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Be What You Are

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Be What You Are
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 1973
Recorded1973
GenreSoul
Length51:56
LabelStax
ProducerAl Bell
The Staple Singers chronology
Be Altitude: Respect Yourself
(1972)
Be What You Are
(1973)
City in the Sky
(1974)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Christgau's Record GuideB[2]

Be What You Are is a soul album by the Staple Singers, released in September 1973. It reached number 13 on the Billboard Top Soul LPs chart. The first single, "Be What You Are", fared poorly; however, the follow-up, "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)", was a top ten hit, peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the R&B Singles chart. The third single, "Touch a Hand, Make a Friend" charting at number 23 on the Hot 100 and number three on the R&B chart in 1974.

Guitarist Jimmy Page played acoustic and electric guitars as well as a solo on the last song, "Heaven." Stax engineer Terry Manning was a friend of Page's and worked on Led Zeppelin III.[3]

Track listing

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# Title Writer(s) Time
1 "Be What You Are" Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson, Carl Hampton 5:03
2 "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)" Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson, Carl Hampton 4:29
3 "Medley: Love Comes in All Colors/Tellin' Lies" Bettye Crutcher/Carl Smith 8:51
4 "Touch a Hand, Make a Friend" Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson, Carl Hampton 4:04
5 "Drown Yourself" Bettye Crutcher 4:38
6 "I Ain't Raisin' No Sand" Darryl Carter, Mack Rice 6:33
7 "Grandma's Hands" Bill Withers 2:43
8 "Bridges Instead of Walls" Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson, Carl Hampton 4:04
9 "I'm on Your Side" Homer Banks, Raymond Jackson, Carl Hampton 4:00
10 "That's What Friends Are For" Parsons, Penney, Mack Rice 4:16
11 "Heaven" Terry Manning 3:36

Personnel

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Charts

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Chart (1973) Peak
position
Billboard Top LPs[4] 102
Billboard Top Soul LPs[4] 13

Singles

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Year Single Chart positions[5]
US
Pop
US
Soul
1973 "Be What You Are" 66 18
"If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)" 9 1
1974 "Touch a Hand, Make a Friend" 23 3

References

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  1. ^ Elias, Jason. The Staple Singers: Be What You Are > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  2. ^ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: S". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 13, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  3. ^ Ross, Michael (June 2015). "Forgotten Heroes: Pops Staples". Premier Guitar.
  4. ^ a b "The Staple Singers US albums chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
  5. ^ "The Staple Singers US singles chart history". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2011-10-07.
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