Funky Serenity

Funky Serenity
Studio album by
Ramsey Lewis
ReleasedJanuary 30, 1973
RecordedOctober 1972
GenreJazz
Length48:07
LabelColumbia
KC 32030
ProducerRamsey Lewis
Ramsey Lewis chronology
Upendo Ni Pamoja
(1972) 		Funky Serenity
(1973) 		Ramsey Lewis' Newly Recorded All-Time Non-Stop Golden Hits
(1973)

Funky Serenity is an album by the pianist Ramsey Lewis, released in 1973 on Columbia Records. The album got to No. 6 on the Billboard Jazz Albums chart.[1]

Samples

"Dreams" was sampled by A Tribe Called Quest on the song "Electric Relaxation", from their 1993 LP Midnight Marauders. Beck also sampled "My Love For You" on the song "Debra."[2][3]

"My Love For You" was also sampled by Musiq Soulchild on the track "Girl Next Door." What's more, Lewis' rendition of Luther Ingram's "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" was sampled by The Fugees on "Fu-Gee-La."[3][4]

Producer Kanye West also sampled Lewis' cover of The Stylistics' "Betcha by Golly, Wow" for the Mariah Carey song "Stay the Night" on her 2005 LP The Emancipation of Mimi.[5]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[6]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[7]

Andrew Hamilton of AllMusic called the album "enjoyable and essential".[6]

Track listing

All compositions by Cleveland Eaton, Morris Jennings and Ramsey Lewis except as indicated

  1. "Kufanya Mapenzi (Making Love)" (Eddie Green) - 5:17
  2. "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" (Homer Banks, Carl Hampton, Raymond Jackson) - 5:24
  3. "What It Is!" - 2:41
  4. "My Love for You" (Green) - 5:14
  5. "Nights in White Satin" (Justin Hayward) - 5:36
  6. "Serene Funk" - 4:11
  7. "Dreams" - 9:39
  8. "Betcha by Golly, Wow" (Thom Bell, Linda Creed) - 5:09
  9. "Where Is the Love" (Ralph MacDonald, William Salter) - 4:56

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Billboard Best Selling Jazz LPs. Vol. 85. Billboard Magazine. June 2, 1973. p. 13.
  2. ^ "Ramsey Lewis – Dreams", genius.com, retrieved 2023-12-12
  3. ^ a b "Ramsey Lewis – My Love For You", genius.com, retrieved 2023-12-12
  4. ^ "Ramsey Lewis – If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want to Be Right", genius.com, retrieved 2023-12-12
  5. ^ "Ramsey Lewis – Betcha By Golly Wow!", genius.com, retrieved 2023-12-12
  6. ^ a b Hamilton, Andrew. "Ramsey Lewis: Funky Serenity". allmusic.com. Allmusic.
  7. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 888. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.