Album Essentials: Corinne Bailey Rae (2006)

By Dave Swanson - Summit FM Contributor

Born in Leeds, England, in 1979, Corinne Bailey Rae has long forged her own path. Her first proper gig with her band was in 1996. It would be another ten years before she finally released her debut LP. During that decade, she gained a great deal of insight into herself, her music, and the music industry. "There's an immense amount of snobbery in the British art scene," she told the Guardian upon the album's release, saying she sacrifices a few friendships in the quest for her art.

Recalling past heroines from Billie Holiday to Erykah Badu, Rae's style was a combination of her influences over the years, which included classic soul, jazz, and pop. On her debut, she mixes it all up into something familiar, yet fresh. Not only was she the vocalist, but she wrote, or co-wrote, all the songs. And, as if that weren't enough, she also contributes her talents on acoustic, electric, Spanish, and bass guitar as well as a variety of keyboards. Time has treated the album, now nearly 20 years old, quite kindly. Her beautiful voice was hard to deny or ignore.

The first single from the album, 'Like A Star,' introduced this fresh voice and broke into the UK Top 40, but it was the follow-up that would put her in the spotlight in her native England. 'Put Your Records On' was a huge hit, clocking in at #2 in the UK. The song was notable for its references to Bob Marley in the lyrics.  It would also be her first inroad in the US as it gained airplay on a variety of radio stations, including pop, jazz, and R&B stations. It stayed on the Billboard 200 for the next year and a half. Two more singles would follow with lesser success.

The album certainly struck a chord at a time when her classic, yet contemporary, style of song seemed anything but fashionable. Her songs tend to recall her past while looking straight ahead to the future, saying that her songs are "about my internal world, my experiences, and relationships, stories I had or had heard." That debut album earned her some notable fans, including Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, and Oprah, among others. It would go on to achieve gold and platinum status around the world, laying the groundwork for what has turned out to be a healthy and enjoyable career that continues to this day.