Randy Crawford

Infobox musical artist
Name = Randy Crawford


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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Veronica Crawford
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Born = birth date and age|1952|2|18
Macon, Georgia, United States
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Instrument = Vocals
Genre = Jazz, R&B
Occupation = Singer
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Randy Crawford (born Veronica Crawford, February 18 1952, in Macon, Georgia), is an American jazz and R&B singer.

Career

Crawford first performed at club gigs from Cincinnati to Saint-Tropez, but made her name in mid 1970s in New York, where she sang with jazzmen George Benson and Cannonball Adderley. Along the way she has sung with Bootsy Collins, Johnny Bristol, Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau and others.

She then led R&B veterans The Crusaders on the transatlantic big hit "Street Life" (1979). This song stayed atop the U.S. jazz chart for twenty weeks and has since become both a rare groove and disco classic. It was featured in the soundtrack for the film Sharky's Machine and appeared in commercials in the early 2000s. Her follow up solo efforts included "One Day I'll Fly Away" (1980, Grand Prize for Tokyo International Music Festival and UK #2); "You Might Need Somebody" (1981); and "Rainy Night in Georgia" (1981); which all became soul standards. The album, "Secret Combination" (1981) stayed on the Billboard album chart for sixty weeks, after which her profile dipped, despite a return to the Top Ten with "Almaz" in 1986.

"Naked And True" (1995) brought Crawford back to her roots: it included Benson's "Give Me The Night", and confirmed her soul heritage by featuring Funkadelicists Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell and The Fred Wesley Horns. But she enjoyed her highest profile of the decade when rising starlet, Shola Ama, had a worldwide hit with her 1997 cover of "You Might Need Somebody".

Discography

Hit Singles

The following singles charted in various countries.

Albums

* "Everything Must Change" (1976)
* "Miss Randy Crawford" (1977)
* "Raw Silk" (1979)
* "Now We May Begin" (1980)
* "Secret Combination" (1981)
* "Windsong" (1982)
* "Nightline" (1983)
* "Abstract Emotions" (1986)
* "Rich and Poor" (1989)
* "Through the Eyes of Love" (1992)
* "Don't Say It's Over" (1993)
* "Naked and True" (1995)
* "Every Kind of Mood: Randy, Randi, Randee" (1997)
* "Play Mode" (aka "Permanent") (2000)
* "Feeling Good" (with Joe Sample) (2006)

Compilations

* "The Competition (1980, soundtrack, Oscar nominated theme song "People Alone")
* "Sharky's Machine (1981 soundtrack, new version of "Street Life")
* "Greatest Hits" (1984)
* "Wildcats (1986 soundtrack, song "Don't Wanna Be Normal")
* "Love Songs" (1987)
* "The Very Best of Randy Crawford" (1993)
* "Best of Randy Crawford" (1996)
* "Jackie Brown" (1997, soundtrack, "Street Life" - "Sharky's Machine" newer version)
* "Best of Randy Crawford and Friends" (2000)
* "Love Songs: The Very Best of Randy Crawford" (2000)
* "Hits" (2002)
* "The Ultimate Collection" (2005)
* "Pop-Jazz Volume One" (2006)

Awards

* 1982 BRIT Awards - Best British female solo artist

Feeling Good. Up for Grammy Nomination.

Guest Appearances

* "Gotta Go", on tobyMac's album "Welcome to Diverse City".
* "Hoping Love Will Last", on Steve Hackett's album "Please Don't Touch".
* "Come Il Sole All'improvviso" & "Imagine" on Zucchero's album "Live At The Kremlin".

Abbey Road

Randy Crawford recorded a live session with Joe Sample on 24th July 2007 at Abbey Road Studios for Live From Abbey Road. The episode she shared with David Gilmour and Amos Lee was screened on the Sundance Channel in the USA and Channel 4 in the UK.

References

* Guinness Book of British Hit Singles - 16th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-190-X
* Guinness Book of British Hit Albums - 7th Edition - ISBN 0-85112-619-7

External links

* [http://www.e-fansite.com/randycrawford Randy Crawford Website ]
* [http://www.musicianguide.com/biographies/1608002305/Randy-Crawford.html Randy Crawford's biography] at musicianguide.com
* [http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/crawford_randy/artist.jhtml Randy Crawford at Vh1]
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* [http://music.yahoo.com/ar-309337-bio--Randy-Crawford Randy Crawford biography at Yahoo Music]