''Rock Solid'' is the 13th studio album by the

Commodores Commodores are an American funk and soul band, which were at their peak in the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1968, and signed with Motown in ...

, released in 1988. At this time in the band's career, hits were no longer forthcoming, and this album failed to enter the

Billboard albums chart The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists ...

. The single, "Solitaire", reached No. 51 on the

R&B chart 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 ...

. It is the last of the band's albums with keyboard player and founding member

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

, who left after a dispute about playing in South Africa.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

. *

Gerald Albright Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist. He earned Grammys for 24/7 in 2012 and Slam Dunk in 2014 and has been nominated for New Beginnings in 2008 and for Sax for Stax in 2009. Biography Born in Los Angeles, Albright grew up in its ...

– saxophone solo (11) * Ruben Alvarez – percussion (5) * Dave Battelene – guitar (10) * Jim Blair – overdubs (9) * Ray Blair – engineer (9) * Erich Bulling – electronic programming (6) * Carl Caldwell – backing vocals (6, 8) * Chris Cameron – arrangements (5), keyboards (5), programming (5) * Terry Christian – engineer (6) * Shawn Christopher – backing vocals (5) * David Cochrane – soprano saxophone solo (3) *

Vinnie Colaiuta Vincent Peter Colaiuta (born February 5, 1956) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician in many genres. He was inducted into the '' Modern Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 1996 and the ''Classic Drummer'' Hall of Fame in 2014. Colai ...

– drums (5) * Paulinho Da Costa – percussion (2, 3) * Donna Davidson – backing vocals (11) * Lynn Davis – backing vocals (6) *

George Duke George M. 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 a pr ...

–

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 early ...

strings (8) * Steve Eisen – tenor saxophone (5) * Ramsey Embick – electronic programming (7, 9) *

Rick Emerson Rick Emerson (born March 7, 1973), formerly known as Rick Taylor, is a radio personality most known for ''The Rick Emerson Show'', which was broadcast from Portland, Oregon, in one form or another, from 1997 to 2012. Emerson also co-hosted '' Dr ...

– additional keyboards (11) * Ray Fuller – guitar (2, 8) * Jo Anne Geffen – management * John Gilutin – acoustic piano (3) *

Ed Greene Ed Greene is an American drummer and session musician. In 1971 he recorded with Donald Byrd (''Ethiopian Knights'', 1972), together with Thurman Green, Harold Land, Bobby Hutcherson, Joe Sample, Bobbye Porter Hall, David T. Walker, and Wilton ...

– additional drums (11) * Portia Griffith – backing vocals (4) * Randy Hall – backing vocals (9, 10) * Stewart Hanley – engineer (7, 9), keyboards (7) * Mark Harman – assistant engineer (2) * Steve Harvey – producer (1, 2, 4), electronic programming (1, 2, 4), additional keyboards (1, 4), vocal arrangements (1, 4), arrangements (2), backing vocals (4) *

Howard Hewett Howard Hewett Jr. (born October 1, 1955) is an American singer–songwriter. Hewett rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the group Shalamar. In 1985, he left the group to pursue his solo career, but he later returned to the group in 2001. He si ...

– mixing (8), producer (8), vocal arrangements (8) * Marva Hicks – backing vocals (2) * Harold Hudson – keyboards (10) *

Dann Huff Dann Lee Huff (born November 15, 1960) is an American record producer and songwriter. For his work as a producer in the country music genre, he has won several awards, including the ''Musician of the Year'' award in 2001, 2004, and 2016 at the Co ...

– guitar (11) *

Paul Jackson, Jr. Paul Milton Jackson Jr. (born December 30, 1959) is an American fusion/urban jazz composer, arranger, producer and guitarist. He was born and raised in Los Angeles. Jackson knew by the age of fifteen that he wanted to become a professional mu ...

– guitar (1, 3, 4) * Josie James – backing vocals (6, 8) * Cliff Jones – engineer (8) * Shirley King – Spanish translation (2) *

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), Am ...

– guitar, keyboards, trumpet, backing vocals (1, 9, 10), producer (3, 5, 11), mixing (3) *

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitc ...

– guitar (3, 6) *

Jeff Lorber Jeffrey H. Lorber (born November 4, 1952) is an American keyboardist, composer, and record producer. After six previous nominations, Lorber won his first Grammy Award on January 28, 2018 for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for ''Prototype' ...

– additional keyboards (1, 4), grand piano (2) * Jeff Lorenzo – engineer (1, 2, 4), backing vocals (4) * Kevin Mahoney –

(6) * Alan Meyerson – engineer (1-4, 11), mixing (1-5, 7, 8, 9) * Isaac Morris – drums (10) * J.D. Nicholas – keyboards, backing vocals (1, 5-11), lead vocals (3, 6-10), associate producer (7), vocal arrangements (7, 8, 9), producer (8, 9), mixing (9) * Tom Nikosey – art direction *

Michael Omartian Michael Omartian (born November 26, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, keyboardist, and music producer. He produced number-one records in three consecutive decades. He has earned 11 Grammy Awards nominations and won three. He s ...

– drums (6), keyboards (6), producer (6) * Walter Orange – drums, keyboards, vocal arrangements (1, 4), lead vocals (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 11), backing vocals (1, 2, 6, 9, 10), producer (1, 2, 11), arrangements (2), electronic programming (2, 4), additional vocals (10) *

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 Jeffe ...

– arrangements (3) * Mark Partis – mixing assistant (5), assistant engineer (11) * Elliott Peters – assistant engineer (5) * Alejo Poveda – additional percussion (5) * Tony Prendatt – keyboards (3), producer (3, 11), executive producer (5), additional keyboards (11) * Sheldon Reynolds – guitar (7, 9), backing vocals (7) * Howie Rice – producer (7, 9) * John "J.R." Robinson – drums (3) * David Rosenberg – additional percussion (5) * Micajah Ryan – assistant engineer (3, 9, 11) * Monty Seward – additional keyboards (8), electronic programming (8) * Marti Sharron – associate producer (6) * Alfie Silas – backing vocals (9) * Tyron Stanton – bass guitar (10) * Mia Tabares – backing vocals (8, 9) * Sandy Torano – backing vocals (5), guitar (5), arrangements (5), producer (5), keyboards * Tony Volante – engineer (11), mixing (11) * John Van Nest – engineer (11) * George Warner – engineer (5) * Freddie "Ready Freddie" Washington – bass guitar (3, 11) * Sherri Wells – backing vocals (9) *

Karyn White Karyn Layvonne White (born October 14, 1965) is an American singer who was popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s. She is known for several hit singles including "Superwoman" (1988), " Secret Rendezvous" (1989), " The Way You Love Me" (19 ...

– backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 10, 11) *

Norman Whitfield, Jr. Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the No ...

– engineer (7, 9) *

Larry Williams Larry Williams (born Lawrence Eugene Williams, a.k.a. Lawrence Edward Williams; May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana. Willia ...

– saxophone (6) *

– guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (1, 10), producer (10) *

Hawk Wolinski David James "Hawk" Wolinski (born May 13, 1948) is an American keyboardist, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with the funk band Rufus and their lead singer Chaka Khan. Biography Wolinski grew up in Chicago, Illinois, a ...

– producer (10)

References

{{Authority control Commodores albums 1988 albums Polydor Records albums