TAKE TWO: ANITA BAKER

During a loving musical tribute while receiving this year's lifetime achievement award from BET, we were reminded of what an amazing body of work that Anita Baker has created. The now-sixty year old singer has used her smokey, deep voice throughout her incredible career to enhance soul music by utilizing jazzy vocal phasing to her romantic ballads. Baker, who tragically hasn’t been heard from much lately, has been a major influence to many contemporary singers and her sophisticated style of r&b is definitely missed in these days of rap-heavy, beat-driven music.

Baker was making the rounds performing as a teenager at Detroit nightclubs when David Washington offered her an opportunity to sing with his band, Chapter 8. The group was signed to a major label, Ariola Records in 1979 and released a self-titled album later that year. Two singles, "Ready For Your Love" and "I Just Wanna Be Your Girl" found modest success on the national r&b chart yet after the label was acquired by Arista Records, Chapter 8 were promptly dropped, partially due to the label feeling that Baker lacked "star quality".

It took some time before Baker received another chance to sing professionally. Otis Smith, who once worked with Ariola, admired her talent and encouraged her to join the record label he was starting as a solo artist. "The Songstress" was released in 1983 with four singles receiving airplay with the biggest being "Angel" which reached the top-five on the U.S. soul chart. However, when she failed to receive any royalties and the label stalled on her recording a follow-up album, Baker was forced in to a legal battle with Smith to get out of her contract.

Baker finally won her case and was allowed to sign with a new label, Elektra Records which she was given creative control with the ability to write and produce her own music. This lead to her second album, "Rapture" in 1986 and Baker's career was truly ignited. The single, "Sweet Love" crossed over to the pop charts around the world and helped the album sell over eight million copies and win Baker her first two Grammys including Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.

Baker achieved great success as a performer with best-selling albums and tours but by 1991, she took time off to start a family with her husband at the time. She returned in 1994 with "Rhythm of Love" which became another million-seller for the singer. It would be ten years before another album would materialize with "My Everything" which was released through the jazz label, Blue Note Records. A holiday record, "Christmas Fantasy" came out the following year and sadly, that has been Baker's last album to date. A single, "Lately" popped up in 2012 and there were rumors afterwards that a new album was on the horizon. But last year, Baker announced that she had, in fact, retired.

Now, Anita Baker has briefly come out of retirement to embark on a Farewell Tour to thank fans for their love and support over the years. Be sure to check out this legendary singer if you're lucky enough to have her come to your town. In the meantime, here are two of my favorite songs from Anita Baker: