1978 Chaka Khan – Chaka
Chaka is the debut solo album by American R&B/funk singer Chaka Khan, released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1978.
Two singles were released from Chaka, the first being her anthemic solo debut “I’m Every Woman”, one of Khan’s signature tunes alongside “Ain’t Nobody” (1983) and “I Feel For You” (1984). The song has over the past three decades been re-released, remixed and covered a number of times, most notably by Whitney Houston in 1992 for the soundtrack album The Bodyguard, then featuring guest vocals by Khan herself and topping Billboard’s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. A remix of Khan’s original recording was also a Top Ten hit in the U.K. in 1989. The remix was included on the compilation Life is a Dance – The Remix Project, the title track of which was the second single release from the Chaka album in early 1979 (US R&B #40). The album also features the ballad “Roll Me Through the Rushes”, never commercially released as a single but still receiving considerable airplay in 1979, as well as Khan’s cover version of Stevie Wonder’s “I Was Made To Love Her”, re-titled “I Was Made to Love Him”.
Tracks
1 I’m Every Woman (Valerie Simpson; Nickolas Ashford) 04:07
2 Love Has Fallen On Me (Andrew Lloyd Webber; Charles Stepney) 04:54
3 Roll Me Through The Rushes (David Lasley; Lana Marrano) 04:44
4 Sleep On it (Andrew Kastner; Larry John McNally) 04:22
5 Life Is A Dance (Gavin Christopher) 04:21
6 We Got The Love (George Benson) 03:30
7 Some Love (Keith Boyd; Traude Sapik; Mark Stevens; Chaka Khan) 05:51
8 A Woman In A Man’s World (Andrew Kastner; Larry John McNally) 04:00
9 The Message In The Middle Of The Bottom (LaLomie Washburn) 04:17
10 I Was Made To Love Him (Henry Cosby; Lula Hardaway; Stevie Wonder; Sylvia Moy) 03:25
Biography
Musicians
1 I’m Every Woman
Bass | Will Lee |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Phil Upchurch |
Guitar | Hamish Stuart |
Piano | Richard Tee |
Background Vocals | Will Lee |
Background Vocals | Hamish Stuart |
Vocals | Chaka Khan |
2 Love Has Fallen On Me
Bass | Anthony Jackson |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Phil Upchurch |
Guitar | Hamish Stuart |
Piano | Richard Tee |
Sax | George Young |
Sax | Ronnie Cuber |
Sax | Michael Brecker |
Trombone | Barry Rogers |
Trumpet | Randy Brecker |
Background Vocals | Cissy Houston |
Background Vocals | David Lasley |
Background Vocals | Hamish Stuart |
Vocals | Chaka Khan |
3 Roll Me Through The Rushes
Bass | Will Lee |
Drums | Rick Marotta |
Guitar | Cornell Dupree |
Guitar | Phil Upchurch |
Electric Piano | Leon Pendarvis |
Harp | Gene Bianco |
French Horn | Brook Tillotson |
French Horn | Jim Buffington |
Background Vocals | David Lasley |
Background Vocals | Cissy Houston |
Background Vocals | Hamish Stuart |
Vocals | Chaka Khan |
4 Sleep On it
Bass | Anthony Jackson |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Phil Upchurch |
Guitar | Hamish Stuart |
Electric Piano | Richard Tee |
Synthesizer | Ken Bichel |
French Horn | Brook Tillotson |
French Horn | Jim Buffington |
Background Vocals | Alan Gorrie |
Background Vocals | Will Lee |
Background Vocals | Hamish Stuart |
Vocals | Chaka Khan |
5 Life Is A Dance
Bass | Will Lee |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Phil Upchurch |
Guitar | Hamish Stuart |
Clavinet | Richard Tee |
Sax | George Young |
Sax | Ronnie Cuber |
Sax | Michael Brecker |
Trombone | Barry Rogers |
Trumpet | Randy Brecker |
Background Vocals | Alan Gorrie |
Background Vocals | Will Lee |
Background Vocals | Hamish Stuart |
Vocals | Chaka Khan |
6 We Got The Love
Bass | Phil Upchurch |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Hamish Stuart |
Electric Piano | Arthur Jenkins |
Synthesizer | Ken Bichel |
Flute | Eddie Daniels |
Flute | Phil Bodner |
Flute | George Marge |
Sax | George Young |
Sax | Ronnie Cuber |
Sax | Michael Brecker |
Trombone | Barry Rogers |
Trumpet | Randy Brecker |
Percussion | Rafael Cruz |
Vocals | George Benson |
Vocals | Chaka Khan |
7 Some Love
Bass | Mark Stevens |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Onnie McIntyre |
Guitar | Phil Upchurch |
Piano | Richard Tee |
Flugelhorn | Randy Brecker |
French Horn | Brook Tillotson |
French Horn | John Clark |
Sax | Michael Brecker |
Sax | David Sanborn |
Trumpet | Randy Brecker |
Percussion | Airto Moreira |
Vocals | Chaka Khan |
8 A Woman In A Man’s World
Bass | Phil Upchurch |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Hamish Stuart |
Guitar | Andrew Kastner |
Piano | Richard Tee |
Synthesizer | Ken Bichel |
French Horn | Brook Tillotson |
French Horn | John Clark |
Sax | David Sanborn |
Trombone | Paul Faulise |
Trumpet | Randy Brecker |
Percussion | Sammy Figueroa |
Vocals | Chaka Khan |
9 The Message In The Middle Of The Bottom
Bass | Hamish Stuart |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar | Onnie McIntyre |
Guitar | Phil Upchurch |
Clavinet | Arthur Jenkins |
Sax | Michael Brecker |
Trombone | Paul Faulise |
Trumpet | Randy Brecker |
Cello | Jesse Levy |
Cello | Kermit Moore |
Cello | Richard Bock |
Percussion | Rafael Cruz |
Vocals | Chaka Khan |
10 I Was Made To Love Him
Bass | Anthony Jackson |
Drums | Steve Ferrone |
Guitar (solo) | Tony Maiden |
Guitar | Hamish Stuart |
Guitar | Phil Upchurch |
Clavinet | Richard Tee |
Piano | Richard Tee |
Background Vocals | Mark Stevens |
Background Vocals | Terri Gonzalez |
Background Vocals | Will Lee |
Vocals | Chaka Khan |
Strings
Frederick Buldrini, Gene Bianco, George Marge, Guy Lumia, Harold Kohon, Jesse Levy, Joe Malin, Jonathan Abramowitz, Julien Barber, Kermit Moore, Marvin Morgenstern, Mitsue Takayama, Pat Winter, Regis Iandiorio, Richard Bock, Richard Sortomme, Susan Allen, Theodore Israel
Liner Notes
Producer – Arif Mardin
Arranged By (Brass, Strings, Woodwind) – Arif Mardin
Concertmaster – Gene Orloff
Engineer (Additional) – Gene Paul, Lew Hahn
Engineer (Assistant) – Bill Dooley, Michael O’Reilly, Randy Mason, Sheridan Eldridge, Tony D’Amico
Engineer (Recording) – Jimmy Douglass
Remix – Lew Hahn
Art Direction – John Cabalka
Design – Tom Drennon
Photography – Scott Enyart
Recorded At Atlantic Studios
Recorded At Cherokee Studios
Phonographic Copyright Warner Bros Records Inc
Copyright Warner Bros Records Inc