Minnie Riperton

A Chicago singer with a five-octave reputation and a whistle register, who sang in Rotary Connection, made Come to My Garden with Charles Stepney, and took "Lovin' You" to number one in 1975.

Origin: Chicago, Illinois
Years active: 1962-1979
Genres: soul, R&B, jazz, psychedelic soul, funk
Labels: Chess, GRT, Epic, Capitol
Also known as: Minnie Julia Riperton, Andrea Davis

Bronzeville and Chess

Minnie Julia Riperton was born on November 8, 1947 in Chicago, the youngest of eight children of Thelma Inez Riperton and Daniel Webster Riperton, a Pullman porter, and grew up in Bronzeville on the South Side. She trained in ballet and modern dance, then in voice at the Abraham Lincoln Center under Marion Jeffery, with an operatic technique, and left Loop College to work in music. At 15 she was found by the blind pianist Raynard Miner and sang with The Gems, who became the session group Studio Three and sang backing vocals on Fontella Bass's "Rescue Me" in 1965. Her early singles included "I Can't Help Myself" (1964), "Baby I Want You" (1966, as Girls Three) and "My Baby's Real" (1967, as the Starlets, later a northern soul rarity), and Billy Davis wrote "Lonely Girl" for her as Andrea Davis. She sang backing vocals for Chess artists including Etta James, Ramsey Lewis, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters.

Marshall Chess formed Rotary Connection, and Riperton joined in 1966 or 1967, depending on the source. Its albums were Rotary Connection and Aladdin (both 1968), Peace and Songs (1969), Dinner Music (1970) and Hey Love (1971).

Come to My Garden

Her solo debut, Come to My Garden, was recorded from November 24 to 26, 1969 at Ter Mar in Chicago and released on GRT on September 23, 1970, produced, arranged and orchestrated by Charles Stepney. She wanted a sound like the Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach records, with lush orchestration in place of Rotary Connection's rock, and most of the songs are minor-key ballads. Phil Upchurch played guitar, Ramsey Lewis piano, Maurice White drums and Cleveland Eaton bass. It was a commercial failure, reaching 160 in 1974 after a reissue on Janus, and is now considered a masterpiece; AllMusic gives it four and a half stars. No CD was made from the original master tapes, which may have been lost.

She presented herself as a solo artist at London House in Chicago on December 26, 1970, introduced by Ramsey Lewis. She married Richard Rudolph in August 1970; their children are Marc Rudolph and the actress Maya Rudolph.

Perfect Angel and the number one

By 1973 she was in semi-retirement in Gainesville, Florida, when an Epic intern found her; Epic's Don Ellis signed her after hearing her demo of "Seeing You This Way", and the family moved to Los Angeles. Perfect Angel (Epic, 1974) was produced by Stevie Wonder, under the name El Toro Negro, and Rudolph, recorded at the Record Plant in 1973 and 1974 with Malcolm Cecil and Robert Margouleff programming synthesizers. It reached number four on the Billboard 200 and number one on the R&B chart, and is her only gold album. AllMusic's Ron Wynn called it her best album, and Pitchfork's Marcus J. Moore gave it a 9.0.

"Lovin' You" reached number one on the Hot 100 on April 5, 1975. Adventures in Paradise followed in 1975, Stay in Love in 1977, and in 1976 and 1977 she co-headlined the George and Minnie Live! tour with George Benson. She sang backing vocals on Stevie Wonder's "Creepin'" and "It Ain't No Use" (1974) and "Ordinary Pain" (1976).

Advocacy and legacy

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1976, spoke about it publicly on The Tonight Show on August 24, 1976, became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society in 1977 and received its Courage Award from President Jimmy Carter in 1978. She moved to Capitol in 1978 and released Minnie in April 1979. She died on July 12, 1979 in Los Angeles, aged 31, and the epitaph on her grave is the opening line of "Lovin' You". Love Lives Forever (1980) added vocals by Peabo Bryson, Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder.

She had two Grammy nominations for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, in 1979 and 1980, and no wins. Rolling Stone ranked her 65th on its 2023 list of the 200 greatest singers, and Mariah Carey has cited her as an influence. Her records were sampled in the 1990s by Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest and The Orb.

Records

Come to My Garden 1970 · GRT
Her solo debut, a chamber-soul record arranged by Charles Stepney that sold little and has been rediscovered.
Perfect Angel 1974 · Epic
The album produced by Stevie Wonder, with "Lovin' You" as its closing hit.

Songs

Les Fleurs Come to My Garden · 1970
The opener of Come to My Garden, first recorded by Ramsey Lewis and revived by film and television in the 2010s and 2020s.
Lovin' You Perfect Angel · 1974
A lullaby-sized love song with birdsong and a whistle register, a number one in 1975 in the United States and number two in the United Kingdom.

Stevie Wonder

Where to go next

Reference

Minnie Riperton on Wikipedia The full biography and discography.

Writing and criticism

Albumism: remembering Minnie Riperton Album-by-album anniversary pieces.
Atwood Magazine: The transcendent Les Fleurs A long read on Les Fleurs.

Live performance archives

American Songwriter: four live moments Television clips.