''Thankful'' is the fourth album by the American singer

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut ...

. It was released on November 16, 1977, by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

. In 1978, the album's first single, " Our Love", peaked at No. 10 on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

and topped the Hot R&B chart.

Track listing

Personnel

* Natalie Cole – lead vocals * Linda Williams – acoustic piano,

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 ...

* Marvin Yancy – acoustic piano,

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

clavinet The Clavinet is an electric clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982. The instrument produces sounds with rubber pads, each matching one of the keys and respond ...

* Reginald "Sonny" Burke – organ *

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 ...

– synthesizers * Criss Johnson,

Ray Parker Jr. Ray Erskine Parker Jr. (born May 1, 1954) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. As a solo performer, he wrote and performed the theme song for the 1984 film '' Ghostbusters'' and also sounds from the animated series '' The ...

Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born in 1952, in Los Angeles, California. At the age of eight he started playing guitar and four years l ...

– guitars * Larry Ball – bass guitar *

James Gadson James Edward Gadson (born June 17, 1939) is an American drummer and session musician. Beginning his career in the late 1960s, Gadson has since become one of the most-recorded drummers in the history of R&B. He is also a singer and songwriter. ...

, Donnell Hagan, Paul Humphrey, Teddy Sparks – drums * Alan Estes – percussion * Hal Brooks,

Chuck Jackson Charles Benjamin Jackson (July 22, 1937 – February 16, 2023) was an American R&B singer who was one of the first artists to record material by Burt Bacharach and Hal David successfully. He performed with moderate success starting in 1961. Hi ...

– handclaps * Gene Barge – alto saxophone solo (6), arrangements * Richard Evans – arrangements * The Colettes – backing vocals (1-4, 5, 7, 8) * The "N" Sisters – backing vocals (1-4, 5, 7, 8) * Anita Anderson – backing vocals (6) * Yasmine "Sissy" Peoples – backing vocals (6)

Production

* Executive Producer – Larkin Arnold * Producers – Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy * Co-Producer on Track 5 – Gene Barge * Engineer – Barney Perkins * Assistant Engineers – Zollie Johnson and Lester Smith * Mixed by Barney Perkins, Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancy at Westlake Audio (Los Angeles, CA), assisted by Dean Rod. * Mastered by John Golden and Barney Perkins at Kendun Recorders (Burbank, CA). * Art Direction – Roy Kohara * Illustration – Craig Nelson

Notes

*R&B/pop group

En Vogue En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the singl ...

recorded a cover of "Just Can't Stay Away", which appears on their 1990 debut album '' Born to Sing''. *Singer

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

recorded a cover version of "Our Love" for her 1997 album '' Share My World''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Singles

Certifications

References

External links

*
Thankful
' at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thankful (Natalie Cole album) 1977 albums Natalie Cole albums Capitol Records albums