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4 Crossover Relationships Between Jazz/R&B Singer Randy Crawford and Famous Collaborators

During the 1980s, Randy Crawford was something of a regular on the US album charts, with his releases typically peaking in the bottom half of the charts. Billboard 200. She enjoyed even longer success on the R&B singles charts, with her songs charting well into the late 1990s. For her work with jazz keyboardist Joe Sample, Crawford was nominated for two Grammy Awards in the late 2000s. But these successes and awards did not earn her more than a fleeting presence on the US Top 40 radio stations. Crawford's greatest success as a pop artist came in the UK, where she placed 13 singles in the official singles charts, including two Top 5 hits, “One Day I'll Fly Away” and “Almaz”.

There were, however, four occasions when Crawford reached a U.S. audience beyond those familiar with her R&B and jazz hits through a collaboration. While Crawford stayed true to her jazz roots on two of those occasions, one was a collaboration with a progressive rock legend, while the other was a duet with a former teen heartthrob.

“Hoping Love Will Last” by Steve Hackett from Do not touch (1978)

Do not touch was Steve Hackett's first solo album after leaving Genesis (and his second overall), and he recorded some of the tracks in New York and Los Angeles. Crawford was one of several American musicians who contributed to the album. When it was recorded in late 1977 and early 1978, she had not yet appeared on a chart single or album in any country. In addition to Crawford, Hackett used Kansas' Steve Walsh and Richie Havens as lead singers on several tracks on the album. While Walsh and Havens each sang on two tracks, the ballad “Hoping Love Will Last” is the only song on which Crawford sang.

Hackett did not release “Hoping Love Will Last” as a single, but Do not touch is his most successful solo album (highest ranking: 103rd place) with the longest stay (14 weeks) on the Billboard 200. The guitar expert was so enthusiastic about the song that he made it the last track on his 1992 compilation album. The unauthorized biography.

“Street Life” by The Crusaders from Life on the street (1979)

The jazz fusion band The Crusaders were on their way to the Billboard Hot 100 since their instrumental cover of Stevie Wonder's “Uptight (Everything's Alright)” reached No. 95 in 1966. However, “Street Life” was the first – and last – time that either The Crusaders or Crawford had a top 40 hit, as it reached No. 36 on the Hot 100. A re-recorded version of “Street Life” was used in the films Sharky's Machine And Jackie Brown.

The song was co-written by Sample and Will Jennings. Sample was keyboardist for the Crusaders and Jennings became Steve Winwood's long-time lyricist as well as co-writer of Celine Dion's “My Heart Will Go On” and Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes' “Up Where We Belong,” among many other hits. This would not be the first or last time Crawford worked with Sample. He was part of the World Jazz Association's All Star Band and in that capacity Sample played on Crawford's 1976 debut album with Everything must change.

“Your Precious Love” by Al Jarreau and Randy Crawford from Casino Lights by Various Artists (1982)

Crawford sang all four songs from side one of the Casino Lights Soul-jazz compilation. It included three duets with Al Jarreau, who was adept at jazz-pop crossovers. Their cover of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's 1967 hit “Your Precious Love” was recorded at Mountain Studios in Montreux, Switzerland, and the performance is packed with star power. In addition to Crawford and Jarreau, the track features Richard Page of Mr. Mister and Chicago's Bill Champlin, and Larry Carlton, a frequent collaborator with Steely Dan, plays the song's guitar solo.

Crawford and Jarreau's version of “Your Precious Love” narrowly missed the Hot 100, reaching number 2 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Chart. It also spent 15 weeks on Billboard's R&B charts, actually lasting two weeks longer than Gaye and Terrell's original.

“Taxi Dancing” by Rick Springfield from Hard to hold (1984)

Former teen star Rick Springfield spent much of the '80s writing songs that appealed to Top 40 and rock listeners. Springfield's fourth single from the soundtrack to the 1984 film Hard to hold was a change from his usual song. “Taxi Dancing” is a straightforward pop ballad with Crawford and Springfield taking turns on lead vocals on each verse and singing lead vocals together on the chorus. While it's probably the poppiest song Crawford has sung on, it didn't quite match the success of “Street Life.” “Taxi Dancing” spent 10 weeks on the Hot 100, peaking at number 59.

While Hard to hold is technically a soundtrack album, but it also serves as Springfield's eighth studio album. He wrote and performed seven of the album's ten songs, with Graham Parker, Nona Hendryx and Peter Gabriel performing the rest.

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Photo by Laurent Gillieron/EPA/Shutterstock

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