''Warm Your Heart'' is a 1991 album released by
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
R&B/
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
Aaron Neville
Aaron Joseph Neville (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer renowned for his distinctively smooth, vibrato-heavy tenor and a genre-crossing career that spans R&B, soul, gospel, jazz, country, and pop. He gained national prominence with hi ...
. It features the singles "
Everybody Plays the Fool", "Somewhere, Somebody" and "
Close Your Eyes". The "Close Your Eyes" single also featured album
producer Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music.
Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...
on
guest vocals
The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting.
The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...
. The pair had previously collaborated on the songs "
Don't Know Much
"Don't Know Much" (also titled as "All I Need to Know" on other versions) is a song written by Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil and Tom Snow. Mann was the first to record the song in 1980, gaining a minor chart hit in the US. The song was made famous whe ...
", "
All My Life" and "
When Something Is Wrong with My Baby".
Musicians
The album utilises many guest vocalists, musicians and
session musicians
A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a record ...
. Producer
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music.
Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...
sings on four songs on the album and
Grammy Award
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 ...
winning
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on ''Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and th ...
sings on three. Other guests include
slide guitarist
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...
, saxophonist
Plas Johnson
Plas John Johnson Jr. () (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s " The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and bar ...
,
Bob Seger
Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throu ...
,
Dr. John
Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. His music combined New Orleans blues, jazz, R&B, soul and funk.
Active as a session mus ...
,
Bob Glaub
Bob Glaub (born May 10, 1952)Hageman, William (April 29, 2005)."The aces of bass: Five giants of an overshadowed instrument", Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. is an American bass player and session musician. He has played with such artists an ...
and
Dean Parks
Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Parks has one Grammy nomination.
Albums
Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los A ...
.
Critical reception
Reception at the time of release was generally good. In their four-star review ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason.
The magazine was first known fo ...
'' said that
Neville "must have taken the meaning of the gospel deep into his heart". ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' review stated that the "solo album debut of the great
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
soul singer has the year's most sublime pop vocals".
The album reached number 44 on the American
''Billboard'' 200 album chart, and achieved
platinum status. In Canada, the album reached number 25 in the
Album Charts and achieved
gold status.
Track listing
Personnel
*Aaron Neville - vocals
*Brian Stoltz - guitar (tracks 1,3,5-11)
*
Bob Glaub
Bob Glaub (born May 10, 1952)Hageman, William (April 29, 2005)."The aces of bass: Five giants of an overshadowed instrument", Knight Ridder Tribune News Service. is an American bass player and session musician. He has played with such artists an ...
- bass (tracks 3-5,8)
*
Tony Hall - bass (tracks 1,6,9,10)
*
Don Grolnick
Don Grolnick (September 23, 1947 – June 1, 1996) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and record producer. He was a member of the groups Steps Ahead and Dreams, both with Michael Brecker, and played often with the Brecker Brothers. As a sess ...
- keyboards, piano (tracks 1,3,5-7,9-11)
*
Carlos Vega
Carlos Vega (December 7, 1956 – April 7, 1998) was a Cuban-born Los Angeles-based session drummer best known for his performances with James Taylor. As a part of the L.A. studio scene from the late 1970s through the 1990s, Vega contributed to ...
- drums (tracks 1,3,5-10,14)
with:
*
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music.
Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...
- duet on "Close Your Eyes", soprano vocals on "Ave Maria", whistling on "Everybody Plays the Fool"
*
Rita Coolidge
Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on ''Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and th ...
- duet on "La Vie Dansante"
*Jason Neville - rap on "Angola Bound"
*
Ry Cooder
Ryland Peter Cooder (born March 15, 1947) is an American musician, songwriter, film score composer, record producer, and writer. He is a multi-instrumentalist but is best known for his slide guitar work, his interest in traditional music, and h ...
- guitar, slide guitar on "It Feels Like Rain"
*
Dean Parks
Weldon Dean Parks (born December 6, 1946) is an American session guitarist and record producer from Fort Worth, Texas. Parks has one Grammy nomination.
Albums
Parks was member of the North Texas State One O'clock Lab Band before moving to Los A ...
,
David Lindley,
Larry Carlton
Larry Eugene Carlton (born March 2, 1948) is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts including Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. One of the most sought after guitarists of his era, Carlton has ...
- guitar
*Jimmy Johnson,
Daryl Johnson
Daryl E. Johnson (August 11, 1946 – November 25, 2023) was an American professional football defensive back who played in the American Football League (AFL), the National Football League (NFL), and the World Football League (WFL). He was a m ...
- bass
*Robbie Buchanan - Hammond B-3 organ
*
Dr. John
Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. His music combined New Orleans blues, jazz, R&B, soul and funk.
Active as a session mus ...
- piano, percussion
*
Russ Kunkel
Russell Kunkel (born September 27, 1948) is an American drummer who has worked as a session musician with many popular artists, including Jackson Browne, Jimmy Buffett, Harry Chapin, Rita Coolidge, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Cass Elliot, Dan Fo ...
- drums, programming
*Willie Green - drums
*
Bob Seger
Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is a retired American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded with the groups Bob Seger and the Last Heard and the Bob Seger System throu ...
- percussion, backing vocals
*
Cyril Neville
Cyril Garrett Neville (born October 10, 1948) is an American percussionist and vocalist who first came to prominence as a member of his brother Art Neville's funky New Orleans–based band, The Meters. He joined Art in the Neville Brothers band u ...
- congas
*
Plas Johnson
Plas John Johnson Jr. () (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s " The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and bar ...
- tenor saxophone
*
Arnold McCuller
Arnold McCuller (born August 26, 1950) is an American vocalist, songwriter, and record producer, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He was active as a solo artist and session musician, but is perhaps best known for his work as a touring back-u ...
, Donny Gerrard, Linda Ronstadt, Renée Armand, Rita Coolidge,
Rosemary Butler Rosemary Butler may refer to:
* Rosemary Butler (politician)
Dame Rosemary Janet Mair Butler (''née'' McGrath; born 21 January 1943) is a British politician who served as Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales (now Llywydd of ...
, Willie Greene Jr., Bobby King,
Valerie Carter
Valerie Gail Zakian Carter (February 5, 1953 – March 4, 2017) was an American singer.
Biography
Carter began her career singing in coffeehouses as a teenager, and eventually became one-third of the country-folk band Howdy Moon. They debuted ...
- backing vocals
*
Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks (born January 3, 1943) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, arranger, record producer, singer, and former Warner Bros. Records executive whose work encompasses orchestral pop, elaborate recording experiments, Ame ...
- arrangement on "Louisiana 1927"
*
David Campbell - arranger and conductor on "Ave Maria"
;Technical
*
George Massenburg
George Y. Massenburg (born Baltimore, Maryland c. 1947) is a Grammy award-winning recording engineer and inventor. Working principally in Baltimore, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Macon, Georgia, Massenburg is widely known for submitting a paper t ...
- recording, mixing
*Chuck Beeson - art direction, design
*
John Casado
John Charles Casado (born May 30, 1944) is an American graphic designer, artist and photographer, best known for designing logos for the first Macintosh computer, Esprit, and New Line Cinema, as well as numerous album covers for the Doobie Brot ...
- photography
Charts
References
{{Authority control
Aaron Neville albums
1991 albums
A&M Records albums
albums arranged by David Campbell (composer)
albums produced by George Massenburg