Many Ripertons To Cross

Minnie Riperton - Perfect Angel (1974)

I first heard Minnie Riperton when the Orb used a sample of "Lovin' You" on that track from their first album. Her voice sounds really disembodied on that track, and I had no previous knowledge of "Lovin' You", so those piercing notes might just as well have been field recordings of some strange bird. Fast forward a few years and my friend told me I should hear some Rotary Connection records (as should everybody). I'll have to save that post for another day, but Minnie's voice on those Rotary Connection just kills - alongside the band's own Sly Stone-style funk, folk and some strange Zappa-style abstractions. At any rate, this track from Perfect Angel is pretty nice - a steel-string, country-folk slow-burner (with Sneaky Pete on the steel) where Minnie doesn't really go overboard, she just relaxes and shows everyone just what a serious talent she was. The whole record is pretty much top drawer, Stevie Wonder is all over it and it goes well with other records of the folk-funk variety by Syreeta and Linda Lewis.
It's So Nice