This song comes from not only a special recording for me but a special time in my life. I was quite late to the party on all things Anita. Late to Rapture and really, really late to The Songstress like five years late.
The year of convergence was 1988. Late in ’87 “Caught Up In The Rapture” really started to grow on me as a single and in the late Fall of that year there was a series of talent shows in my hometown where myself and a few friends of mine started to become in-demand as backing musicians for some young aspiring vocalists. Anita Baker was at the top of the list for the talent show repertoire at the time so I went into Sam Goody’s and purchased the Rapture Songbook as well as purchased a proper copy of the album (cassette). After spending time learning just about every song in the book I was smitten, like really smitten.
Fast forward to the early Summer of 1988 and a friend of mine had a homemade tape of a station in Maryland playing an Anita Baker cut I had never heard before… in my late to the game self manner I asked if that was new and she laughed and told me it was from Anita’s first solo album. In my ignorance I declared that I thought Rapture was the first album. Nope. I got schooled and off to the record store I went to find The Songstress. All I can say is for the next year and almost a half until Giving You The Best That I Got was released I wore that The Songstress tape out. My freshman year of college I know for certain I got on my roommate’s nerves because “Angel” was the song I arose to just about every morning and “Feel The Need” ended the day.
This music is an old and dear friend. Just wanted to say hi.
Ivan Orr is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and writer. A native of Charlottesville, Virginia Ivan was involved with the forming and nascent days of The Music Resource Center as its first Program Director. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Department of Music, Ivan currently resides in Richmond, VA where he maintains an active performance and production schedule while serving as the Music Editor for Grown Folks Music, a position he has held since 2010.
