Stares and Whispers is Freda Payne's seventh studio album released in 1977; it was also her first for Capitol Records. The last two tracks, "Loving You Means So Much to Me" and "Bring Back the Joy," were co-written by Payne's then-husband, Gregory Abbott, the latter of which was co-written by Payne herself. Four tracks were lifted from the album, "I Get (High on Your Memory)," "Bring Back the Joy," "Love Magnet," and "Feed Me Your Love." "Love Magnet" was the only one of the four that charted.[2]
The album was re-released by a British label called Soulmusic.Com on July 26, 2011. The reissue contains three bonus tracks ("I Can't Live on a Memory," "Baby You've Got What It Takes," and "I Wanna See You Soon", a duet with the Tavares from their album Love Storm) and an essay about Payne's life and career during the recording and release of the album, which was written by David Nathan, founder of Soulmusic.com.
Ed Hogan of AllMusic gave the album 2 out of 5 stars stating "One of the LP's singles, "Bring Back the Joy" is melodic, has two tempos, and conga breaks. Other standouts are the loping, spacy mid-tempo single " I Get High (On Your Memory)" and the coy "Loving You Means So Much to Me," co-written by Gregory Abbott of "Shake You Down" fame."
Saxophone: William Green, Ernest Watts, Terry Harrington (courtesy of Karma/A&M Records)
Strings and Horns: David Vandepitt on "Master of Love," "Love Magnet"; Bruce Miller on "Stares and Whispers," "Feed Me Your Love," "Loving You Means So Much to Me"
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