''I'm So Proud'' is an album by American singer

Deniece Williams June Deniece Williams (née Chandler; born June 3, 1950) is an American singer. She has been described as "one of the great Soul music, soul voices" by the BBC. She is best known for the songs "Free (Deniece Williams song), Free", "Silly (song ...

which was released in 1983 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. The album reached No. 10 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Top Soul Albums chart.

Singles

" Do What You Feel" reached No. 9 on the ''

'' Hot Soul Singles chart. A cover of

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Dubbed the " Gentle Genius", he is considered one of the most influential musicians of soul and socially conscious Afric ...

's "I'm So Proud" reached No. 28 on the same chart.

Critical reception

Connie Johnson of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' called ''I'm So Proud'' "Williams' most consistently fine work in ages... The album works due to fresh-sounding, quality material. This is black pop at its most enterprising."

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' found that "Williams has progressed, as they say, from

Thom Bell Thomas Randolph Bell (January 26, 1943 – December 22, 2022) was an American record producer, arranger, and songwriter known as one of the creators of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s. Hailed as one of the most prolific R&B songwriters and prod ...

's pop romanticism to

George Duke George Martin Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as ...

's cosmic idealism." Phyl Garland of ''

Stereo Review ''Sound & Vision'' was an American magazine, purchased by AVTech Media Ltd. (UK) in March 2018, covering home theater, audio, video and multimedia consumer products. Before 2000, it had been published for most of its history as ''Stereo Review' ...

'' professed, "''I'm So Proud'' shows why Deniece Williams has every right to be. It's simply superb."

Accolades

''I'm So Proud'' was

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

nominated in the category of Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

Track listing

Personnel

* Deniece WillIams – lead vocals, backing vocals (6, 7) *

– electric piano (1, 4, 5, 8), synthesizers (1, 4, 5, 8), acoustic piano (5) * Jerry Peters – keyboards (2, 6) * George Merrill – synthesizers (2, 3, 6), backing vocals (2, 6) * Brian Mann – keyboards (3) * Tyrone Downie – keyboards (7) * Michael Sembello – guitars (1, 5, 8) * Jeff Baxter – guitars (2, 3, 6) * Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars (2, 3, 6) * Ronald Butler – guitars (7) * Louis Johnson – bass (1, 4, 5, 8) * Freddie Washington – bass (2, 3, 6) * John "Shaun" Solomon – bass (7) * Ricky Lawson – drums (1, 4, 5, 8) * Denny Seiwell – drums (2, 3, 6), percussion (3) * Errol Corwin – drums (7) * Bob Zimmitti – percussion (2, 6) *

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 (5, 8) * Lenny Castro – percussion (6) * Kenny Florendo – percussion (7) * Larry McDonald – percussion (7) *

Ernie Watts Ernest James Watts (born October 23, 1945) is an American jazz and R&B saxophonist who plays soprano, alto, and tenor saxophone. He has worked with Charlie Haden's Quartet West and toured with the Rolling Stones. On Frank Zappa's album '' ...

– tenor saxophone (1) *

Lee Oskar Lee Oskar (born 24 March 1948) is a Danish harmonica player, notable for his contributions to the sound of the rock-funk fusion group War, which was formed by Howard E. Scott and Harold Brown, his solo work, and as a harmonica manufacturer. H ...

–

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica incl ...

(2) * Bill Neale – arrangements and conductor (2, 3, 6), backing vocals (2) *

Philip Bailey Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his fo ...

– backing vocals (2, 6) * Carl Carwell – backing vocals (2, 6) * Oren Waters – backing vocals (2, 6) *

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer. Starting his 69-year career with singles of standard (music), standard music, Mathis is one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century and became highly popular as ...

– lead vocals (3)

Production

* Larkin Arnold – executive producer * George Duke – producer (1, 4, 5, 8) * Bill Neale – producer (2, 3, 6) * Deniece WillIams – producer (2, 3, 6, 7) * Peter Chaiken – engineer (1, 4, 5, 8) * Tommy Vicari – recording (1, 4, 5, 8), mixing (1, 4, 5, 8) * Don Murray – engineer (2, 3, 6), mixing (2, 3, 6) * Kenny Florendo – engineer (7) * Wally Traugott – mastering * Nancy Donald – design * Phillip Dixon – photography Studios * Recorded at The Complex (Los Angeles, California); LeGonks West (West Hollywood, California); Sunset Sound (Hollywood, California); Monterey Sound Studios (Glendale, California). * Mixed at Lion Share Recording Studios (Los Angeles, California); Sunset Sound. * Mastered at Allen Zentz Mastering (San Clemente, California).

References

{{Authority control 1983 albums Deniece Williams albums Albums produced by George Duke Columbia Records albums