Madam Butterfly (album)
Introduction '''''Madam Butterfly''''' is the seventh album by the American soul/R&B group Tavares, released in 1979 on Capitol Records.
Commercial performance By this stage in the group's career, they had become known as a disco act due to successful singles such as "Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel", "Whodunit" and "More Than a Woman." However, ''Madam Butterfly'' is noted for its lack of anything approaching disco material, and, as such, is considered to be more akin in style to the group's 1973-'75 albums than to their '76-'78 Freddie Perren-produced output. "Never Had a Love Like This Before", one of several slow jams on the album, became a top 5 R&B hit and has subsequently become a quiet storm radio classic, while tracks such as "I'm Back for More" are more funk-based than listeners had come to expect from Tavares. The title track ''Madam Butterfly'' received considerable airplay on R&B radio stations, and became a hit, but was not released as a single by Capitol. The album performed respectably on the R&B chart, peaking at #13, but failed to achieve substantial sales in the crossover market. Its reputation has grown over the years and it is now considered among the group's best.
Track listing # "Straight From Your Heart" (Len Ron Hanks, Zane Grey) - 4:23# "Games, Games" (Sam Dees) - 4:30# "Madam Butterfly" (Johnny Simon, Kenny Stover) - 4:29# "Let Me Heal the Bruises" (Sam Dees) - 4:24# "Never Had a Love Like This Before" (Len Ron Hanks, Zane Grey) - 4:32# "One Telephone Call Away" (Benorce Blackmon) - 4:22# "My Love Calls" (Sam Dees) - 5:05# "Positive Forces" (Joe Reaves, Lonnie Reaves) - 2:56# "I'm Back for More" (Kenny Stover) - 2:58
Singles * "Never Had a Love Like This Before" (US R&B #5)* "Straight From Your Heart" (US R&B #77)
Personnel ;Tavares*with:*Benorce Blackmon, Steve Erquiaga - guitar*David Shields - bass*Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey - keyboards*Len Ron Hanks - keyboards on "Straight From Your Heart" and "Never Had a Love Like This Before"*Gaylord Birch - drums*Melvin Webb - percussion*Don Moors - vibraphone*John Roberts, Oscar Brashear - trumpet, flugelhorn*Grover Mitchell, Linda Small, Maurice Spears, Tom McIntosh - trombone*Bobby Martin, Len Ron Hanks, Ron "Have Mercy" Kersey - arrangements*Paul Shure - concertmaster
References
External links *