''So Happy'' is the second music

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 ...

by American comedian and singer

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...

, released in August 1989 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. A

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

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 ...

effort with often humorous sexual lyrics, it was co-written and co-produced by Murphy with several high-profile contemporary musicians, such as

Nile Rodgers Nile Gregory Rodgers Jr. (born September 19, 1952) is an American musician, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. The co-founder of Chic, he has written, produced, and performed on records that have sold more than 750 million albums and 1 ...

and

Larry Blackmon Larry Ernest Blackmon (born May 29, 1956) is an American vocalist and musician, known as the lead singer, founder and frontman of the funk and R&B band Cameo. Musical career Starting the band "East Coast", Blackmon formed the "New York Ci ...

, at various

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

s in California, New York, Florida, and the Bahamas. The album was not a commercial success and received mixed reviews.

Release

''So Happy'' was released by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

in August 1989 and failed to significantly impact the pop

record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

s. It reached number 70 on ''

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 ...

'' magazine's Top Pop Albums and number 22 on the Top Black Albums chart. The pop-funk song "Put Your Mouth on Me" was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

, performing well on both ''Billboard''s pop and black singles charts.

Critical reception

Reviewing ''So Happy'' in August 1989, ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' journalist Chris Heim viewed it as an improvement over Murphy's first album, saying that the comedian "seems more comfortable in the role of vocalist this time". Similarly, ''

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, ...

'' critic

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 ...

observed a greater seriousness in Murphy's "wheedling croon" that is ideal for the album's cartoonish style of funk and "wicked

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

rip". While questioning the depth behind the sexual desires in Murphy's lyrics, Christgau highlighted the singer's humor on songs such as "Love Moans": "He's big on locations, spends an entire song convincing her to do it in a chair. Inspirational Dialogue: She: 'Are you close?' He: 'If I get any closer I be behind you.'" Don Waller was more critical in his review for 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 ...

''. He applauded the sexual conceit of "Put Your Mouth on Me" and the compelling musical qualities in "Bubble Hill" and the title track, but found rest of the album derivative and Murphy merely "better than your average shower singer". In Mark Coleman and J. D. Considine's entry on Murphy in ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' (1992), the comedian is criticized for not only lacking "the equipment to carry off his soul-star ambitions", but seeming "genuinely uncomfortable trying to deliver any but the most basic emotions" and resorting to an emphasis on "musical jokes" that "wears thin throughout ''So Happy''".

Track listing

Personnel

Information is taken from

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 ...

Musicians

* Eddie Murphy – lead vocals, drum programming , keyboards , background vocals * Walter "Babylove" Afanasieff – keyboards ; synthesizers, synth bass, drum programming, and horn solo * Alfa Anderson – background vocals * John Barnes – keyboards * Vernon Black – guitar *

– background vocals * Lanar Brantley – bass guitar * Briz – background vocals * Eric Daniels – horn stabs * Merv De Peyer – keyboards and programming *

Johnny Gill Johnny Gill Jr. (born May 22, 1966) is an American singer and songwriter. He is the sixth and final member of the R&B/ pop group New Edition and was also a member of the supergroup called LSG, with Gerald Levert and Keith Sweat. Gill has rel ...

– guitar * Greg "Gigi" Gonaway – percussion * Richard Hilton – keyboard programming *

Randy Jackson Randall Darius Jackson (born June 23, 1956) is an American record executive, television presenter and musician, best known as a judge on ''American Idol'' from 2002 to 2013. Jackson began his career in the 1980s as a session musician playing b ...

– bass , background vocals * Tomi Jenkins – background vocals * Skyler Jett – background vocals * David Allen Jones – arrangements , drum programming , drums , keyboards , keyboards programming , instruments , background vocals * Kevin Jones – keyboard programming * Kevin Kendrick – keyboards and programming * Ken Klyce – Fairlight CMI , Emulator II programming * Andres Levin – keyboard programming * Christopher Max – background vocals * Stacy McDonald – background vocals * Chip McNeill – saxophone * Sammy Merendino – programming * Cindy Mizelle – background vocals *

Paul Pesco Paul Pesco (born May 13, 1959) is an American session guitarist, singer-songwriter, film score composer and record producer. Biography Pesco was born in Canandaigua, New York, to a Sicilian father (an opera singer and voice instructor) and ...

– guitar * Claytoven Richardson – background vocals * Carmen Rizzo – drum programming *

– guitar and background vocals * Philippe Saisse – keyboard programming * Charlie Singleton – guitar * Bongo Bob Smith – percussion programming and sampling *

Neil Stubenhaus Neil Stubenhaus is an American bass guitarist. Career He started his musical training playing drums and switched to bass guitar at the age of 12. In one of his early bands, The Neighbourhood in 1969, he played with future Kiss guitarist Vinnie V ...

– bass guitar *

Narada Michael Walden Narada Michael Walden ( ; Michael Walden; born April 23, 1952) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He acquired the nickname Narada from Sri Chinmoy. He began his career as a drummer, working primarily in the jazz ...

– arrangements , drums *

Marty Walsh Martin Joseph Walsh (born April 10, 1967) is an American politician and trade union official who served as the 58th mayor of Boston from 2014 to 2021 and as the 29th United States Secretary of Labor from 2021 to 2023. A member of the Democr ...

– guitar * Audrey Wheeler – background vocals *

Aaron Zigman Aaron Zigman (born January 6, 1963) is a classically trained American composer, producer, arranger, songwriter, and musician who has scored music for films including '' The Notebook'', '' The Company Men'', '' Bridge to Terabithia'', '' John Q. ...

– keyboards

Production and design

* Paul Angelli – second engineer * John Barnes – engineer and mixing * Knut Bohn – engineer * Ed Brooks – second engineer * Dana Jon Chappelle – engineer , assistant engineer * Tom Durack – mixing * David Frazer – engineer , additional engineering , mixing * Eddie Garscia – engineer , mixing * Mark Hermann – second engineer * Cecil Holmes – executive producer * Daniel Lazerus – engineer * Jay Mark – engineer * Dennis Mitchell – engineer * Barney Perkins – engineer and mixing * Elliot Peters – assistant engineer * David Rideau – mixing * Carmen Rizzo – engineer * Tony Sellari – art direction * Bonnie Schiffman – photography * Anthony Sellari – art direction * Shawn Stoblo – second mixing engineer * Steve Strassman – engineer * Mike Strick – assistant engineer * Brad Sundberg – additional engineering * Ralph Sutton – engineer

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1989 albums Eddie Murphy albums CBS Records albums Albums produced by Walter Afanasieff Albums produced by Nile Rodgers Albums produced by Narada Michael Walden Pop albums by American artists