''Phyllis Hyman'' is the self-titled solo debut studio album by American

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer-songwriter

Phyllis Hyman Phyllis Linda Hyman (July 6, 1949 – June 30, 1995) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Hyman's music career spanned the late 1970s through the early 1990s, and she was best known for her expansive contralto range. Some of her most ...

. It was released by

Buddah Records Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's foundin ...

in 1977. The album charted at number 107 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart.

Album information

After recording a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

The Stylistics The Stylistics are an American Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. All ...

' 1971 hit "

Betcha by Golly, Wow "Betcha by Golly, Wow" is a song written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed, originally titled "Keep Growing Strong" and recorded by American actress and singer Connie Stevens under the Bell label in 1970. Stevens' recording runs two minutes and thirty ...

" that appeared on

Norman Connors Norman Connors (born March 1, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, and producer who has led a number of influential jazz and R&B groups. He also achieved several big R&B hits of the day, especially with love ballads. He is poss ...

' 1976 ''You Are My Starship'' album, Hyman was signed to Buddah and began work on her debut. The album featured the hits "Loving You – Losing You", and "I Don't Want to Lose You", an R&B ballad (originally recorded by The Spinners).

Singles

Two singles were released from the album, "Loving You – Losing You" and "No One Can Love You More". An edited version of "Loving You – Losing You" appeared on most single releases worldwide. The U.S. release had the song "Children of the World" as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

. The original U.K. release instead had the full-length album version on the B-side. The album version was released as a

Twelve-inch single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12) is a type of vinyl (polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a "single" or a few related sound tracks on each surface, compar ...

in Canada in May 1977 with "One Thing On My Mind" on the B-side. "No One Can Love You More" was only released in the United States. The single included an edited version of the song with "Deliver the Love" as the B-side. "Loving You – Losing You" was re-released in the United Kingdom in 1980 to promote the ''Buddah All-Stars'' LP. The 7" release included the single version of the song with the single version of "

" on the B-side. A 12" format was also released which contained the full-length version of "Loving You – Losing You".

Chart Performance

The album peaked at no. 107 on the ''Billboard'' 200. It spent fourteen weeks on the chart following its debut on April 30th, 1977. On the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart, the album peaked at no. 49, spending seven weeks on the chart. The album's first single "Loving You – Losing You" entered the ''Billboard''

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

in the week dated April 9th, 1977 and peaked at no. 32 nearly two months later, spending a total of twelve weeks on the chart. The second single "No One Can Love You More" entered the same chart in the week dated July 23rd, 1977, spending a total of ten weeks on the chart and peaking at no. 58 a month after its first entry.

Reissues

The album was first released on CD in 1996 in Canada by the label

Unidisc Music Unidisc Music is a Canadian independent record label. The label is known for releasing rare music, that was made between the mid-1960s and late 1980s. Genres include rock music, rock, electronic music, electronic, funk, Soul music, soul, hip hop ...

. This edition included the full-length version of "

" as a bonus track. The album's first CD release in the United States was in 1997 via

The Right Stuff Records The Right Stuff Records is an American reissue record label that was part of EMI, which is now owned by Universal Music Group and is based out of Santa Monica, California. The label primarily released classic rock and R&B repertoire which include ...

. SoulMusic Records released an expanded version of the album in the United Kingdom in 2013 titled ''The Buddah Years'' which included four bonus songs recorded during her time with

, three of which were originally released on the album '' Sing a Song''. In 2015 the label Funkytowngrooves released their own expanded edition in the United States with five bonus tracks. The 2021 boxset '' Old Friend: The Deluxe Collection 1976–1998'' included another expanded edition of the album with six bonus tracks, including three songs from the

album ''

You Are My Starship ''You Are My Starship '' is an album by the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania jazz drummer Norman Connors. Released in 1976 on Buddah Records, it featured bass player/vocalist Michael Henderson and Philadelphia vocalist Phyllis Hyman. The album reach ...

''.

Out-takes

In 1996 RCA records issued the compilation album ''Loving You, Losing You, The Classic Balladry of Phyllis Hyman'', which included a previously unreleased track from the 1977 recording session, "Sounds Like a Love Song". Another unreleased song from the album, titled "You're the One", has been released several times over the years. It first appeared on the 2002 reissue of '' You Know How to Love Me''. It also appeared on the 2015 reissue of the same album and on the 2008 expanded edition of '' Can't We Fall in Love Again?''. SoulMusic Records included this song on their 2013 reissue of Phyllis Hyman's debut album and the 2021 box set '' Old Friend: The Deluxe Collection 1976–1998''.

Track listing

Personnel

*Phyllis Hyman - vocals * Larry Alexander –

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

* Maxine Anderson – backing vocals *

Gary Bartz Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has won two Grammy Awards. Biography Bartz was first exposed to jazz as the son of the owners of a jazz nightclub in Baltimore. In 1958 he left Baltimore to study at the J ...

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

* Errol "Crusher" Bennett – percussion * Carla Benson – Backing vocals * Evette Benton – Backing vocals *

Hiram Bullock Hiram Law Bullock (September 11, 1955 – July 25, 2008) was an American guitarist known mainly for playing in jazz funk and jazz fusion, but he also worked as a session musician in a variety of genres. Biography Bullock was born in Osaka, Ja ...

– guitar * Cecil Bridgewater – trumpet * Charles Collins – drums * Ann Esther – backing vocals * John Davis – keyboards, arranger *

Hubert Eaves III Hubert Barclay Eaves III is a keyboardist, songwriter and record producer. In the early 1980s, he worked on hits by the dance act D-Train. He also did session work with Mtume. Biography Hubert Barclay Eaves III was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, ...

– piano,

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 ...

, arranger * Scott Edwards – bass guitar * Michael "Sugar Bear" Foreman – bass guitar * Jim Gilstrap – backing vocals *

Onaje Allan Gumbs Onaje Allan Gumbs (born Allan Bentley Gumbs, September 3, 1949 – April 6, 2020) ...

– piano, keyboards, arranger, conductor * Billy Harner – backing vocals * Dennis Harris – guitar *

Barbara Ingram Barbara Jane Ingram (February 9, 1947 – October 20, 1994) was an American R&B singer and songwriter who was active throughout the early 1970s until the mid-late 1980s, enjoying modest success as a backup singer for almost two decades. ...

– backing vocals * Anthony Jackson – bass guitar * Virgil Jones – trumpet * Steve Jordan – drums *

Will Lee William Lee (born William Lubovsky; August 6, 1908 – December 7, 1982) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television and film roles, but was best known for playing Mr. Hooper, the original store proprietor of the eponymous Hoope ...

– bass guitar * John Lehman – backing vocals * Victor Lewis – drums * Bill Lowe –

trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

Reggie Lucas Reginald Grant Lucas (February 25, 1953 – May 19, 2018)Harvey Mason, Sr. Harvey William Mason (born February 22, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, record producer, and member of the band Fourplay. He was the original drummer for Herbie Hancock's band The Headhunters. Life and career Mason was born and grew up ...

–

timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion instrument, percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a Membranophone, membrane called a drumhead, ...

Andy Newmark Andrew Newmark (born July 14, 1950)

– drums *

Jerry Peters Jerry Peters is an American songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, conductor and arranger. He is best known for writing the hit songs " Love Or Let Me Be Lonely" and "Going In Circles" by The Friends of Distinction. Career Peters ...

– keyboards, arranger * Greg Poree – guitar * Raymond Pounds – drums * Janice Robinson –

* Richie Rome – keyboards * John Rowin – guitar *

Skip Scarborough Clarence Alexander "Skip" Scarborough (November 26, 1944 – July 3, 2003) was an American songwriter, best known for romantic ballads. Biography Scarborough was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He lived in Los Angeles most of his life. A prol ...

– keyboards * Craig Snyder – guitar * Jerry Steinholtz – drums * Charles Sullivan – trumpet * Sandy Torano – guitar, backing vocals * Larry Washington – percussion *

Nathan Watts Nathan Lamar Watts (born March 25, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan.) is an American session bassist, best known for his work with Stevie Wonder from the 1970s to the present. He has served as Stevie Wonder's musical director since 1994. Biography ...

- bass guitar * Gregory Williams –

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

* Kiane Zawadi –

Production

* Producers: Larry Alexander, John Davis,

, Sandy Torano * Arrangers: John Davis,

Onaje Allan Gumbs Onaje Allan Gumbs (born Allan Bentley Gumbs, September 3, 1949 – April 6, 2020) ...

* Engineer: Fred Torchio * Production Coordination: Bernadette Fauver * Liner Notes: David Nathan * Art Direction: Milton Sincoff * Photography:

Joel Brodsky Joel Lee Brodsky (October 7, 1939 – March 1, 2007) was an American photographer, best known for his photography of musicians, particularly his iconic "Young Lion" photographs of Jim Morrison. In his lifetime, he is credited with photographing o ...

* Executive Producer:

Lewis Merenstein Lewis Merenstein (October 23, 1934 – September 6, 2016) was an American record producer, most famous as the producer of the Van Morrison album '' Astral Weeks'', and as executive producer for ''Moondance'', Morrison's 1970 album. '' Astral Weeks ...

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1977 debut albums Buddah Records albums Phyllis Hyman albums Albums produced by Jerry Peters Albums with cover art by Joel Brodsky Albums recorded at Total Experience Recording Studios