DENIECE WILLIAMS-MY MELODY.

dereksmusicblog ♦ December 5, 2011 ♦ Leave a comment

DENIECE WILLIAMS-MY MELODY.

By the time Deniece Williams released her fifth album My Melody in March 1981, she’d already had two of her albums certified Gold in America. When her debut album This Is Niecy was released in August 1976, it reached number thirty-three in the US Billboard 200 and number three in the US R&B Charts, resulting in the album being certified gold. One of the songs on This Is Niecy, was Free, a track that will forever be synonymous with Deniece Williams. It reached number twenty-five in the US Billboard 100, number two in the US R&B Charts and number one in the UK. The album had been co-produced by Maurice White, the founder of Earth, Wind and Fire and Charles Stepney who previously, had produced Terry Callier, Marlena Shaw, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. Maurice White co-produced Deniece’s second album Song Bird, while David Foster co-produced her third and fourth albums That’s What Friends Are For and When Love Comes Calling. For My Melody, a new producer was enlisted, Thom Bell, who previously, had produced The Detroit Spinners, The Stylistics, The Delfonics and many more artists for Philadelphia International Records. This new partnership would result in a hugely successful, and critically acclaimed album My Melody. 

Now that the Deniece Williams and Thom Bell partnership had been established they headed east, to the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, and the Sigma Sound Studios, where so many legendary singles and albums had been recorded. Among the groups that had recorded there, were The O’Jays, Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, The Three Degrees and Teddy Penderass. Of the eight songs on My Melody, Deniece Williams and Thom Bell cowrote them, including two of the singles It’s Your Conscience and What Two Can Do. Deniece joined Thom in the producing the album, with My Melody the first album she co-produced during her career so far. Joining Deniece and Thom, was Don Renaldo, who has hugely experienced string played. He took charge of the string and horn sections for My Melody. Another familiar face was guitarist Bobby Eli. Not only had he played, arranged and produced numerous artists, but had written songs for some of the biggest artists in music. Among the artists he worked with were The Temptations, Wilson Pickett and BB King, to Rose Royce, Luther Vandross and Sister Sledge, as well as nearly every major hit on Philadelphia International. With personnel like this joining the recording sessions, things were looking good for Deniece Williams.

Having recorded the eight songs that feature on My Melody, the album was released on Columbia/ARC in March 1981. My Melody reached number seventy-four in the US Billboard 200 and number thirteen in the US R&B Charts. Quickly, the album was certified gold, having sold over 500,000 copies in America. Three singles were released from My Melody during 1981. The first of these were It’s Your Conscience, which reached number forty-five in the US R&B Charts. Silly was the second single released, and reached number fifty-three in the US Billboard 100 and number eleven in the US R&B Charts. Of the three singles, It’s Gonna Take A Miracle was the most successful, reaching number ten in he US Billboard 100 and number one in the US R&B Charts. This was Deniece’s first solo number one US R&B single, because her previous number one was a duet with Johnny Mathis, Too Much, Too Little, Too Late. Overall, the Deniece Williams and Thom Bell partnership had proved to be hugely successful. After all, the partnership had resulted in a critically acclaimed album, one that had just been certified gold, and featured a number one US R&B single. Following this, Deniece and Thom renewed their partnership the following year 1982, with Deniece’s sixth album Niecy being released in March 1982. Now that I’ve told you about the background to My Melody, I’ll tell you what it sounds like.

My Melody opens with the title track My Melody, a track penned by Deniece and Thom Bell. Straight away, the track has a lovely sound and sentiment, with keyboards, lush strings and a subtle rhythm section combining before a joyous sounding, soaring vocal from Denise enters. Behind her, swathes of sumptuous music reveals itself, the arrangement growing, with strings sweeping along, while keyboards, guitars and the rhythm section are key to the track’s success andbeauty. Meanwhile, gentle, subtle backing vocalists accompany Deniece’s beautiful vocal, which straddles several octaves as she emotively delivers the lyrics. When Deniece’s vocal is combined with Thom Bell’s lush arrangement, the result is a gorgeous track.

It’s Your Conscience was the first single released from My Melody, giving Deniece a number forty-five US R&B hit single. It’s quite different from the opening track, with a somewhat dramatic introduction where percussion, the rhythm section, horns and then the lushest of strings combine. After this extended dramatic arrangement, Deniece’s vocal is powerful, and accompanied by loud, rumbling drums. As the song progresses, the arrangement just keeps getting better. Layer upon layer of strings dominate the arrangement, while a flute floats above it and bursts of horns punctuate the track. Still drums dramatically rumble, as Deniece’s vocal grows in power and emotion, building and building as the songs heads to its dramatic conclusion. What makes this such a great track, is the way both Deniece’s vocal and the arrangement build, growing in power and drama. Thom Bell’s use of strings and drums is a masterstroke, with the strings adding an emotive sound and the drums drama. They provide the perfect musical backdrop the for Deniece’s vocal.

The second single from My Melody was Silly, which reached number fifty-three in the US Billboard 100 and number eleven in the US R&B Charts. It features a really high vocal from Deniece. You feel she starts singing so high that, she’s got nowhere to go but down. This eventually happens, but only after a couple of minutes, during which she’s given a heartfelt vocal, about how silly she’s been to think that this guy was the right one for her. There’s a sense of sadness and regret in her voice, while the arrangement is much more understated, almost sparse, but still occasionally dramatic. The tempo is slow, with twinkling keyboards accompanying Deniece, before brief bursts of drama from the rhythm section and horns punctuate the track. Later, strings enter, their sound emotive and sad, while horns gently rasp. By now the arrangement gets fuller, combining slow, lush strings with occasional dramatic punctuations from the horns and drums. When this is combined with Deniece’s heartfelt vocal the result is a track that’s both full of sadness and regret, but beautiful and dramatic.

Strangers was the final song on side one of My Melody an epic track lasting nearly six and a half minutes. It opens with swirling strings, keyboards and a rhythm section that’s both punchy and dramatic. They match the hugely powerful, high soaring vocal from Deniece. This demonstrates her multi-octave voice perfectly. When her vocal settles, it’s a combination of emotion, drama and sadness, as she regrets the ending of her relationship. Behind her, the arrangement is sympathetic, with grand, swirling strings, keyboards, chiming, shimmering guitars and the rhythm section adding bursts of drama. Backing vocalists unite subtly, providing a contrast to the power and emotion of Deniece’s vocal. By the end of the track, Deniece has produced one of her most emotive and powerful vocals, reflecting the sadness and regret in the song’s lyrics Thom Bell’s arrangement.

Side two of My Melody opens with What Two Can, the final single released from the album, reaching number seventteen in the US R&B Charts. It’s another track penned by Deniece and Thom Bell. It has an intriguing introduction, with percussion and what sounds like a vocoder producing a funky sound. This gives way to a bigger, fuller sound, with the rhythm section and horns punctuating the arrangement dramatically. When Deniece’s soft, thoughtful vocal enters, swathes of beautiful strings accompany her, while backing vocalists accompany her. As the track progresses, strings swirl, horns rasp and the rhythm section are key to the success of the track. Together, they produce a catchy, hook laden backdrop for a beautiful, joyful vocal from Deniece.

You’re All That Matters is a slow track, with a lovely, lush, sweeping arrangement. Deniece gives an emotive and heartfelt performance, against an arrangement that meanders along, gradually revealing its beauty. Again, strings play an important part in Thom Bell’s arrangement, and are augmented by keyboards, backing vocalists and a thoughtful rhythm section. However, it’s Deniece that steals the show, delivering the lyrics with a combination of heartfelt emotion and passion, singing that as long as she has her partner in her life, nothing else matters. The sweeping, string drenched, arrangement is perfect for her vocal reflecting the beauty and emotion of the song’s lyrics.

The only track on My Melody that doesn’t work for me is Suspicious. From the drama drenched chugging introduction where horns punctuate the track, before the strings sweep in, the track neither appeals to me nor works. Even when Deniece’s vocal enters, it has a similar jumpy style, sung against the chugging arrangement. Suspicious has an underlying Caribbean style and sounds, with the rhythm section and percussion providing that. Even the addition of Thom Bell’s trademark lush strings, doesn’t lift the track to the next level. Instead, it’s a sadly disappointing, average track. That’s a shame as the lyrics deserved a better fate. 

My Melody closes with Sweet Surrender, a much better track than the previous one. It’s a track that’s slow, lush and very gradually reveals itself to you. Before that, it teases you, making you wonder what direction the song is heading. A gentle combination of keyboards, harp and slow swirling, shimmering string open the track. This is a lovely combination, one that teases you, and is made all the better when Deniece’s high soaring vocal enters. Like the arrangement, it’s slow, and she scats, against the lush arrangement, then sings who grateful and happy she is to have found the man she’s being looking for. Strings quiver and shiver, while melodic keyboards compliment, before the strings grandly swirl, accompanying Deniece’s vocal to the song’s end. As the song ends, you feel satisfied and grateful for being lucky enough to hear such a sumptuous and lush track, but like all good things, would love to hear more.

Years ago, when I first bought this album on vinyl, I wasn’t a huge fan of Deniece Williams music. I’d enjoyed the first two albums This Is Niecy and Songbird which Maurice White co-produced. After that, I took a break from her music, when she released That’s What Friends Are For with Johnny Mathis. Then when I heard Thom Bell had produced My Melody, I realized that this would be something special. I wasn’t disappointed, with Thom transforming Deniece’s music into lush soundscapes, where swathes of the lushest strings enveloped her voice. The result was a quite beautiful album full of some great songs. Apart from Suspicious, the other seven songs are of the highest quality, and feature some beautiful vocals from Deniece Williams and exquisite arrangements from Thom Bell. My Melody was the fruits of the Deniece Williams and Thom Bell partnership, which yielded another album Niecy, in 1982. Thankfully, My Melody was rereleased and remastered earlier in 2011 by BBR Records. They’ve done a marvelous job in remastering the album which sounds delicious. Not only that, but the album features the single versions of It’s Your Conscience and Silly, as well as in-depth sleeve notes. So, should you wish to replace your trusty vinyl copy of My Melody, this is the perfect opportunity. It’ll allow you to hear a great album from Deniece Williams, ably assisted by Thom Bell and some of Philadelphia’s finest musicians. Standout Tracks: My Melody, Silly, Strangers and Sweet Surrender.

DENIECE WILLIAMS-MY MELODY.