Summary
Madam Butterfly is the seventh album by the American soul/R&B group Tavares, released in 1979 on Capitol Records.[2][4]
| Madam Butterfly | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 1979 | |||
| Genre | R&B, soul | |||
| Length | 37:39 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | Bobby Martin | |||
| Tavares chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
| The New Rolling Stone Record Guide | [3] |
Commercial performance edit
By this stage in the group's career, they had become known as a disco act due to successful singles such as "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel", "Whodunit" and "More Than a Woman." However, Madam Butterfly is noted for its lack of anything approaching disco material, and, as such, is considered to be more akin in style to the group's 1973-'75 albums than to their '76-'78 Freddie Perren-produced output.
"Never Had a Love Like This Before", one of several slow jams on the album, became a top 5 R&B hit and has subsequently become a quiet storm radio classic, while tracks such as "I'm Back for More" are more funk-based than listeners had come to expect from Tavares. The title track Madam Butterfly received considerable airplay on R&B radio stations, and became a hit, but was not released as a single by Capitol. The album performed respectably on the R&B chart, peaking at #13, but failed to achieve substantial sales in the crossover market. Its reputation has grown over the years and it is now considered among the group's best.
Track listing edit
- "Straight From Your Heart" (Len Ron Hanks, Zane Grey) - 4:23
- "Games, Games" (Sam Dees) - 4:30
- "Madam Butterfly" (Johnny Simon, Kenny Stover) - 4:29
- "Let Me Heal the Bruises" (Sam Dees) - 4:24
- "Never Had a Love Like This Before" (Len Ron Hanks, Zane Grey) - 4:32
- "One Telephone Call Away" (Benorce Blackmon) - 4:22
- "My Love Calls" (Sam Dees) - 5:05
- "Positive Forces" (Joe Reaves, Lonnie Reaves) - 2:56
- "I'm Back for More" (Kenny Stover) - 2:58
Singles edit
- "Never Had a Love Like This Before" (US R&B #5)
- "Straight From Your Heart" (US R&B #77)
Personnel edit
- Tavares
with:
- Benorce Blackmon, Steve Erquiaga - guitar
- David Shields - bass
- Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey - keyboards
- Len Ron Hanks - keyboards on "Straight From Your Heart" and "Never Had a Love Like This Before"
- Gaylord Birch - drums
- Melvin Webb - percussion
- Don Moors - vibraphone
- John Roberts, Oscar Brashear - trumpet, flugelhorn
- Grover Mitchell, Linda Small, Maurice Spears, Tom McIntosh - trombone
- Bobby Martin, Len Ron Hanks, Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey - arrangements
- Paul Shure - concertmaster
References edit
External links edit
- Madam Butterfly at Discogs (list of releases)