What Cha Gonna Do For Me Chaka Khan

• 1We Can Work It Out03:43
• 2What Cha' Gonna Do For Me (with Rufus)03:54
• 3I Know You, I Live You04:30
• 4Any Old Sunday03:38
• 5We Got Each Other03:57
• 6And The Melody Still Lingers On05:03
• 7Night Moods04:20
• 8Heed The Warning04:33
• 9Father He Said03:53
• 10Fate03:16
• 11I Know You, I Live You01:21
• Total Runtime42:08

Info for What Cha Gonna Do For Me

34 years ago today, Chaka Khan released the third full-length entry in her solo discography, an effort which featured a title track that took her to the top of the Billboard R&B Singles chart.

Given the remarkable returns she’d earned from working with producer Arif Mardin on her first two albums, 1978’s Chaka and 1980’s Naughty, but in what we’re chalking up to the classic “third time’s the charm” effect, What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me turned out to be the strongest and most consistent collaboration between the pair up to that point.

As noted, the title track co-written by noted ‘70s tunesmith Ned Doheny and Average White Band member Hamish Stuart proved to be a massive hit for Chaka, but the album actually managed to earn an additional pair of R&B Singles chart successes, although neither her cover of the Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out” (#34) nor her cover of The McCrarys’ “Any Old Sunday” (#68) came anywhere close to matching “What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me.” The album proved to be successful as well, hitting #3 on the Billboard R&B Album chart and giving Chaka what would prove to be her highest charting album until her 1984 mainstream breakthrough, I Feel For You.

What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me also turned out to be pretty big on the jazz charts as well, which is none too surprising when you look at the credits and see names like Michael and Randy Brecker, Herbie Hancock, and Dizzy Gillespie. Indeed, that jazz credibility led Chaka’s next album, Echoes of an Era, to do better on the jazz charts than the R&B charts, but when she released her self-titled album just before the end of 1982, she quickly found herself back in the top five of the R&B Albums chart.

Some would argue that Chaka Khan went on to do better albums over the course of her career, but looking back, it’s evident that What Cha’ Gonna Do for Me is where things really came together for her, and it still sounds great even now.

„As a vocalist, Chaka Khan is the one of the very few who often doesn't need great material to prosper. Thankfully, on What Cha' Gonna Do for Me that isn't the case. Teaming again with Arif Mardin, slowly but surely the two began to craft an even more successful and innovative sound. This effort not only bests the work before it, but it is Mardin's most fulfilling production since 1974's Average White Band. The cover of 'We Can Work It Out' gets a brash and funky Stevie Wonder-style arrangement, with Gregory Phillanganes doing great synth work. The biggest hit here is the melodic title track and has Khan's patented mix of sexiness and intelligent phrasing. The best song here, 'I Know You, I Live You,' displays the brilliant bass and drum team of Anthony Jackson and Steve Ferrone, whose innovation all but rendered Rufus obsolete. Their pounding yet refined sound is also on 'We've Got Each Other,' a hooky and propulsive duet with Khan's brother Mark Stevens. The ambitious and much loved 'And the Melody Still Lingers On (Night in Tunisia)' had Mardin and Khan creating pithy lyrics that paid homage to '40s jazz legends as well as all other subsequent musical geniuses. The track features a clavitar solo from Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie, and an 'excerpted' solo break from Charlie Parker. Throughout What Cha' Gonna Do for Me, Mardin seems to get amazing vocals from Khan and has he certainly had fun playing with her voice. What Cha' Gonna Do for Me is arguably the best effort of their partnership.“ (Jason Elias, AMG)

Chaka Khan, Vocals, Background Vocals, Percussion
Michael Brecker, Tenor Saxophone
Randy Brecker, Trumpet, Flugelhorn
Hiram Bullock, Guitar, Soloist
Bob Christianson, Synthesizer
Louis del Gatto, Saxophone
David Foster, Synthesizer, Mini Moog, Prophet 5
Ronnie Foster, Electric Piano
Dizzy Gillespie, Trumpet
Gary Grant, Trumpet, Brass, Overdubs
Larry Hall, Trumpet, Overdubs
Herbie Hancock, Keyboards, Bells, Oberheim, Soloist, Breakdown, Clavitar
Jerry Hey, Trumpet
Kim Hutchcroft, Reeds, Saxophone, Overdubs
Gene Orloff, Concert Master
Greg Phillinganes, Keyboards, Rhythm Arrangements, Mini Moog
Bill Reichenbach Jr., Trombone, Overdubs
David Richards, Synthesizer
Barry Rodgers, Trombone
Lew Soloff, Trumpet, Brass
Mark Stevens, Bass, Vocals
Hamish Stuart, Bass, Guitar, Vocals
Richard Tee, Keyboards, Clavinet
Michael Sembello, Guitar
David E. Williams, Guitar
Larry E. Williams, Synthesizer, Flute, Reeds, Keyboards, Saxophone, Overdubs, Horn Arrangements
Anthony Jackson, Bass
Abraham Laboriel, Bass
Steve Ferrone, Drums
Raymond Lee Pounds, Drums
Casey Scheuerell, Drums
Errol 'Crusher' Bennett, Percussion
Paulinho Da Costa, Percussion

Recorded at Mountain Studios, Montreux, Switzerland Additional recording at Atlantic Studios, New York; Sunset Sound, Los Angeles; The Automatt, San Francisco Engineered and mixed by Lewis Hahn, Jeremy Smith Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York Produced by Arif Mardin

Digitally remastered

Chaka Khan
is a true Renaissance Woman. A singer, songwriter, producer, visual artist, author, actor, philanthropist, entrepreneur, activist and mother, Chaka is an international music icon who has influenced multiple generations of artists and continues to do so. From the moment she burst onto the music scene in the 1970s as the 18-year-old lead singer of the multiracial band Rufus, her powerful voice and show-stopping stage presence set her apart from any other singer, and during her 40-year career, she has developed a vast international fan base and performed on six continents.

Chaka is a ten-time GRAMMY® Award winner (with 22 GRAMMY® nominations) who has the rare ability to sing in eight music genres, including R&B, jazz, pop, rock, gospel, country, classical and dance music. She has released 22 albums and racked up ten #1 Billboard magazine charted songs, eight RIAA certified gold singles and eleven RIAA certified gold and platinum albums. Chaka’s recorded music has produced over 2,000 catalogue song placements.

She is also the recipient of numerous awards for her extraordinary achievements in music and entertainment. Last year, the City of Chicago honored her with a Street Naming of “Chaka Khan Way” and declared Sunday, July 28, 2013, “Chaka Khan Day” in Chicago, her hometown. The weekend-long celebration included a free outdoor concert in Millennium Park. Earlier in the year she was awarded a BET Honors and was the recipient of the Trumpet Award (Legend Award); honored by the Howard Theatre Restoration, Inc., at its 2nd Annual Gala and Benefit Concert; inducted into the Apollo Legends Hall of Fame at its Annual Spring Gala; inducted into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame; honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and with the United Negro College Fund’s An Evening of Stars Tribute. She also received the Soul Train Legend Award (2009), the BET Lifetime Achievement Award (2006), the GRAMMY® Honors Award from the NARAS Chicago Chapter (2006) and the World Music Lifetime Achievement Award (2003). In 2004, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from the Berklee School of Music in Boston, MA.

In 1999, she established the Chaka Khan Foundation, which includes a variety of programs and initiatives that assist women and children at risk. In July, 2012, she received the McDonald Corporation’s 365Black Award, honoring her for her leadership of the Chaka Khan Foundation. Besides being a successful musician and a devoted philanthropist, she is also a successful entrepreneur. In 2004, she launched a line of gourmet chocolates, Chakalates, which was sold in 20 Neiman Marcus stores around the country. In February 2013, she re-launched her signature brand of chocolates nationally and internationally, and also introduced the Khana Sutra candle, the first product in a fragrance line for men, women and the home.

Chaka Khan was born Yvette Stevens in 1953. She grew up in Chicago, Illinois, the eldest of five siblings. As teenagers, she and her sister Bonnie formed a singing group, The Crystalettes, with two friends from school, and Chaka later sang with several local groups before she became the lead singer for the band Ask Rufus, which would become Rufus. With Chaka the group immediately began turning out hit after hit, and it was the beginning of a legendary music career.

Living for a time in London and Germany, she currently resides in Los Angeles. She has two children, Indira Milini and Damien. Her life and career are chronicled in her autobiography, Through the Fire, which was published by Rodale Books in 2003 and is currently being updated for re-release and adapted into a screenplay.

The year 2013-2014 marks Chaka’s 40th anniversary in music and entertainment. In March, a documentary series on her, “Being,” premiered on the Centric Channel. In May she performed in the UK at the 50th Southport Weekender event and three sold-out shows at London's famous Ronnie Scott's Jazz club with Incognito as her backing band. This past June found her at the Bonnaroo Festival in Tennessee, featured in a Super Jam with The Derek Trucks Band, Anthony Hamilton, Taj Mahal, Ben Folds, and Susan Tedeschi, and over the summer she also headlined opening night at the Toronto Jazz Festival, performed on The Wendy Williams Show and at Wendy’s private birthday party, and was named Grand Marshal for Chicago's Bud Billiken Parade, the largest and oldest African American parade. While in Chicago she performed at a benefit concert in Chicago for the Red Pump Project, which raises HIV/AIDS awareness among young girls and women. While in the city Governor Pat Quinn designated August 9th as Chaka Khan Day in the state of Illinois. The year-long celebration will include the release of her first songbook for piano, vocal and guitar, The Chaka Khan Songbook. Chaka is currently at work on a series of mixed media visual works with a planned gallery exhibition in 2015, as well as a new CD, also set for release in 2015.

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