Stompin' at the Savoy – Live

Stompin' at the Savoy – Live is an album by American R&B/funk band Rufus with singer Chaka Khan, released on the Warner Bros. Records label in 1983.

Stompin' at the Savoy - Live
Live album by
ReleasedAugust 10, 1983
RecordedSides A, B & C recorded live at The Savoy, New York on February 12–14, 1982
GenreR&B
Length77:41
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerRuss Titelman
Rufus chronology
Seal in Red
(1983)
Stompin' at the Savoy - Live
(1983)
Chaka Khan chronology
The Very Best of Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
(1982)
Stompin' at the Savoy - Live
(1983)
I Feel for You
(1984)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Record Mirror[2]

Stompin' at the Savoy was a double-record set featuring three sides of live material recorded at The Savoy in New York which sees the band reunited with Chaka Khan and performing all their biggest hits such as "Tell Me Something Good", "You Got the Love", "Sweet Thing", "At Midnight (My Love Will Lift You Up)", and "Do You Love What You Feel" as well as "What Cha' Gonna Do for Me" from Khan's 1981 solo album of the same name.

The fourth side of the album included four new studio recordings of which two were released as singles, "Ain't Nobody" and "One Million Kisses". "Ain't Nobody", written by the band's keyboardist David "Hawk" Wolinski, became Rufus' final #1 R&B hit, reached #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, also won them a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1984 and has since come to be regarded as one of Khan's own signature tunes - although it in fact was recorded with Rufus. Both "Ain't Nobody" and "One Million Kisses" were included on her 1989 remix compilation Life is a Dance - The Remix Project. Additionally, "Ain't Nobody" was featured in the movie Breakin' and its soundtrack.

The Stompin' at the Savoy – Live album which was a major commercial success, reaching #4 on Billboard's R&B Albums Chart as well as #50 on Pop, became Khan's final collaboration with Rufus and the band dissolved shortly after its release. Quincy Jones wrote the liner notes for the album.

Stompin at the Savoy - Live was transferred from vinyl to CD in the early 1990s and remains in print.

Track listing

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Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You Got the Love"Chaka Khan, Ray Parker Jr.5:36
2."Once You Get Started"Gavin Christopher5:05
3."Dance Wit Me"Gavin Christopher3:36
4."Sweet Thing"Chaka Khan, Tony Maiden3:28
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Tell Me Something Good"Stevie Wonder3:39
6."Stop on By"Truman Thomas, Bobby Womack5:41
7."Pack'd My Bags"Chaka Khan, Tony Maiden4:31
8."I'm a Woman (I'm a Backbone)"Lalomie Washburn4:06
9."At Midnight (My Love Will Lift You Up)"Tony Maiden, Lalomie Washburn3:39
Side three
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Ain't That Peculiar"Warren Moore, Smokey Robinson, Robert Rogers, Marvin Tarplin3:29
11."Stay"Raymond Calhoun, Chaka Khan5:50
12."What Cha' Gonna Do for Me"Ned Doheny, Hamish Stuart4:24
13."Do You Love What You Feel"David Wolinski6:50
Side four
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
14."Ain't Nobody" (Studio recording)David Wolinski4:41
15."One Million Kisses" (Studio recording)Kevin Murphy, Jeffrey Osborne4:10
16."Try a Little Understanding" (Studio recording)Chaka Khan, Tony Maiden4:42
17."Don't Go to Strangers" (Studio recording)Redd Evans, Arthur Kent, David Mann4:14

Personnel

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Rufus
Additional Musicians live
Background Vocals
  • Stephanie Spruill
  • Lee Maiden
  • Julia Tillman
Horn Section
  • Jerry Hey - trumpet
  • Ernie Watts - tenor saxophone, flute and all saxophone solos
  • Larry Williams - alto saxophone, flute
  • Gary Herbig - tenor saxophone, flute
Additional Musicians studio

Horn arrangements: Jerry Hey

String and horn arrangement on "Don't Go To Strangers" by Ralph Burns

Trivia

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Warner Bros. also filmed the performance for a documentary and the album was to be the soundtrack, but, for unknown reasons, decided to shelve the documentary, but still release the album.

Production

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Later samples

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Charts

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Album

Chart (1983) Peak
[3]
U.S. Billboard Top LPs 50
U.S. Billboard Top Black LPs 4

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions
US
[3]
US
R&B

[3]
US
Dance

[3]
1983 "Ain't Nobody" 22 1 6
1984 "One Million Kisses" 102 37 67

References

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  1. ^ Stompin' at the Savoy – Live at AllMusic
  2. ^ Gardener, Mike (September 3, 1983). "Rufus and Chaka Khan 'Stompin At The Savoy'". Record Mirror. Vol. 30, no. 36. p. 20.
  3. ^ a b c d "US Charts > Rufus". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-10-19.