Guy (album)

Guy
Studio album by Guy
Released June 14, 1988
Recorded Chung King Studios
Sound Works Studios
Unique Studios
New York City, New York
Hillside Studios
Englewood, New Jersey
Quantum Studios
Jersey City, New Jersey
Genre New jack swing[1]
Length 45:08
Label Uptown, MCA
Geffen (2007 reissue)
Producer Guy (exec.), Andre Harrell (exec.), Gene Griffin, Teddy Riley
Guy chronology
Guy
(1988)		 The Future
(1990)
Singles from Guy
  1. "'Round and 'Round (Merry Go 'Round of Love)"
    Released: 1988
  2. "Groove Me"
    Released: 1988
  3. "Teddy's Jam"
    Released: 1988
  4. "I Like"
    Released: 1989
  5. "Spend the Night"
    Released: 1989

Guy is the eponymous debut studio album by American R&B band Guy, released on June 13, 1988, by Uptown Records. It was produced by group founder Teddy Riley and manager Gene Griffin.

The album peaked at number 27 on the Billboard 200 chart. In July 1994, it was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of two million copies in the United States.

In 2007, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the album, Geffen Records reissued the recording complete with a remastered version of the original album and a second CD of remixes.[2]

Background

The origins of Guy came about when Aaron Hall and Timmy Gatling worked at the same clothing store, Abraham & Straus in New York.[3] Riley was introduced to Hall by way of Gatling and the three then decided to form a group. Riley and Gatling were in a group prior to forming Guy called Kids At Work.[4] Producer and manager Gene Griffin introduced them to Uptown Records founder Andre Harrell, who immediately signed the trio.[3] After they were signed, they moved to Washington, D.C. to live with Griffin. However, things went south after Hall and Gatling were fighting the entire time of the recording.[3] Gatling then left the group and was replaced by Aaron's younger brother Damion Hall.[3]

Recording

The album was recorded at several studios in New York—Chung King Studios, Sound Works Studios, and Unique Studios in New York City, Hillside Studios in Englewood, and Quantum Studios, Jersey City. The recording sessions were engineered by Tony Bennett's son Dave Bennett[3] and Dave Kowalski. The album was mixed by Timmy Regisford, who would work with Riley on a number of projects over the next few years.

Guy was initially recorded at the house of Riley's mother.[3] The reason for it was because the group had no money to record like they wanted in a professional studio.[5] Although they did get around to recording in a professional setting, in the end, they used most of the vocals recorded from home because Riley felt they sounded better.[3]

One of the songs on the album- "You Can Call Me Crazy"- was originally intended for singer Al B. Sure! for his debut album In Effect Mode.[6] Griffin took the song back as he felt the album needed to be filled. In the end, they decided to keep the song on the album with Sure!'s background vocals still on the recording.[6]

Another song on the album "Piece Of My Love" was the source of an urban legend for a number of years. It was assumed that Hall sang the words "dumb bitch" at the beginning of the track.[7] The rumor was so widespread, it was even referenced by Common in his song "Reminding Me (Of Sef)", the first single from his 1997 album One Day It'll All Make Sense.[8] In a 2000 interview with Vibe Magazine, Riley insisted that it wasn't what Hall was saying, but rather "come on, babe". To further support his claim, he played the master tapes and isolated Hall's vocals to prove otherwise.[9] The album started recording in October 1987 and was completed in March 1988.[3]

A new jack swing album, Guy incorporates hip hop, R&B, and funk styles.[10]

Commercial performance

Guy peaked at twenty-seven on the U.S. Billboard 200 and reached number one on the R&B Albums chart where it remained for five nonconsecutive weeks.[11] The album was certified platinum in March 1989 and double platinum by July 1994.[12] In addition, Guy was the highest charting R&B album on the Billboard Year-End chart for 1989.

Critical reception

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album an "A–" and recommended for listeners to "absorb the beats and focus in on Aaron Hall". He felt that the band "sound[s] like almost arrogantly anonymous light funksters listeners" and found Riley and Hall underwhelming as soul singers, but stated, "where Bobby Brown and Al B. Sure! play the love man falsetto straight, Hall adds depth by straying toward the manly emotionalism of the church. And unlike most light funksters, Riley doesn't aspire to slow ones."[13] John Leland of Spin viewed Guy as exemplary of contemporary new jack swing albums, which he felt all sound "low-budget, without effects or orchestra, but yet they're very sophisticated".[14]

Alex Henderson of Allmusic gave Guy four-and-a-half out of five stars in a retrospective review, crediting the album for doing "more than any other to make [new jack swing] so incredibly popular in the R&B world" and citing it as "one of the most seminal and influential releases of the late '80s".[10]

Track listing

No. TitleMusic Length
1. "Groove Me"  Gatling, Griffin, Hall, Riley 4:34
2. "Teddy's Jam"  Griffin, Riley 3:35
3. "Don't Clap... Just Dance"  Gatling, Griffin, Hall, Riley 5:03
4. "You Can Call Me Crazy"  Gatling, Griffin, Hall, Riley 4:06
5. "Piece of My Love"  Gatling, Griffin, Hall, Riley 5:15
6. "I Like"  Gatling, Griffin, Hall, Riley 4:54
7. "'Round and 'Round (Merry Go 'Round of Love)"  Gatling, Griffin, Hall, Riley 4:17
8. "Spend the Night"  Griffin, Hall, Riley 4:26
9. "Goodbye Love"  Gatling, Griffin, Hall, Riley 5:04
10. "My Business"  Gatling, Griffin, Hall, Riley 3:54

Charts

Album

Chart (1988)[11] Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200 27
U.S. R&B Albums 1

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions[15]
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 U.S. Dance Music/Club Play Singles U.S. Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks
1988 "'Round and 'Round (Merry Go 'Round of Love)" — — — 24
"Groove Me" — 33 17 4
"Teddy's Jam" — 25 8 5
1989 "I Like" 70 36 9 2
"Spend the Night" — — 35 15

"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Personnel

Information taken from Allmusic.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Eddy, Chuck (March 2011). "Essentials: R&B Rubs Hip-Hop the Right Way and the New Jack Swing Era Is Born". Spin (New York): 84. Retrieved March 15, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Guy (Extra Tracks, Special Edition)". remastered studio album. amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-05-09.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Williams, Chris. "Teddy Riley revisits crafting Guy’s debut album | Return To The Classics". article. soulculture.com. Retrieved 5/8/2014. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  4. ↑ "Teddy Riley In the Mix". waves.com. Waves Audio, Ltd. Retrieved 2014-09-26.
  5. ↑ Murphy, Keith. "Full Clip: Teddy Riley Runs Down His Entire Catalogue Ft. Keith Sweat, Guy, Bobby Brown, Michael Jackson, Blackstreet, and Lady Gaga". interview. vibe.com. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
  6. 1 2 "Class Of ’88: GUY". interview. allhiphop.com. Retrieved 2014-05-08.
  7. ↑ "Piece of My Love by Guy". songfacts.com. Songfacts. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
  8. ↑ "Common - Reminding Me (Of Sef) Lyrics". metrolyrics.com. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
  9. ↑ hampton, dream (February 2000). Hard Rock: Nas, Eve and Sisqo Take it to the New Millennium. Vibe Magazine.
  10. 1 2 Henderson, Alex. "allmusic ((( Guy > Review )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  11. 1 2 "allmusic ((( Guy > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  12. ↑ "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - June 29, 2010 : Search Results - Guy". RIAA. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  13. ↑ Christgau, Robert (May 14, 1989). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice (New York). Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  14. ↑ Leland, John; Fab Five Freddy (December 1988). "Spins". Spin (New York): 101. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
  15. ↑ "allmusic ((( Guy > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  16. ↑ "allmusic ((( Guy > Credits )))". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-06-29.

External links

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