Maps of Music

I'm Your Baby Tonight (1990)

Where the lyrics of I'm Your Baby Tonight take you, and where it was really made.

Whitney Houston's third album was the first one she shaped with creative control, and it reached number three on the Billboard 200 and topped the Top R&B Albums chart.

Key places

Where the album's work began (1990)

Recording site MSR Studios — Work on the album began in October 1989 at Right Track Recording in Manhattan, with Narada Michael Walden as the main producer. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Reid and Babyface begin in Hollywood (1990)

Recording site Motown Recording Studios — In March 1990, Houston started working with L.A. Reid and Babyface at Elumba Studios in Hollywood, where the title track was later recorded in a single take. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• I'm Your Baby Tonight: third studio album by American singer Whitney Houston
• Released November 6, 1990 by Arista Records
• Marked a change in Houston's musical direction
• First album on which Houston attained creative control, and she received an executive producer credit
• Blended new jack swing with hip-hop, funk and dance elements
• Shifted her focus from love ballads and occasional dance songs to a firmer dance record
• Later described as a turning point in her career

Background

• Followed the pop-heavy eponymous second album, Whitney, released three years earlier
• Black music critics accused Houston of neglecting her R&B and soul roots
• Whitney made Houston the first female artist to debut at number one on the Billboard 200
• Houston and label head Clive Davis discussed a more urban direction as early as spring 1988
• Houston convinced Davis to hire the new jack swing team L.A. Reid and Babyface

Recording

• Work began in October 1989 with longtime collaborator Narada Michael Walden, mainly at Right Track Recording in Manhattan
• Five compositions by Walden and Preston Glass were rejected by Arista before recording
• Reid and Babyface began working with Houston in March 1990 at Elumba Studios in Hollywood
• Title track delivered by Houston in a single take
• Houston contributed production on a song for the first time in her career, I'm Knockin'
• Duet We Didn't Know recorded with Stevie Wonder at Wonder's Wonderland Studios in Los Angeles
• Album finished by September 1990, with a November release set

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born August 9, 1963 in Newark, New Jersey.
• Began as a background singer for her mother Cissy Houston at age 14.
• Signed to Arista Records in April 1983 after a performance seen by Clive Davis.

Career

• Debut album Whitney Houston (1985) topped the Billboard 200 for 14 weeks.
• Second album Whitney (1987) debuted at number one in the US and UK simultaneously.
• Starred in The Bodyguard (1992); its soundtrack is among the best-selling of all time.
• "I Will Always Love You" is the best-selling single by a female solo artist.
• Died February 11, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Upon release in 1990, the album received mixed reviews from music critics
• Entertainment Weekly's David Browne called it the most perfectly realized Houston work to date, but also wrote that the album is relentlessly superficial
• Rolling Stone's James Hunter wrote that it was her best and most integrated album
• Hunter said Walden's work let her refine state-of-the-art dance pop and baroque ballads
• Time wrote that Houston comes within striking distance of classic saloon soul on the album
• Q gave a positive review and said the album confirms her right to sit atop her own particular pile
• AllMusic's Ashley S. Battel wrote that Houston attempts a larger foray into dance music with this album
• Los Angeles Times critic Chris William praised the title track as a memorable song

Reappraisal

• Critics who valued the album's earthy black music forms praised it, while others saw the shift as superficial
• Browne argued the album was proud of its superficiality and offered no content in music or lyrics
• Hunter argued the record was a case study in what Houston could do within a dance-pop framework

Records

• The album reached number three on the Billboard 200 and stayed in the top ten for 22 weeks
• It debuted at number 22 on the Billboard 200 for the issue dated November 24, 1990
• It topped the Top R&B Albums chart, her first album at number one on that chart since her self-titled debut
• It spent eight non-consecutive weeks at number one on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart
• It was the best-selling R&B album of 1991 in the United States
• It was certified platinum four times by the RIAA on April 5, 1995, with more than four million US copies sold
• It won four Billboard Music Awards, including Top R&B Album
• The UK certified it platinum for 300,000 shipments, and it reached number four on the UK Albums Chart
• It was certified platinum in Germany for 500,000 shipments in 1991
• Worldwide sales are approximately 10 million copies

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The album's title track hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and the album followed as a commercial success built on a Japan-specific edition that included Takin' a Chance
• The song The Star-Spangled Banner from Super Bowl XXV was a major boost to Houston's status during the promotion of this album
• The song My Name Is Not Susan has a remix featuring British female rapper Monie Love
• Houston became the first solo artist to take her first three albums to the top five of the Billboard 200, a feat later matched by Britney Spears
• The sold-out European leg of the tour included ten shows at London's Wembley Arena, a record-setting run
• Houston's HBO concert Welcome Home Heroes with Whitney Houston, which included songs from the album, was viewed by over 50 million viewers

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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