Randy Crawford

Veronica "Randy" Crawford (born February 18, 1952, Macon, Georgia) is an American jazz and R&B singer. She has been more successful in Europe than in the United States, where she has not entered the Billboard Hot 100 as a solo artist. She has had multiple top five hits in the UK, including her 1980 #2 hit, "One Day I'll Fly Away".

Career
Crawford first performed at club gigs from Cincinnati to Saint-Tropez, but made her name in mid 1970s in New York, where she sang with jazzmen George Benson and Cannonball Adderley. Adderley invited her to sing on his album, Big Man (1975). Crawford recorded "Don't Get Caught in Love's Triangle," produced by Johnny Bristol, during her short stint on the Fantasy label.

In 1978, Crawford performed on the second solo album of former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett. She sang vocals on "Hoping Love Will Last", the opening song on side two of Please Don't Touch.

She led R&B veterans The Crusaders on the transatlantic hit "Street Life" (1979). This song stayed atop the U.S. jazz chart for twenty weeks and has since become both a rare groove and disco classic. It was featured in the soundtrack for the film, Sharky's Machine, and appeared in commercials in the early 2000s. She moved to Warner Bros. and after "Street Life," recorded and toured Europe with the Crusaders. Crawford was named the 'Most Outstanding Performer' at the 1980 Tokyo Music Festival.

Her follow-up solo efforts included "One Day I'll Fly Away" (1980); "You Might Need Somebody" (1981); and "Rainy Night in Georgia" (1981); which all became soul standards. The album, Secret Combination (1981) stayed on the UK Albums Chart for sixty weeks, after which her profile dipped, despite a return to the UK Top Ten with "Almaz" in 1986. She remained with Warner Bros. through to the early 1990s, but was unable to score either a big R&B hit or major crossover success, despite having one of the most readily identifiable voices and distinctive approaches of any contemporary female vocalist.

Naked And True (1995) brought Crawford back to her roots: it included George Benson's "Give Me the Night", and confirmed her soul heritage by featuring Funkadelicists Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell and the Fred Wesley Horns. She enjoyed her highest profile of the decade when rising starlet, Shola Ama, had a worldwide hit with her 1997 cover of "You Might Need Somebody".

Crawford recorded a live session with Joe Sample on July 24, 2007, at Abbey Road Studios for Live from Abbey Road. The episode she shared with David Gilmour and Amos Lee was screened on the Sundance Channel in the U.S. and Channel 4 in the UK.

She has sung with Bootsy Collins, Johnny Bristol, Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau, Rick Springfield, Steve Hackett, and Joe Sample amongst others. The soundtrack of The Competition, entitled "People Alone", was revived by Filipina singer Jamie Rivera in 1999.

Albums

 * Everything Must Change (1976)
 * Miss Randy Crawford (1977)
 * Raw Silk (1979)
 * Now We May Begin (1980)
 * Secret Combination (1981)
 * Windsong (1982)
 * Nightline (1983)
 * Abstract Emotions (1986)
 * Rich and Poor (1989)
 * Through the Eyes of Love (1992)
 * Don't Say It's Over (1993)
 * Naked and True (1995)
 * Every Kind of Mood: Randy, Randi, Randee (1997)
 * Play Mode (aka Permanent) (2000)
 * Feeling Good (with Joe Sample) (2006)
 * No Regrets (with Joe Sample) (2008)
 * Live (with Joe Sample) (2012)

Compilation albums

 * The Competition (1980, soundtrack, Oscar nominated theme song "People Alone")
 * Sharky's Machine (1981 soundtrack, new version of "Street Life")
 * Greatest Hits (1984)
 * Wildcats (1986 soundtrack, song "Don't Wanna Be Normal")
 * Love Songs (1987)
 * The Very Best of Randy Crawford (1993)
 * Best of Randy Crawford (1996)
 * Jackie Brown (1997, soundtrack, "Street Life" – Sharky's Machine newer version)
 * Best of Randy Crawford and Friends (2000)
 * Love Songs: The Very Best of Randy Crawford (2000)
 * Hits (2002)
 * The Ultimate Collection (2005)
 * Pop-Jazz Volume One (2006)
 * The Best of Randy Crawford (2011)

Singles
Most of the following singles charted in various countries.

Guest appearances

 * "Hoping Love Will Last", on Steve Hackett's album, Please Don't Touch.
 * "Come Il Sole All'improvviso" and "Imagine" on Zucchero's album, Zucchero Live at the Kremlin.
 * "Taxi Dancing", on Rick Springfield's album, Hard to Hold.
 * "Fallen", on Presuntos Implicados' live album, La Noche

Awards

 * 1982 BRIT Awards – Best female solo artist.