Smooth Talk (album)

Smooth Talk is the debut album, released in 1977 by R&B singer Evelyn "Champagne" King by RCA Records and produced by Theodore Life. It contains singles "Shame", also one of King's signature songs, and "I Don't Know If It's Right", both of which were hits in the United States and Canada. Outside North America in music charts, "Shame" performed modestly in a few European countries, while the latter charted in the United Kingdom and New Zealand but performed poorly there.

Smooth Talk
Standard artwork; the late-1970s U.S. reissues and early Japanese vinyl release used a different artwork
Studio album by
Evelyn "Champagne" King
ReleasedAugust 17, 1977
Recorded1977
StudioRCA Studios, New York City, New City
Alpha International, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
GenreSoul, disco
Length41:11 (based on vinyl release with only 12" mixes of singles)
LabelRCA Victor
Big Break Records
ProducerTheodore Life
Evelyn "Champagne" King chronology
Smooth Talk
(1977)		 Music Box
(1979)
Singles from Smooth Talk
  1. "Shame"
    Released: September 20, 1977
  2. "I Don't Know If It's Right"
    Released: October 1978

Songs

In the Billboard charts, "Shame" peaked at number nine in the Hot 100,[1] number seven in the Hot Soul Singles,[2] and number eight in the Disco Action,[3] In Canada's RPM charts, "Shame" peaked at number sixteen in Top 100 Singles[4] and number five in the Dance/Urban chart.[5] It also peaked at number thirty-nine in the UK Singles Chart,[6] number eighteen in the Dutch Top 40,[7] number twenty-six in the Netherlands's Singles Top 100,[8] and number twelve in Belgium's Ultratop Top 50 Singles.[9] The song was certified gold by the RIAA on August 11, 1978,[10] became one of King's signature songs,[11] and would be later covered by Zhané for the 1994 film A Low Down Dirty Shame and then Kim Wilde in 1996.

"I Don't Know If It's Right" peaked number twenty-three in the Billboard Hot 100,[1][12] number seven in the Hot Soul Singles.[2] and number twenty-five in the Disco Action.[3][13] It was positioned at number twenty-one on the year-end top 50 Soul Singles of 1979.[14] The song was also certified gold by the RIAA on February 22, 1979.[10] In Canada, the song entered the RPM Top 100 Singles at number ninety-four on the week ending January 13, 1979,[15] and peaked at number seventeen for two weeks until the week ending April 14.[16][17] It also entered the RPM Adult Oriented Playlist at number forty-three on the week ending January 20 that same year[18] and peaked at number six on the week ending March 31.[19] It also reached number eleven on the RPM Dance/Urban chart on the week ending October 28, 1978, a year prior.[20] It was position at number 130 on the RPM year-end Top 200 Singles of 1979.[21] The song peaked at number sixty-seven in the UK Singles Chart.[6] It also entered the New Zealand Singles Chart at number thirty-eight, its peak position, on the week ending May 6 that same year and fell from its position a week later.[22][23]

The titular song "Smooth Talk" contains "undulating drum fills and serene and stylish vocal arrangement."[24]

Album history

The album was released in 1977 and peaked at number fourteen on the Billboard 200[25] and number eight on the Soul Albums chart.[26] In Billboard's year-end charts of 1978, it was positioned at number seventy-six on the year-end top 100 Pop Albums[27] and number thirty-one on the year-end top 50 Soul Albums.[28] It was also positioned at number twenty-five on the year-end top 50 Soul Albums of 1979.[29] It was certified gold by the RIAA on September 6, 1978.[30]

The album was digitally remastered and reissued on CD with bonus tracks in 2010 by Big Break Records. The original vinyl disc was reissued twice following the single releases of "Shame" and "I Don't Know If It's Right", in each case replacing the LP track version with the 12" remix version.

Critical reception

Allmusic critic Justin Kantor rated the album four out of five stars, calling it "a fine catch for '70s R&B connoisseurs" and "a fun, satisfying listen for the body—if not a genius piece of soul," and highly praising the hit single "Shame". However, he considered several other tracks forgettable, like "Dancin', Dancin', Dancin'" and "'Til I Come off the Road."[24]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Smooth Talk"Theodore Life, Mike Holden, William Kimes5:29
2."I Don't Know If It's Right" (original LP version)Theodore Life, John H. Fitch, Jr.4:17
3."Til I Come Off the Road"Mike Holden, John H. Fitch, Jr., Theodore Life2:38
4."Dancin', Dancin', Dancin'"Theodore Life, Teddy Pendergrass4:13
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Shame" (original LP version)John H. Fitch, Jr., Reuben Cross4:38
6."Nobody Knows"John H. Fitch, Jr., Reuben Cross, Theodore Life4:31
7."We're Going to a Party"Theodore Life, Aubrey Gravatt, Joe Freeman3:48
8."The Show Is Over"Theodore Life, Dexter Wansel5:40
2010 remastered bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
9."Shame" (12" Disco Mix)6:33
10."I Don't Know If It's Right" (12" Disco Mix)8:19
11."Shame" (Single Version)2:54
12."I Don't Know If It's Right" (Single Version)3:46

Personnel
  • Raymond Earl – bass
  • John H. Fitch, Jr., Ronnie James, Theodore Life, Kim Miller – guitars
  • Jerald Hill, Dennis Richardson – keyboards
  • James Sigler – organ
  • Dexter Wansel – electric piano
  • Sam Peake – organ, electric piano, Clavinet
  • James Lee Fuller, Larry Strickland – congas
  • Scotty Miller – drums
  • Johnny McCants – congas, percussion
  • Don Renaldo and his Swinging Horns – horns
  • Carla Benson, Evette Benton, Mikki Farrow, Joe Freeman, Lani Groves, Barbara Ingram, Theodore Life, M. Roberts, Bunny Sigler, Annie Sutton – background vocals
  • Arnold Coley Jr., Morris Bailey, Sam Peake, Leon Mitchell - horn arrangements

Charts

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Certifications
US
[1]		 US
R&B
[2]		 US
Dance
[3]		 CA CA
Dance
/ Urban		 CA
Adult		 UK
[6]		 NL
Top
40		 NL
Top
100		 BE NZ US
[10]
1978 "Shame" 9 7 8 16
[4]		 5
[5]		 – 39 18
[7]		 26
[8]		 12
[9]		 – Gold
1979 "I Don't Know If It's Right" 23 7 25 17
[16]		 11
[20]		 6
[19]		 67 – – – 38
[23]		 Gold

Notes
  1. "Evelyn 'Champagne' King: Chart History – Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  2. "Evelyn 'Champagne' King: Chart History – Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  3. "Evelyn 'Champagne' King: Chart History – Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  4. "RPM 100 Singles". RPM. September 16, 1978. p. 21. Retrieved December 24, 2017 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  5. "Top 30 Playlist". RPM. April 22, 1978. Retrieved December 24, 2017 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  6. "Evelyn 'Champagne' King". Official Charts. 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  7. "Evelyn 'Champagne' King – 'Shame'". MediaMarkt Top 40. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  8. "Evelyn 'Champagne' King – 'Shame'". Dutch Charts. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  9. "Evelyn 'Champagne' King – 'Shame'". Ultratop. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  10. "'Gold & Platinum' search – 'Evelyn King'". RIAA.
  11. Hogan, Ed. "Review of 'Shame' by Evelyn 'Champagne' King". Allmusic. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  12. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 326.
  13. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 145.
  14. Billboard Year-End 1979, p. TIA-38.
  15. "RPM Top Singles (51–100)". RPM. January 20, 1979. Retrieved December 25, 2017 – via Library and Archives Canada. "I Don't Know If It's Right" was charted for two weeks as of the week ending January 20, 1979.
  16. "RPM 100 Singles". April 7, 1979. Retrieved December 25, 2017 – via Library and Archives Canada. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  17. "RPM 100 Singles". April 14, 1979. Retrieved December 25, 2017 – via Library and Archives Canada. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  18. "RPM Adult Oriented Playlist". RPM. January 20, 1979. Retrieved December 25, 2017 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  19. "RPM Adult Oriented Playlist". RPM. March 31, 1979. Retrieved December 25, 2017 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  20. "Dance/Urban – Twelve Inch". RPM. October 28, 1978. Retrieved December 25, 2017 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  21. "1979 Top 200 Singles". RPM. Retrieved December 25, 2017 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  22. "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart: 6 May 1979". The Official NZ Music Charts. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  23. "Evelyn 'Champagne' King – 'I Don't Know If It's Right' (song)". charts.nz. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  24. Kantor, Justin. "Evelyn "Champagne" King – Smooth Talk". Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  25. "Evelyn 'Champagne' King: Chart History – Billboard 200: Smooth Talk". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  26. "Evelyn 'Champagne' King: Chart History – Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  27. Billboard Year-End 1978, p. TIA-20.
  28. Billboard Year-End 1978, p. TIA-62.
  29. Billboard Year-End 1979, p. TIA-36.
  30. "American album certifications – Evelyn King – Smooth Talk". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
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References
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