8), mixing (8) * Jay Messina – vocal recording (3, 6, 8) * Tom Swift – vocal recording assistant (3, 6, 8) * Eric Calvi – first engineer (9) * Kendall Brown – second engineer (9) * Steve Marcantonio – recording (9) * Dick Bogart – mixing (1, 7) * Russ Terrano – mixing (1, 7) * Lee DeCarlo – mixing (3, 6) * Jim Bell – mix assistant (3, 6, 8), assistant engineer (8), recording assistant (8) * Roy Kohara – art direction * John O'Brien – design * Beverly Parker – photography * Lamarries Moses – stylist * Roger St. Pierre – liner notes Studios * Recorded at

Record Plant The Record Plant was a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and last operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it produced highly influential albums, including the New York ...

(New York, NY); Westlake Studios and New Sound Labs (Los Angeles, CA); Studio Sound Recorders (North Hollywood, CA);

A&M Studios The Jim Henson Company Lot, formerly A&M Studios, is a studio property located just south of the southeast corner of La Brea Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Originally established by film star Charlie Chaplin, the property served as C ...

and Music Grinder Studios (Hollywood, CA). * Mixed at Record Plant; New Sound Labs; Motown / Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios (Hollywood, CA).

Charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Peabo Bryson albums Roberta Flack albums 1983 collaborative albums Albums produced by Michael Masser Albums produced by Bob Crewe Capitol Records albums