Maps of Music

Tuskegee (2012)

Where the lyrics of Tuskegee take you, and where it was really made.

Lionel Richie's album of country duets returned him to number one on the Billboard 200 for the first time since 1986.

Key places

Nashville recording sessions (2012)

Recording site Nashville — Blackbird Studios in Nashville is credited as a recording site for the album, alongside Starstruck Studios and Backstage at Sound Stage Studios. The pin is set at city-center level, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

New York recording site (2012)

Recording site Power Station Studio — Avatar in New York City is credited as a recording site for some tracks, together with Pain In The Art Studios and Blackbird Studios. The pin marks the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Tuskegee: eleventh studio album by American singer Lionel Richie
• Released March 5, 2012 by Mercury Records
• Made entirely of reinterpretations of songs Richie had released before
• Each song is sung with a different guest artist, all of them stars of the country music genre
• Discogs describes it as a collection of Richie's songs re-recorded with mostly country artists
• Title named after the Alabama city where Richie was born
• Richie later completed his undergraduate degree at Tuskegee Institute in that city

Background

• Richie had country connections in his earlier work too
• "Lady" was originally offered to Kenny Rogers, and Rogers takes part in this remake
• The original version of "Deep River Woman" featured Alabama; here it is sung with Little Big Town
• In a 2012 interview, Richie said that in old Alabama, country music was pop music

Recording

• Nashville studios credited for the sessions: Blackbird Studios, Starstruck Studios and Backstage at Sound Stage Studios
• Avatar in New York and Pain In The Art Studios are also credited for some tracks
• Mastering was done at Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born June 20, 1949, in Tuskegee, Alabama; grew up on the Tuskegee Institute campus and attended Tuskegee Institute on a tennis scholarship.
• In the late 1960s he joined the Commodores as singer and saxophonist; they moved from Atlantic to Motown, first as a support act to The Jackson 5.
• Commodores' early funky sound ("Machine Gun", "Brick House") gave way to romantic ballads he wrote and sang, such as "Easy", "Three Times a Lady", "Still" and "Sail On".

Career

• 1974: first commercial songwriting success with "Happy People", recorded by The Temptations as a No. 1 R&B hit.
• 1980: wrote "Lady" for Kenny Rogers, a US No. 1; produced Rogers' album Share Your Love in 1981.
• 1981: "Endless Love", a duet with Diana Ross, became one of Motown's biggest hits.
• 1982: debut solo album Lionel Richie, with the No. 1 single "Truly", sold over 4 million copies.
• 1983: Can't Slow Down won Album of the Year and sold over twice as many copies; "All Night Long" was a No. 1 hit.
• 1985: co-wrote "We Are the World" with Michael Jackson; "Say You, Say Me" from White Nights won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.
• 1986: Dancing on the Ceiling, his last widely popular album; a break from recording followed until the 1992 hits collection Back to Front.
• Sold over 90 million records worldwide and won four Grammy Awards.
• Judge on American Idol from its 16th season (2018 onward).
• 2022: inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: average score 74 based on 8 reviews, indicating generally favorable reviews
• Boston Globe critic Sarah Rodman called the album an enjoyably sunny new album, noting that the calculated feel is outweighed by the guests' good time
• Nate Chinen called it a sleek, sure-footed new country duets album and said Richie sounds terrific
• Entertainment Weekly's Mikael Wood found it gratifying to see so many A-list Nashville stars on the record
• Rolling Stone's Rob Tannenbaum said the collaborations jell because Richie's style is so expansive
• BBC Music's Lloyd Bradley said Richie is a pop artist of substance whose touch of class reaches the mainstream
• Los Angeles Times' Randy Lewis said Richie never really steps away from the polished sheen of his heyday
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine said the record generates a bit of déjà vu

Reappraisal

• AllMusic rating: 3 out of 5
• Rolling Stone rating: 3 out of 5

Records

• Debuted at number two on the Billboard 200, behind Madonna's MDNA
• First-week sales of 199,000 copies, Richie's best sales week since SoundScan began tracking in 1991
• Fell to number four in week two with 95,000 copies sold
• Reached number one in week three with 129,000 copies sold
• Richie's third number-one album, and his first since Dancing on the Ceiling in 1986
• RIAA platinum certification on May 3, 2012, for one million units shipped in the US
• 1,071,000 copies sold as of December 2012
• UK Albums Chart debut at number seven with 19,320 first-week copies; Richie's eleventh UK top 10 album
• Canadian Albums Chart debut at number one with 18,000 copies
• Spent two weeks on the French Top Albums chart, starting at number 134
• Deep River Woman reached number 60 on Billboard Hot Country Songs
• Lead single Endless Love reached the Top 20 of the Adult Contemporary chart

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Endless Love" with Shania Twain was the lead single, released in the United States on February 7, 2012
• In Denmark, "Say You, Say Me" with Rasmus Seebach was released as the first single on February 22, 2012
• Four promotion singles came out before the album: "Easy", "Just for You", "Stuck on You" and "Hello"
• "Deep River Woman" was never released as a single, but it charted on country radio from unsolicited airplay
• "Lady" was first offered to Kenny Rogers, and Rogers sings on this remake
• In a 2012 interview, Richie said that in old Alabama, country music was pop music

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

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