Many people have asked the question.....Just what the heck is Minnie Riperton doing on a FUNK web site ?
We thought that we would let the folks who read the web site give you the answer to that question via the feedback that we have gotten from Funkateers all over the internet.
If you have comments of your own feel free to send an email
Keep Funkin !!
DATE: Wednesday, 24-Dec-97 02:30 AM
SUBJECT: minnie riperton
Minnie was the baddest singer of her time. You can only do her justice by putting more of her songs on this site. Its too bad there aren't any undiscovered nuggets ready to be revealed. Good job!
DATE: Saturday, 06-Dec-97 04:22 PM
SUBJECT: Re: Minnie Riperton
Bob,
I scan the pictures from my CD's. Check out the attached photo of Minnie Riperton taken when she was a member of the Rotary Connection. I have been following Minnie's career since 1974, I was only 10 years old then. I think she was one of the most creative artists of our time.
DATE: Wednesday, 03-Dec-97 01:18 PM
SUBJECT: Minnie Ripperton
I saw your great page on Minnie Ripperton who I remember from my childhood. Do you know why she died so young? Reply to Sara_Welch@condenast.com
Thanks.
DATE: Tuesday, 02-Dec-97 04:00 AM
SUBJECT: Great Article on MINNIE;
I really loved your article on Minnie Ripperton. To this date, I still consider her as being my most favorite singer. And believe me I go way back.
What I have been trying to find is any video footage on Minnie. Do you know of any and how I can get a hold of it?
I'm hoping next year to take a trip to LA and one of the main things that I have planned is, to visit Minnie's
grave site. It will be a touching moment for me.
Thanks again for the great article and for keeping Minnie's name alive. Her music will always live in the heart of her fans.
God Bless You Alvin Lofton
DATE: Monday, 01-Dec-97 11:44 PM
SUBJECT: Re: Minnie...Who else? ;-) pt. 2
Thanks for getting back to me. Any ideas where to start...? Who would be in charge of such a project? I know Capitol currently owns the masters, but who would one talk to? Any ideas would be appreciated.
Besides, maybe someone already had the idea, but they just need a kick in the pants to get the ball rolling. HEY! Why not put a small survey on your Minnie page to see if there's any interest. I'm not sure how many hits you get, but I found you, so I'm sure others have too. What the hell? Polygram already did a Roy Ayers Anthology, maybe Mandrill's next...
That's an idea. Why not have page dedicated to artists who deserve their own retrospectives, and maybe a small survey that could possibly be forwarded to the respective companies that have the various tapes and such...
Think on it for a while, and keep in touch.
Thanx, Gazoo.
DATE: Monday, 01-Dec-97 03:41 AM
SUBJECT: Minnie...Who else? ;-)
I just picked up a copy of "Perfect Angel", of course it's a Japanese import. It's cool having it though. Worth the $20 I paid, in Pittsburgh, no less. "Adventures..." is most definitly next. The one thing that kills me though, the Japanese have had her stuff on CD since '88, but the only thing we have is that Capitol greatest hits collection. Kinda sucks.
Hey, at least I have this one. Also makes me realize how much cooler my sister's record collection is, since she's been a Minnie fan for years. Not only that, she had the original vinyl, and managed to replace them at one time here in Pittsburgh, Jerry's Records, I think.
Maybe we should lobby Capitol Records to do a box set retrospective of Minnie's work since they own the masters. In our "retro" period, I think she deserves a look back. Her work transcends most of that "70's" pop crap thats so popular nowadays, but so much Black music of the 70's is just so timeless that it all deserves a new listen.
Sorry to ramble, but nice page. Thanks for the reviews, if nothing else. Get back to me.
Gazoo.
DATE: Saturday, 22-Nov-97 07:22 PM
SUBJECT: Wow, I can't thank you enough.
I am 29 years old and a die-hard Minnie fan. I've loved her ever since I was a child. I have turned so many people on to her in my lifetime that it's unreal. I just recently discovered your site today and I was so taken by the write-up that I forwarded the page to my best friends.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the trip Back Down Memory Lane...
...and by the way, my favorite song by her is "It Never Existed Before". A very happy tune that reminds me of what we all should stop and look for: Undiscovered love. To know that you are experiencing something that your heart and mind could not fathom possible. When she starts the song, I automatically feel as if she's just continuing and ongoing conversation. I mean, just listen to the beginning:
"...so you ask me - what do I feel, when I look in your eyes? I see things that have never existed before"
Only Minnie could open a song with midway through a thought. She pulled it off again "Stay In Love" (...and lately I've been...).And to know that she wrote Memory Lane upon discovering that she had cancer (if memory serves)... makes me want to cry every time I think about that.
I'll be back to your page often. I'm currently doing a dedication to her and Phyllis Hyman. That story, in itself, is shocking, especially when you listen to the first and last tracks of her final CD ("I Refuse To Be Lonely" and "One Good Reason").
One Good Reason really gets me because she had told her friend that she was going to commit suicide over the telephone and he was absolutely powerless. She told him she was calling to say goodbye and that if he tried to discourage her from doing so, she'd hang up the phone. That had to be heart-wrenching for him.
And then, shortly after her death, I listen to her final CD. Oh, the words of the last track...
"I see you standing there, waiting there, at the door. Is there something you want to say. Cause I won't leave you, if you give me ONE GOOD REASON to stay..."
I was playing that song a few minutes ago and the tears started to roll.
Anyway, enough about that. I just wanted to thank you for your great work at your site. By the way, is there a way for me to contact Maya, her daughter? I'm a songwriter with several groups and would LOVE to hear her sing &/or work with her.
Please let me know. If you cannot disclose her information, please forward this letter to her as well as my contact information.
Kenny "Zoot" Davis
hitnrun@fred.net
I would post the URL to my webpage, but it's having problems. The existing URL may change, but for now, it's
of course, by Monday, things go well, THIS will be the URL: www.fred.net/zoot/hitnrun
Continued success in all of your endeavors.
Kenny
DATE: Monday, 10-Nov-97 12:57 PM
SUBJECT: *minnie ripperton*
greetings earh juice,
this is the 'decoy', from london, england. i'm writing to update you on 'i am black gold of the sun', recently covered by 'nuyorican soul'.
a group that i have the pleasure of working with(4 hero), recently remixed the said track, with the whole song being reworked by live musicians, and thus resulting in a remix that has been dubbed a 'classic'.
i would like to send you a copy of this mix, so you could give your opinion, and also help us to find out more info on minnie ripperton and rotary connection, including written lyrics and scores, and rare vinyl that is difficult to find here in england.
Also, are you still in contact with maya rudolph, or can you put us in contact with her as it would be great to fly her over to record with the band.
hope to hear from you soon.
peace & 1love!!!
decoy.
DATE: Saturday, 08-Nov-97 09:13 PM
SUBJECT: Minnie Riperton
Attached is a picture of Minnie that you may be able to use on your site.
DATE: Thursday, 06-Nov-97 06:34 AM
SUBJECT: Funky Ladies!
Hello again funksters,
Any of you guys out there know if the Minnie Ripperton stuff has been reissued out in the UK?
I first heard her on Capitol Rare 2 and have since heard other tracks on other compilations, yet can't find any full releases of this beautiful sweet 70's soul.
Also, I was in a bar about a year ago and the guy was playing some live Millie Jackson (I think), which again blew my mind, it reminded me a bit like Lynn Collins' version of Do Your Thing.
Does anyone out there have any info on Millie Jackson, re. re issues and stuff! Was she mainly a 70's artist?
One more thing, did anyone see Lynn Collins live at the Jazz Cafe in Camden a good while back?
I saw the ad in a music paper and it was only small I was surprised Actually saw it!I couldnt believe she was playing, and couldn't get down there to see itmyself which was a real pisser!
Cheers me dears,
J
DATE: Monday, 27-Oct-97 01:48 PM
SUBJECT: Minnie Riperton
Minnie Riperton Is God's jpgt to vocals. Pure and Simplified. Very Intense. I almost cried for her and her tragic loss. Please do a review of her chess years. I would love to meet any sibling of hers. If you have more on my favorite singer call T.J. am an inspiring songwriter
DATE: Sunday, 26-Oct-97 11:38 AM
SUBJECT: minnie fan
That is ight that you dig minnie like that but how you gonna leave out come to my garden?!? that joint is like that joe ! Im tellin you no other music puts me in " That Zone" like minnie's music Joe Good page i myself am tryin to get some of her videos . im young so i didnt grow up listening to her on my own but it's all real joe imma leave my e mail address when i get one because i have all of minnie's shit except that hey love album i need that i even have The rotary connection joint but it is some slum I cant believe as you minnie participated in that i have all of the perfect angel to minnie albums all on vinyl and i have 2 copies of each which are all in mint condition one i got for 1.99! wild joe huh and tell maya i need her or something Ight yo.
DATE: Tuesday, 14-Oct-97 05:18 AM
SUBJECT: question about Minnie Riperton
I have asked MANY PEOPLE and have surfed the net for an answer to this question. Lately I have been getting into Minnie (what a SWEET SWEET voice! "Adventures in Paradise" is one of the COOLEST SONGS EVER!) but do not know--how/why did she die? Not one single person I know knows the cause of her death---I would be ever so grateful if you could tell me.
thanks,
Sheila
ps: your website is GREAT!
DATE: Friday, 10-Oct-97 12:52 PM
SUBJECT: Web site
Love the Minnie Riperton Area...loved her she was a great singer...still check out the rest of the areas...
DATE: Saturday, 13-Sep-97 09:43 PM
SUBJECT: In Memory of Minnie Riperton
FYI.
"As if it wasn't enough that the vocal achievements of Minnie Riperton were among the most impressive of any performer of her day, the Chicago songbird also happened to be one of the bravest fighters too. Today as we look back on the stellar career of this greatly unappreciated artist, it's with greater than ever sadness that cancer took her from us in 1979 when she was barely past 30.
Everybody in the musical fraternity knew and respected Minnie; not just those working in the soul circles where she finally made her name but those in rock, pop and jazz where she paid her dues. Now, following a 1990 British chart update of her most famous song "Lovin' You" by Massivo, it's long overdue to pay respects to her talent and, indeed, reveal new sides to it.
The lady with the voice of five and a half octaves didn't take what you would call Route 1 to her soul stardom of the Seventies. Born 8th November 1947, one of eight children, her musical family encouraged her from the beginning to express her enthusiasm for the arts not only music, but the stage, art and most of all dance interests cultivated at Chicago's Lincoln Center. Following a family move she went on to sing with the Hyde Park School Choir and studied voice - but until her mid-teens the career Minnie Riperton had marked out for herself was in dance, perhaps even in opera but certainly not in pop music.
Luckily for us, the wonderful wicked world of wax ensnared her just early enough. Minnie began her professional career with the local Chess label in 1961 when she was just 14, singing with a neighborhood group, The Gems. As the girl became a woman and the voice came of age, she and her fellow Gems lent backing vocals to such Chess heavyweights as Etta James, The Dells and Fontella Bass. After high school graduation, she combined those backup sessions with a day-job on the record company front desk.
More attractive offers soon came in, though, including sessions outside Chess with Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin and TV and radio commercials. The Gems called it a day in 1966, and Chess decided that Minnie's best shot at solo success was under the name Andrea Davis. They were wrong, but the path to chart success was also as unlikely. In 1968, she jumped onto the American LP chart fronting a rock-soul aggregation called Rotary Connection, who recorded for the Chess subsidiary Cadet and won a big rock audience touring with Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Santana and even the Rolling Stones.
They snuck a couple of weeks in the bottom 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 with "Want You To Know" shortly before splitting in 1970. Their producer didn't do too badly for himself in later years, either - it was Maurice White, who went straight from there to his new group Earth, Wind and Fire.
While Rotary Connection was still a working unit, Minnie cut her first solo album on Chess' Janus label. "Come To My Garden" fought shy of the charts until a post "Lovin' You" reissue, but established her songwriting partnership with husband/producer Richard Rudolph. The couple spent a two-year sabbatical in Gainesville, Florida, after Minnie left the Chess Stable before finally relocating in Los Angeles for a fresh stab at success, the family now completed by son Marc and daughter Maya.
Then began the association with Epic Records that, ultimately, is the reason you're reading this sleeve note all these years later. Having sung on Stevie Wonder's "Fulfillingness First Finale" and toured as a member of his back up group Wonderlove, Minnie's 1974 album "Perfect Angel" was given the kiss of life when Stevie agreed to co-produce it with Riperton and Rudolph. It contained, of course, that most individual and striking of love songs that immediately became the lady's theme tune. "Lovin' You" became an international smash, hit number 1 in America, and would have done the same in Britain in May 1975 had it not been for Mud's "Oh Boy".
Although Minnie found the achievements of that gold single impossible to produce, her Epic album "Adventures In Paradise" also went gold and added greatly to her reputation, as did the ambition song cycle "Stay In Love" despite disappointing sales. "Adventures In Paradise" was co-produced by now veteran soul soundman Stewart Levine, these days greatly revered for his work with Simply Red.
Sadly, by now, Minnie already knew she had breast cancer. Fighting it alone with her family at first, she eventually brought her illness into the open with the same courage and individuality evident in her music. She became involved in the American Cancer Society's national education program, receiving a Society Courage Award from President Jimmy Carter in 1977 and taking over the program chairmanship in 1978.
That was also the year she signed with Capitol and recorded the pleasing "Minnie" album, perhaps already aware it could be her last. She passed away on the 12th of July 1979 at the age of 31. The night before, she had a visitor at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in LA. It was Stevie Wonder. "Well, the final person I was waiting for has arrived," she said that night. "Everything will be alright now."
Happily an album was released in 1980 as a worthy testament to her talent. "Love Live Forever" featured Minnie's vocals adorned by new accompaniments added after her death in the most tasteful of ways by many of her superstar friends - Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, George Benson, Roberta Flack - under the direction of Dick Rudolph and Johnny Pate. Quincy Jones described the process "like keeping the bridge and moving the water."
The last decade has been under-appreciative to the memory of Minnie Riperton. As we listen to these early recordings, we hear a fascinating insight into a blooming orchid of a vocal and songwriting talent and a new testament to the career of a unique artist."
Paul Sexton
September 1990
(Reissue of "Come To My Garden")
DATE: Sunday, 31-Aug-97 08:24 AM
SUBJECT: Minnie Riperton
Thanks for informing me about one of the world major talents. I had not expected to find anything on the net concerning Minnie Riperton and after her premature death in '79. It is good that this singer is remembered, because quality has to live forever!
Michael Stoker, the Netherlands (ignarus@wxs.nl)
DATE: Monday, 11-Aug-97 08:30 AM
SUBJECT: minnie ripperton
Could you please give me the date that Minnie ripperton died? Thanks
DATE: Thursday, 31-Jul-97 12:33 AM
Yo!
I like your site! I find myself coming back just to listen to Minnie Riperton's- Every Time He Comes Around albeit in low fidelity! If I can suggest anything can you use MPEG 1 layer 3 instead? I realise there are some copyright issues with this in the USA. Anyway, great site even though it's a bit slow from the other side of the pond.
Regards
Glenn Harper.
DATE: Saturday, 26-Jul-97 10:49 PM
SUBJECT: Re: Minnie Riperton
Yeah, heard the background audio, of Everytime he comes around. It sounded kind of scratchy, like some of my older Minnie albums.. There is one CD put out by capitol records in 1993 called the best of Minnie Riperton. It has a large number of songs on it including some live versions. I don't know how you recorded that to your website, but if you can get this cd it may provide a much clearer background audio.
I promised to make a copy of it to tape for a friend, email me an address or a P.O. box and I'll send you a copy too.
Devoted Minnie Fan
Jim
DATE: Saturday, 26-Jul-97 12:57 AM
SUBJECT: Minnie Riperton
If there is one Minnie Riperton to have it would have to be Come To My Garden. I believe this was her debut album when she bagan her solo career away from the Rotary Connection.
This album was a beautiful combination of songs taylor made for her wonderful voice. Arrangements I believe were done by Ramsey Lewis. My album has been played so many times that I fear bringing out, but to this day I am still captivated by her lovely voice.
I had the pleasure of meeting Minnie Riperton at one of her engagements here in Chicago at the now closed Ivanhoe Theatre. I meeting I will never forget.
I enjoyed your website and wish there were more dedicated to this wonderful woman. Should you ever he of the release to CD of any and all of her albums, please drop me a line.
A devoted Fan "always"
J. Mims - arrakis191@aol.com
DATE: Saturday, 14-Jun-97 08:48 PM
SUBJECT: (no subject)
Bob,
^5, Kudos and much respect to you on your page NIGHTRAIN!!!! I especially loved both the Minnie Riperton and the "Alternative" R&B pages, they are both fantastic. Your effort on both pages have made this my favorite place to visit on the Internet. Keep it up and I always check out your page each week to see if you added something new! Its just that good! :)))) Take Care and I haven't been online lately due to my new job, its working the crap outta me! See you in Funk...or the BB...or Nubian....!
Ernesto via P* Internet!
BEBB SC/CC
DATE: Thursday, 15-May-97 07:14 AM
SUBJECT: Minnie Riperton
No one has mentioned her album 'Come to my Garden' which is my favorite, even before Adventures in Paradise, for two major reasons, 1. it was produced, arranged and conducted by Charles Stepney, guru who also worked with Earth Wind and Fire and Terry Callier (What color is love- was Produced, arranged and conducted by Charles Stepney ) and 2. it has on it 'Les Fleur' - the most beautiful song ever.... The whole album is magical and really reflects the fact that Minnie's voice came from another place (if you know what I mean)..
Another bit of news, 'Inside my love' has been redone, can't remember the name of the artist, but it's on the 'Love Jones' soundtrack - is the film out in the States? It can't touch the original in my
opinion.
Also, have any of you heard the song called 'Creepin' on a Stevie Wonder LP, has Minnie on b.v's , that's brilliant too.
As a final note, I think Nuyorican souls version of 'Black Gold of the Sun' is absolute trash, if you have heard the original Rotary Connection version you might agree?? for me it's the equivalent of taking
a masterpiece like the mona lisa and painting a few flowers in her hair thinking that will add to the picture...!! They should have left it well alone, you cannot improve on perfection.
Eva
DATE: Thursday, 15-May-97 03:45 AM
SUBJECT: Re: My 2+3 or 5x1 or 10 divided by 2
At 18:24 14/05/97 -0400, you wrote:
>On Midnight Marauders, Tribe used "Inside My Love" for the cut "Lyrics To
>Go" and on Low End Theory, the bassline for "Check The Rhime" comes from
>"Baby, This Love I Have." Written and composed by Minnie, a wonderful
>talent.
If you're interested in Minnie Riperton samples, another one is Tek9's "Intro Part IV" (from "It's Not What You Think") which samples "Perfect Angel".
..Mark..
DATE: Wednesday, 14-May-97 07:50 PM
Adventures in Paradise -- Minnie Ripperton
The whole damn thing but two tracks include samples for some of a Tribecalled Quest's greatest.
Qool DJ Marv
DATE: Friday, 09-May-97 04:35 PM
SUBJECT: Minnie Riperton
Great essay on Minnie. I love Adventures In Paradise. But didn't Minnie appear on the first EWF album? It might be worth mentioning to make the essay complete.
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