Patti Austin

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Patti Austin
Patti Austin at Rams Head3.jpg
Austin at the Ram's Head in Annapolis, Maryland, 2007
Background information
Born August 10, 1950 (age 66)
Harlem, New York
Genres R&B, jazz, dance, adult contemporary
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Singer
Years active 1955Present
Labels Coral, Columbia, A&M, ABC, United Artists, CTI, Qwest, GRP, Concord,
Warner Bros.
Website www.pattiaustin.com
Patti Austin (born 10 August 1950) is an American R&B, pop and jazz singer.

Contents [hide]
1 Music career
1.1 1960s1980s
1.2 1990spresent
2 Discography
2.1 Studio albums
2.2 Live albums
2.3 Compilation albums
2.4 Singles
3 Filmography
4 See also
5 References
6 External links
Music career[edit]
1960s1980s[edit]
Austin was born in Harlem, New York to Gordon Austin, a jazz trombonist,[1] and
Edna Austin and was raised in Bay Shore, New York on Long Island.[2] Quincy Jones
and Dinah Washington have referred to themselves as her godparents.[3]

When she was four years old, she made her debut at the Apollo Theater and the next
year had a contract with RCA Records. During the 1960s, she was a session musician
who sang background vocals and commercial jingles. She was known as "Queen of the
Jingles," appearing on commercials for Almay, Avon, Burger King, Impulse, KFC,
Maxwell House, McDonald's, Meow Mix, Stouffer's, and the United States Army.

In 1969, she made the R&B Top 50 with the single "Family Tree". Her debut album,
End of a Rainbow, appeared in 1976 on the jazz label CTI Records. Two years later,
she sang on the song "Love Light" by Japanese musician Yutaka Yokokura. She and
Michael Jackson performed a duet on "It's the Falling in Love", which appeared on
his album Off the Wall, and in 1980 she and jazz guitarist George Benson performed
a duet on "Moody's Mood for Love". She provided vocals for Roberta Flack, Angela
Bofill, and Noel Pointer.[4]

In 1981, she sang on the album The Dude by Quincy Jones and on the hit single
"Razzmatazz". Jones signed her to his record label, Qwest Records. Her album Every
Home Should Have One (Qwest, 1981) contained "Baby, Come to Me", a duet with James
Ingram which reached No. 1 on the pop music chart at Billboard magazine, boosted by
its appearance on the television soap opera General Hospital. A second duet with
Ingram, "How Do You Keep the Music Playing", was used on the soundtrack for the
movie Best Friends (1982).[4]

Austin's single, "It's Gonna Be Special," was featured on the soundtrack for the
movie Two of a Kind. "It's Gonna Be Special" peaked at No. 5 on the dance chart,
No. 15 on the R&B chart, and appeared on the Hot 100 pop chart.[citation needed]
The song also appeared on Austin's self-titled album in 1984.

A follow-up single, "Rhythm of the Street," remixed by John "Jellybean" Benitez,

narrowly missed the Billboard Dance Top Ten chart, though it peaked higher on Hi-
NRG charts. The two songs were featured on a double-A-side 12" single. For "Rhythm
of the Street" Austin shot her first music video.

Austin's 1985 album, Gettin' Away With Murder, was her third album in as many
years. It produced two more hit singles, "Honey For The Bees" (#24 R&B and #6
Dance) and "The Heat of Heat." The album used producers Russ Titelman, Tommy
LiPuma, Monte Moir (of "The Time") and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. Billy Joel
(Austin sang background on his "Just The Way You Are"), Dan Hartman, friends Luther
Vandross and Jocelyn Brown and Chaka Khan were among the background vocalists on
the project. Songwriters included Randy Goodrum, Michael Bolton and Jam & Lewis.

Also in 1985, Austin sang lead vocals on a collaboration with her producer, Narada
Michael Walden, and the single, "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme", hit the top 40 of the R&B
charts.

Austin appeared with Jeff Bridges and Joan Allen in Francis Ford Coppola's 1988
comedy-drama film, Tucker: The Man and his Dream.

Also in 1988, Austin released The Real Me, a collection of standards which garnered
the first of several Top 10 showings on the jazz albums chart. The Real Me was
chiefly produced by David Pack, lead singer of the pop group Ambrosia, though
Austin served as a co-producer and executive producer on the project. Other duet
partners Luther Vandross ("I'm Gonna Miss You In The Morning").

1990spresent[edit]
Austin scored a top five dance hit with the single, "Reach," from her 1994 album,
That Secret Place (GRP Records). Austin was scheduled to be on onboard United
Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, but because her mother suffered a stroke days
before her flight she cancelled it for an earlier one.[5]

In May 2000, Patti was awarded an honorary doctorate of music from Berklee College
of Music alongside Trumpeter/producer Herb Alpert and VH1 Chief Executive Officer
John Sykes. [6]

In 2002, she recorded For Ella, a tribute to jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald.[4]

In 2003, she collaborated with Frances Yip on "Papillon III" in the rotunda of San
Francisco City Hall to benefit the Jade Ribbon Campaign of Stanford University. A
companion CD/DVD was released, featuring Austin and Yip's duets of many classic
Chinese numbers sung in Mandarin and directed and arranged by Carlton Liu.[7]

During a 2007 interview, Austin spoke of reluctantly attending as a teenager one of

Judy Garland's last concerts and how the experience helped focus her career. "She
ripped my heart out. I wanted to interpret a lyric like that, to present who I was
at the moment through the lyric."[8]
At the 50th annual Grammy Awards in 2008, Austin's album Avant Gershwin won for
best jazz vocal. The album was recorded mostly live with the WDR Big Band in
Germany. The nomination was her ninth in that category.

Austin was co-producer and one of over 70 artists singing on "We Are the World: 25
for Haiti," a charity single to aid victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

In 2011, Austin released Sound Advice, an album consisting mostly of covers. Songs
included re-works of Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody;" Brenda Russell's "A Little
Bit of Love;" a lesser known Jacksons tune, "Give It Up," as a tribute to Michael
Jackson; Bill Withers' "Lean On Me," which she first sang at a milestone birthday
for Quincy Jones; Don McLean's "Vincent;" and "My Way." The album also included
"The Grace of God," written by Austin after she watched an episode of the Oprah
Winfrey Show which featured a facially scarred woman.

Austin co-wrote and sang in "L.O.V.E. Let One Voice Emerge", a non-partisan music
video to encourage voter participation.

Austin appeared in the Academy Award-winning documentary film 20 Feet from Stardom,
which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released on 21 June 2013.

Discography[edit]
Studio albums[edit]
Year Album Chart positions[9][10][11] Record label
US US
R&B US
Jazz UK
1976 End of a Rainbow (August 06, 1976) 31 CTI
1977 Havana Candy (October 26, 1977) 116
1980 Body Language 62 28
1981 Every Home Should Have One (September 28, 1981) 36 16 9 99 Qwest
1984 Patti Austin 87
1985 Gettin' Away with Murder 182 25
1988 The Real Me (August, 1988) 56 7
1990 Love Is Gonna Getcha (March, 1990) 93 45 4 GRP
1991 Carry On (November 30, 1991) 75 13
1994 That Secret Place (April, 1994) 12
1996 Jukebox Dreams (Japan Only) Pony Canyon
1998 In & Out of Love (October 13, 1998) Concord
1999 Street of Dreams (August 24, 1999) Intersound /
Platinum
2001 On the Way to Love (June 26, 2001) 21 Warner Bros.
2002 For Ella (May 21, 2002) 7 Playboy Jazz / Concord
2003 "Papillon" featuring Patti Austin and Frances Yip
Independence Label
2007 Avant Gershwin (March, 2007) 5 Rendezvous
2011 Sound Advice (January 25, 2011) 15 Shanachie
2016 Mighty Musical Fairy Tales (recorded 1992) Let's
Roar
"" denotes the album failed to chart and/or was not released in that territory
Live albums[edit]
Year Album Chart positions[9][10][11] Record label
US US
R&B US
Jazz UK
1979 Live at the Bottom Line (January 18, 1979) 33 CTI
1992 Live 20 GRP
"" denotes the album failed to chart and/or was not released in that territory
Compilation albums[edit]
Year Album Chart positions[9][10][11] Record label
US US
R&B US
Jazz UK
1983 In My Life 65 CTI
1994 The Best of Patti Austin Columbia
1995 The Ultimate Collection GRP
1999 The Best of Patti Austin (Japan Only) Warner Bros.
2001 Take Away the Pain Stain Wagram
The Very Best of Patti Austin: The Singles (1969-1986)
Warner Bros. / Rhino
2002 The CTI Collection Connoisseur
2003 Baby Come to Me and Other Hits Flashback / Rhino
2005 Love Collection Intersound
2007 Intimate Patti Austin Mosaic Contemporary
"" denotes the album failed to chart and/or was not released in that territory
Singles[edit]
Year Single Peak positions Album
US R&B US Hot 100 US A.C US Dance UK
1965 "I Wanna Be Loved / A Most Unusual Boy" 45 (Coral
45 #62471)
1966 "Take Away The Pain Stain" 45 (Coral 45 #62491)
1969 "The Family Tree" 45
1971 "Black California" (Columbia 45 #45410)
1972 "Day by Day" (Columbia 45 #45592)
1977 "Say You Love Me" 63 End of a Rainbow
1978 "Love, I Never Had It So Good" 60 Sounds...and
Stuff Like That!!
1978 "We're in Love" 90 Havana Candy
1980 "Body Language" 45 Body Language
1981 "Do You Love Me?" / "The Genie" 24 1 Every Home
Should Have One
1981 "Razzamatazz" (w/ Quincy Jones) 17 11 The Dude
"Betcha Wouldn't Hurt Me" (w/ Quincy Jones) 52 The
Dude
1981 "Every Home Should Have One" 55 62 24 Every Home Should
Have One
1982 "Baby, Come to Me" (w/ James Ingram) 9 1 1 11 Every
Home Should Have One
1983 "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (w/ James Ingram) 6 45 5
Duets
1983 "In My Life" 92 In My Life
1984 "It's Gonna Be Special" 15 82 5 Patti Austin
Two of a Kind original soundtrack
1984 "Rhythm of the Street" 11 96 Patti Austin
1984 "Shoot the Moon" 49 16 Patti Austin
1985 "Honey for the Bees" 24 6 Gettin' Away with Murder
1985 "Gettin' Away with Murder" 72 Gettin' Away with
Murder
1985 "Gimme Gimme Gimme" (w/ Narada Michael Walden) 87
1986 "The Heat of Heat" 13 55 14 76 Gettin' Away with Murder
1990 "Through the Test of Time" 60 9 Love Is Gonna
Getcha
1991 "Givin' Into Love" 55 Carry On
1992 "I'll Keep Your Dreams Alive" (w/ George Benson)
68
1994 "Reach" 4 That Secret Place
"" denotes the single failed to chart and/or was not released in/to that format
"All Behind Us Now"
Filmography[edit]
Year Film Role
1988 Tucker: The Man and his Dream Millie
2013 20 Feet from Stardom Herself
See also[edit]
Book icon
Book: Patti Austin
List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "Patti Austin - biography". encyclopedia.com. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved
2014-08-26.
Jump up ^ The New Patti Austin Retrieved 2014-09-23.
Jump up ^ Murph, John. "Patti Austin: 5 Tips for Aspiring Singers". aarp.org. AARP.
Retrieved 2014-08-26.
^ Jump up to: a b c Wynn, Ron. "Patti Austin | Biography & History". AllMusic.
Retrieved 30 November 2016.
Jump up ^ White, Beverly; Brayton, Julie. "Singer Patti Austin Talks About 9/11
Experience". KNBC. Los Angeles. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
Jump up ^ http://www.mtv.com/news/872652/jazz-beat-sonny-rollins-herb-alpert-
thelonious-monk/
Jump up ^ Engardio, Joel P. (May 22, 2002). "Dim Sum Diva". SF Weekly. San
Francisco.
Jump up ^ "Topic Galleries". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2012-05-02.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Patti Austin US chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2010-
06-14.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Patti Austin US chart history". billboard.com. Retrieved 2010-
06-14.
^ Jump up to: a b c "Patti Austin UK chart history". chartstats.com. Archived from
the original on 2013-01-02. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Patti Austin.
Patti Austin Official Website
[hide] v t e
Patti Austin
Studio albums
End of a Rainbow Havana Candy Every Home Should Have One Patti Austin The Real Me
Love Is Gonna Getcha
Live albums
Live at the Bottom Line
Singles
"Do You Love Me" "Every Home Should Have One" "Baby, Come to Me" "How Do You Keep
the Music Playing?"
Related articles
"It's the Falling in Love" The Dude "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" 20 Feet from
Stardom
Wikipedia book Book:Patti Austin
Authority control
WorldCat Identities VIAF: 5116838 LCCN: n91081711 ISNI: 0000 0001 1437 0369 GND:
13431817X BNF: cb138909814 (data) MusicBrainz: e58ae396-5050-4640-a5d1-8826b5c4ba13
Categories: American rhythm and blues singersAmerican female jazz singersAmerican
female country singersAmerican country singer-songwritersRCA Victor artistsAmerican
dance musicians1950 birthsSingers from New York CityLiving peopleGRP Records
artistsQwest Records artistsAfrican-American female singersBacking vocalists20th-
century American singers21st-century American singersPeople from HarlemGrammy Award
winnersPeople from Bay Shore, New YorkSteely Dan members
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