Minnie Riperton Biography

Minnie Riperton	Minnie Julia Riperton Born: 1947-11-08 Birthplace: Chicago, IL Died: 1979-07-12 Location of Death: Los Angeles, CA Cause of Death: Cancer - Breast Race: Black Field: Singer Famous for: Lovin' You Minnie Riperton Offical Website: http://www.minnieriperton.com/
Field: Singer

Minnie Julia Riperton (November 8, 1947 - July 12, 1979) was a soul singer from Chicago, Illinois, most noted for her abilities in the whistle register and her 1975 hit single "Lovin' You". Having possessed a rare five octave vocal range, she displayed the ability to imitate instrumentation and even birds.

As a child, Riperton studied music, drama, and dance, and seriously considered a career in opera. However, her affiliation with the famous Chess Records record label soon allowed her to sing backup for Etta James, Fontella Bass, and Stevie Wonder. Riperton sang lead vocals for several small, unsuccessful bands before teaming up with her husband, composer Richard Rudolph, to start her solo career. Stevie Wonder agreed to produce her album, Perfect Angel, featuring "Lovin' You", a ballad to her two-year old daughter Maya.

Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a mastectomy in 1976. She became an active spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society and was awarded the Society Courage Award from President Jimmy Carter. She died in 1979 at the age of 31 and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

In addition to her musical legacy, Minnie Riperton is survived by her son, Marc Rudolph and daughter, Maya Rudolph, a current cast member of Saturday Night Live.

Minnie Julia Riperton was born on November 8, 1947 to Daniel and Thelma Riperton. The youngest of eight children in a very musical family, Riperton embraced the arts very early in life. Although she started in ballet and modern dance, Riperton's parents recognized her coloratura abilities early in life, and she soon shifted to music and voice.

Minnie Riperton received operatic vocal training at the Lincoln Center by Miss Marion Jeffery. There she would practice breath control, holding vowels for extended times and phrase enunication, with particular care for diction. Jeffery also would train all of her range, which is rather unusual in operatic training as many classical purists deem the seventh octave unmusical.

While studying, Riperton sang operettas or a show tune, in preparation for a life in opera. Jeffery was so convinced in her pupil's coloratura abilities, she strongly pushed her to study the classics further at Chicago's Junior Lyric Opera. However, this was the '60s and Minnie was becoming very interested in soul, rhythm and blues, and rock. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at Loop College, but dropped out after a mere three weeks.

Riperton's first professional appearance occurred when she was 15 as part of The Gems. Raynard Miner, a blind pianist, heard Riperton during her membership in Hyde Park's A Capella Choir. The Gems had relatively limited commercial success with Chess Records, but the group proved to be a good outlet to expose Riperton's talents to the music industry at large. Eventually the group became a session trio (to back other albums) called 'Studio Three'. In 1964 the Gems released a local-hit "I Can't Help Myself" and their last single, "He Makes Me Feel So Good" was released in 1965. After that the group released records under numerous names - most notably 1966's "Baby I Want You" by the Girls Three and 1967's "My Baby's Real" by the Starlets. The former has achieved cult-status with Northern Soul fans and remains a favorite. The latter was a Motown-styled song reminiscent of Tammi Terrell. In 1968 "Watered Down" was released as a follow-up, under the name the Starlets. Ultimately it was the last release of Riperton's girl-group. "My Baby's Real" by the Starlets and "He Makes Me Feel So Good" by the Gems can be purchased on CD on Ace's Where the Girls Are V.3.

While a part of 'Studio Three', Riperton met her mentor, producer Billy Davis. He would write her first local hit "Lonely Girl" and "You Gave Me Soul". In honor of Davis, she used the "showbiz name", Andrea Davis, for the release of those two singles. Afterwards, she would use her real name.

Some months after her Andrea Davis singles hit the radio, Riperton would join the Rotary Connection, a funky rock-soul group creation of Marshall Chess, the son of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess. The band consisted of Riperton, Chess, Judy Hauff, Sidney Barnes and Charles Stepney. While she was in Rotary Connection, she met Richard Rudolph, her future husband and songwriting partner. The group released their debut in 1967, eventually releasing four more albums, 1968's Aladdin, the Christmas album Peace, Songs, and finally 1970's Dinner Music.

In 1973, a college rep for Epic Records found Riperton, then a semi-retired homemaker and mother of two in Gainesville, Florida. After he heard a demo of the song "Seeing You This Way", which showcased her coloratura, the rep took the tape to Don Ellis, VP of A&R for Epic. Minnie signed with Epic Records and the family moved to Los Angeles, California. After meeting with Stevie Wonder and recording the background for his song "It Ain't No Use" with Deniece Williams and Lani Groves, Wonder produced Minnie's second LP entitled Perfect Angel. Including the rock-soul anthem "Reasons", the second single "Take A Little Trip", and the third single "Seeing You This Way", sales of the album started out slow. Epic was ready to move on to the next record, but Rudolph convinced them to release another single. With the fourth single "Lovin' You", the album really caught on. In 1974, the song went to the top of the charts in the US, number two in the UK in 1975, and number three on the R&B charts in the US. The album Perfect Angel went platinum, and Minnie was finally revered as the "lady with the high voice".[citation needed] The album also featured the song "Every Time He Comes Around", featuring Deniece Williams as the operatic soprano in the background. People who don't know the music of Riperton well may believe her to be a one-hit wonder, despite having a fairly successful R&B career.

After Perfect Angel, Minnie Riperton and Richard Rudolph started on Riperton's second album Adventures in Paradise. Keyboardist Joe Sample played throughout the album and helped co-write "Adventures in Paradise". The album was a modest success. Despite the R&B hit "Inside My Love" (a number five US R&B hit, later covered by Trina Broussard, and Chanté Moore), the album didn't match the success of Perfect Angel. Riperton would sink back into mainstream obscurity, but enjoyed a good career in R&B.

In 1976, Riperton's attorney Mike Rosenfeld and her husband orchestrated a move to Capitol Records. After inking a new deal with Capitol, Minnie released her third album titled, "Stay in love". This album featured another colloaboration with Stevie Wonder in the funky, disco tune, 'Stick Together'.

1979 saw the release of her fourth (and final during her lifetime)album, eponymously called Minnie. The last song Minnie recorded was Give Me Time, a melancholy ballad once again featuring Stevie Wonder. Her last televised performance was on an episode of The Merv Griffin Show (aired July 6, 1979), where she performed Memory Lane, featuring her enunciating the phrase "Oh Why", high in the seventh octave.

In 1976 Riperton revealed to Flip Wilson, who was guest-hosting for Johnny Carson, that she had breast cancer.

Minnie continued touring in 1977 and 1978, but eventually the cancer took its toll. Despite a mastectomy, the disease had already spread to her lymph nodes and in 1979 was discovered to be terminal. At the end, Minnie entered Cedars-Sinai Hospital, and at approximately 10:00 a.m. on July 12, 1979, she died, with her husband by her side, aged 31.

After Riperton passed, several artists recorded posthumous duets with Minnie, including Peabo Bryson and Michael Jackson. After her last single, Give Me Time, Love Lives Forever was released in 1980. Richard Rudolph had a song that never got recorded. The song, Now That I Have You was given to Teena Marie, who recorded it (and co-produced it with Rudolph) for use on her sophomore LP Lady T. Finally, in 1982, Capitol Records released The Best Of Minnie Riperton, a greatest hits collection.

Aside from her various hits, Riperton is perhaps best remembered today for her ability to sing in the whistle register. She had a rare facility in this register, and was capable of executing trills, runs, and other vocal acrobatics in this register. Riperton possessed a five octave vocal range (the liner notes to her Petals legacy album ascribe to her a five and a half octave range), easily singing well into the seventh octave. She was also noted for her ability to sound almost mechanical or instrumental in the whistle register. In "You Take My Breath Away," she sings a crescendo scale ending two octaves above the staff. Having an innate ability to imitate many instruments helped lead to her discovery while she was a secretary at Chess Records.