''Commodores 13'' is the tenth studio album (and thirteenth overall, including two greatest-hits compilations and a live album) by the

Commodores Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer. The members of the group met as m ...

, released in 1983 on

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

. It's also the first album by the band after the departure of

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

, who began his solo career in 1982.

Background

''Commodores 13'' was produced by

William King William King may refer to: Arts * Willie King (1943–2009), American blues guitarist and singer * William King (author) (born 1959), British science fiction author and game designer, also known as Bill King * William King (artist) (1925–2015), ...

, Thomas McClary,

Walter Orange Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer. The members of the group met as mostly fresh ...

and

Milan Williams Milan B. Williams (March 28, 1948 – July 9, 2006) was an American keyboardist and a founding member of The Commodores. He was born in Okolona, Mississippi, and began playing the piano after being inspired by his older brother Earl, who was a ...

. Singers

Vesta Williams Mary Vesta Williams (December 1, 1957 – September 22, 2011) was an American singer-songwriter, who performed across genres such as soul music, soul, funk, R&B, Quiet storm, jazz soul and Urban Contemporary. Originally credited as Vesta Williams ...

and

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been played by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early li ...

made guest appearances on the album.

Critical reception

Alex Henderson of

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 ...

gave Commodores 13 a 2.5 out of 5 stars rating. Henderson remarked, in his review of the album, "Is Commodores 13 a masterpiece? No. This release isn't in a class with essential treasures like 1976's

Hot on the Tracks Hot on the Tracks is the fourth studio album by the Commodores, released by Motown Records in 1976. It includes the Top Ten pop single "Just to Be Close to You". The album was the band's first #1 album on the R&B albums chart. Covers and sampl ...

or 1977's The

. But it isn't a bad album, and it indicated that there could be life after

for the Commodores."

Dave Marsh Dave Marsh (born ) is an American music critic and radio talk show host. He was an early editor of '' Creem'' magazine, has written for various publications such as ''Newsday'', ''The Village Voice'', and ''Rolling Stone'', and has published num ...

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

gave Commodores 13, a 3 out of 5 stars rating. Marsh in his review remarked "Not exactly the comeback of the year, but with Richie out of the way, both Thomas McClary and

suggest they have some production and composing chops of their own."

Track listing

Side one #"I'm in Love" (Harold Hudson, Shirley King, William King) – 4:05 #"Turn Off the Lights" (Shirley King, William King) – 4:20 #"Nothing Like a Woman" (Hudson, Walter Orange) – 4:56 #"Captured" (Linda McClary, Thomas McClary) – 4:37 Side two #"Touchdown" (Michael Dunlap, Orange) – 4:30 #"Welcome Home" (Bill Champlin, Thomas McClary) – 4:20 #"Ooo, Woman You" (

, Thomas McClary) – 4:22 #" Only You" (Milan Williams) – 4:10

Personnel

Commodores * Harold Hudson – lead vocals (1, 2, 6), rhythm & vocal arrangements (1, 2, 3), backing vocals (2), additional keyboards (3) *

– rhythm & vocal arrangements (1, 2), synthesizers (2, 3, 4, 6, 7), horns (2, 4, 5, 6, 8) *

Ronald LaPread Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer. The members of the group met as mostly fresh ...

– bass guitar (2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8), vocal arrangements (3) * Thomas McClary – lead & rhythm guitar (2, 3, 5, 7, 8), acoustic & electric guitar (4), rhythm & vocal arrangements (4, 6, 7), horn & string arrangements (4, 6), guitar solo (6), lead vocals (7) *

– drums (1–8), lead vocals (3, 4, 5, 8), rhythm arrangements (3, 5), vocal arrangements (5) *

– keyboards (2–7), acoustic piano (8),

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 ...

(8),

Oberheim synthesizer Oberheim is an American synthesizer manufacturer founded in 1969 by Tom Oberheim. Beginning in 1975, Oberheim developed some of the first commercially available polyphonic synthesizers and was a prominent synthesizer and drum machine manufacturer ...

(8), rhythm & vocal arrangements (8), horn & string arrangements (8) Additional musicians *

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 ...

– acoustic piano (1), Fender Rhodes (1), synthesizers (1), synth bass (1), synth horns (6), synth strings (6), additional synthesizers (7) * David Cochrane – backing vocals (1–7), synthesizers (5, 7),

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''vo''ice and en''coder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder wa ...

(5), additional guitar (8) *

Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, keyboardist, guitarist and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the rock band Chicago (band), Chicago from 1 ...

– backing vocals (1, 3–8), vocal arrangements (6), acoustic piano (6), Fender Rhodes (6), synth bass (6) * Michael Dunlap – additional guitar (3, 5), additional keyboards (5), rhythm arrangements (5), rhythm guitar (6),

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

(7) * Geno Findley – additional synthesizers (7) * Michael Lang – additional keyboards (8) *

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 ...

– additional guitar (8) * John Gilston –

Simmons drums Simmons is an electronic drum brand, which originally was a pioneering British manufacturer of electronic drums. Founded in 1978 by Dave Simmons, it supplied electronic kits from 1980 to 1998. The drums' distinctive, electronic sound can be foun ...

(7) *

Steve Schaeffer Steve Schaeffer is a Hollywood studio musician who has played on more than 1,000 feature films and original soundtracks. Partial filmography *''Inside Man'' (2006) *''Blade Runner'' (1982) *''Bowfinger'' (1999) *'' The Big Kahuna'' (1999) *''The ...

– additional drums (8) *

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 (1, 3, 6, 7), effects (3) * Rolene Marie Naveja –

castanets Castanets, also known as ''clackers'' or ''palillos'', are a percussion instrument ( idiophonic), used in Spanish, Calé, Moorish, Ottoman, Greek, Italian, Mexican, Sephardic, Portuguese, Filipino, Brazilian, and Swiss music. In ancient ...

(3) * Bruce Miller – horn & string arrangements (1, 2, 3, 5, 8) * Shirley King – rhythm & vocal arrangements (2) *

Gene Page Eugene Edgar Page Jr. (September 13, 1939 – August 24, 1998) was an American conductor, composer, arranger and record producer, most active from the mid-1960s through the mid-1980s. His sound can be heard in the arrangements he did for Jeffer ...

– horn & string arrangements (4) * Benjamin White – string arrangements (7) * Phyllis St. James – backing vocals (1) * Deborah Thomas – backing vocals (2, 4, 6, 7) * Tandia Brenda White – backing vocals (5) *

– backing vocals (5, 6, 8) *

– backing vocals (7)

Production

* Producers – William King (Tracks 1 & 2), Walter Orange (Tracks 3 & 5), Thomas McClary (Tracks 4, 6 & 7), Milan Williams (Track 8). * Executive Recording and Mixing Engineer – Jane Clark * Second Recording – Brian Leshon * Additional Recording, Second Recording and Additional Mixing – Magic Moreno * Additional Mixing –

Norman Whitfield Norman Jesse Whitfield (May 12, 1940 – September 16, 2008) was an American songwriter, composer, and producer, who worked with Berry Gordy's Motown labels during the 1960s. allmusic Biography/ref> He has been credited as one of the creators ...

* Mastering –

Bernie Grundman Bernie Grundman (born 16 December 1943, Minneapolis) is an American audio engineer. He is most known for his mastering work and his studio, Bernie Grundman Mastering, which he opened in 1984 in Hollywood. The studio, which includes engineers Chr ...

* Recorded and Mastered at

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 ...

, Hollywood, California. * Mixed at Motown/Hitsville U.S.A. Recording Studios, Hollywood, California and

The Village Recorder The Village (also known as Village Recorders, or the Village Recorder) is a recording studio located at 1616 Butler Avenue in West Los Angeles, California. History The building was built by the Freemasons in 1922 and was originally a Masonic t ...

, West Los Angeles, California. * Project Manager – Suzee Ikeda * Art Direction – Terry Taylor * Photography – Mark Sennet

Charts

References

{{Authority control Commodores albums 1983 albums Motown albums Albums recorded at A&M Studios