A Letter to Myself

For the Sherman Chung album, see A Letter to Myself (Sherman Chung album).
A Letter to Myself
Studio album by
The Chi-Lites
ReleasedMarch 1973
GenreR&B, soul
Length46:23
LabelBrunswick
ProducerEugene Record
The Chi-Lites chronology
Greatest Hits
(1972) 		A Letter to Myself
(1973) 		Chi-Lites
(1973)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]

A Letter to Myself is the fifth studio album by American soul group The Chi-Lites, produced and largely written by lead singer Eugene Record. The album was released in 1973 on the Brunswick label.

History

The first single released from the album was "We Need Order" and the song peaked at #13 on the R&B chart and #61 on Billboard Hot 100. The title track was released as the second single and peaked at #3 on the R&B chart and #33 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was the third of four consecutive Chi-Lites albums to make the R&B top 5 (reaching #4), but has only a moderate critical reputation, with none of the tracks being considered as strong as the highlights on (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People or A Lonely Man.

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."A Letter to Myself"Eugene Record, Sandra Drayton5:30
2."Too Late to Turn Back Now"Eddie Cornelius4:25
3."Just Two Teenage Kids (Still in Love)"Eugene Record, Barbara Acklin, Carl Davis5:56
4."Sally"Eugene Record, Sandra Drayton3:36
5."Someone Else's Arms"Eugene Record, Barbara Acklin4:11
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
6."We Need Order"Eugene Record, Quinton Joseph5:20
7."Love Comes in All Sizes"Eugene Record5:58
8."My Heart Just Keeps on Breakin'"Eugene Record, Stan McKinney4:05
9."You Smiled the Same Old Way"Eugene Record6:40

Personnel

  • Eugene Record, Marshall Thompson, Robert "Squirrel" Lester, Creadel "Red" Jones – vocals
  • Thomas (Tom Tom) Washington – piano
  • Arthur Hoyle, Raymond Orr, Murray Watson – trumpets
  • Murray Watson, Raymond Orr – flugelhorn
  • Cliff Davis – baritone saxophone, flute, tenor saxophone, alto saxophone
  • Gene Barge – alto saxophone
  • Frank Robinson – tenor saxophone, flute
  • William A. Adkins – tenor saxophone, piccolo
  • Morris Ellis – trombone, bass trombone
  • Ethel Merker, Julia M. Studebaker – French horn
  • Bobby Christian, Floyd Morris – marimba, tympani, orchestra bells
  • Floyd Morris – cello
  • Sol Bobrov, Elliot Golab, Edward Green, Gerasim Warutian, Frank Borgognone, Roger Moulton, Johnny Frigo – violins
  • Carl Fruh, Roger Malitz, Emil Mittermann – viola
  • Eugene Record – electric bass, organ, electric guitar
  • William Robinson – electric bass
  • Rufus Reid – upright bass
  • Cy Touff – harmonica
  • Danny Reid – electric guitar
  • Ron Steele – acoustic guitar
  • Quinton Joseph – drums

Production

  • Eugene Record – producer
  • Thomas (Tom Tom) Washington – arranger, conductor, associate producer
  • Bruce Swedien – audio engineer, associate producer
  • Quinton Joseph – associate producer, director
  • Willie Henderson – director
  • William Sanders – arranger

Charts

Chart (1973) Peak
[2]
U.S. Billboard Top LPs 50
U.S. Billboard Top Soul LPs 4
Singles
Year Single Peak chart positions
US
[2] 		US
R&B
[2]
1972 "We Need Order" 61 13
1973 "A Letter to Myself" 33 3
"My Heart Just Keeps on Breakin'" 92 46

References

  1. ^ Hamilton, Andrew. A Letter to Myself review at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
  2. ^ a b c "US Charts > The Chi-Lites". Allmusic. Retrieved 2013-03-31.