Ebony Woman
| Ebony Woman | ||||||||||
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| Studio album by Billy Paul | ||||||||||
| Released | 1970 | |||||||||
| Recorded | 1969 Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | |||||||||
| Genre | Soul, Philadelphia soul | |||||||||
| Length | 36:29 | |||||||||
| Label | Neptune | |||||||||
| Producer | Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff | |||||||||
| Billy Paul chronology | ||||||||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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| Chris Wells |
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Ebony Woman is an album by soul singer Billy Paul. The album was produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, arranged by Stanley Johnson and Bobby Martin, and engineered by Joe Tarsia. On its original Neptune Records release in 1970 the LP reached #12 on the Billboard soul charts and #183 on the pop charts. The Bobby Martin penned "Let's Fall in Love All Over" was released as a single but failed to chart. The album was re-released with new cover art in 1973 on Philadelphia International Records reaching #186 on the pop chart and #43 on the soul charts. Big Break Records remastered the album for its 2012 re-release on CD.
Billy Paul originally recorded the song "Ebony Woman" in 1959 and it was released as a single on the New Dawn label. The song was resurrected and re-cut as the title track for an album which Paul and his producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff wanted to make a statement with. Specifically, Paul's debut Feelin' Good at the Cadillac Club was a conventional jazz album with sparse production that failed to make the impact they hoped it would. Paul recalled the shift in direction: "We decided to do something with a more up-to-date sound, with more musicians. Something that would venture a bit into R&B but without me losing my sound. We spent a lot of time workin it out and came up with the album called Ebony Woman, which came out on Neptune." Paul mixed jazz and soul; ballads with mid-tempo and upbeat numbers; and covers with originals—a formula he would repeat on subsequent albums. The album's modest chart success was buoyed by its considerable appeal in Detroit, home of Motown.
Ed Williams, Program Director for WLIB in New York City, wrote the liner notes that appear on the back cover of the album:
After nearly four hundred years of toil and strife "EBONY WOMAN" is finally on her way. No longer does she have to wait until nightfall to be queen. She is a great symbol of strength and courage. As she fittingly assumes her proper place in the universe, her honor is shared with both Morris Bailey, the perceptive author of Ebony Woman and Billy Paul, the artist who depicts her so tenderly.
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Wikipedia