| Contact | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
_cover.jpeg.webp) | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1971 | |||
| Genre | Pop, R&B | |||
| Label | Invictus | |||
| Producer | Greg Perry, William Weatherspoon, Ronald Dunbar | |||
| Freda Payne chronology | ||||
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Contact is Freda Payne's fourth American released album and her second for Invictus Records. The majority of the material on this album contains sad themes, with the exception of "You Brought the Joy." The album begins with a dramatic 11-minute medley of "I'm Not Getting Any Better" and "Suddenly It's Yesterday," both of which were written by Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier. Some people thought that Holland and Dozier were trying to compete with Diana Ross's hit "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" as both songs contain spoken segments and dramatic musical arrangements. The only cover song is "He's in My Life", which was an album track by The Glass House featuring Freda's sister Scherrie Payne. It was written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Eddie Holland (under their common pseudonym "Edythe Wayne" to avoid copyright claims by their former employer Motown), jointly with Ron Dunbar.
Three singles were lifted from this album: "Cherish What Is Dear to You (While It's Near to You)," "You Brought the Joy," and "The Road We Didn't Take." The anti-war protest song of "Bring the Boys Home" was released before the latter two to high demand and was not included in the first 50,000 copies of this album. After it became a hit (giving Payne her second gold record), it replaced "He's in My Life" as the album's fourth track.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "I'm Not Getting Any Better" | Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier | 6:45 |
| 2. | "Suddenly It's Yesterday" | Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier | 4:24 |
| 3. | "You Brought the Joy" | Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier | 3:00 |
| 4. | "Bring The Boys Home" | Angelo Bond, General Johnson, Greg Perry | 3:22 |
| 5. | "You've Got to Love Somebody (Let It Be Me)" | William Weatherspoon, Raynard Miner | 3:01 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Prelude" | Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier | 0:53 |
| 2. | "The Road We Didn't Take" | Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, D. Dumas | 4:17 |
| 3. | "Odds and Ends" | General Johnson, Greg Perry | 3:50 |
| 4. | "Cherish What Is Dear to You (While It's Near to You)" | Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, Angelo Bond | 3:56 |
| 5. | "I Shall Not Be Moved" | Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier | 2:43 |
| 6. | "Mama's Gone" | General Johnson, Greg Perry, Ronald Dunbar | 3:23 |
- Later pressings contain the 1971 hit "Bring the Boys Home" in place of "He's In My Life" as the fourth track on side one.
Album credits
- All songs published by: Gold Forever Music Inc., BMI
- Produced by: Greg Perry, William Weatherspoon and Ronald Dunbar
- Arrangers: H.B. Barnum, McKinley Jackson and Tony Camillo
- Engineers: Lawrence T. Horn, Barney Perkins
- Album design/concept: CRAIGBRAUNINC
- Photography: Steve Berman
- Jacket/poster: Mfg'd by SOUND PACKAGING CORP.
Charts
- Album
| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Pop Albums | 76 |
| Black Albums | 12 |
- Singles
| Single | Chart (1971) | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| "Cherish What Is Dear to You (While It's Near to You)" | Black Singles | 11 |
| Pop Singles | 44 | |
| UK Singles Chart | 46 | |
| "Bring the Boys Home" | Black Singles | 3 |
| Pop Singles | 12 | |
| "You Brought the Joy" | Black Singles | 21 |
| Pop Singles | 52 |
| Single | Chart (1972) | Peak position |
|---|---|---|
| "The Road We Didn't Take" | Pop Singles | 100 |