Esther Satterfield -

Esther Satterfield (born 1946) is an American soul singer who released the 1974–76 A&M albums Once I Loved and The Need to Be.

Background

Esther Satterfield was born in 1946 in North Carolina. She studied at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester. In 1971, Satterfield received a Bachelor of Music degree from Eastman. She sang “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” at Eastman’s April 1969 memorial service for Martin Luther King Jr. and had also appeared at the school’s 1968 King memorial in Kilbourn Hall.

During her Rochester years, Satterfield clerked in department stores and worked in the city manager’s office. She sang in nightclubs and taught music in the Rochester city schools. Chuck Mangione first heard Satterfield from an Eastman practice room. He included her on Together: A New Chuck Mangione Concert, a Mercury live album with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra recorded May 15, 1971, at the Auditorium Theatre in Rochester. Satterfield also joined Mangione for touring dates while she held a music-teaching post in the city schools. On July 7, 1973, Satterfield starred in The Esther Satterfield Show at Eastman Theatre, with Mangione as producer and conductor.

Mangione featured Satterfield on Land of Make Believe, his 1973 Mercury concert album with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra at Massey Hall in Toronto. Satterfield made her 1974 solo debut Once I Loved for Sagoma Records with guitarist Don Potter, keyboardist Gap Mangione, reedist Gerry Niewood, drummer Joe LaBarbera, bassists Al Johnson and Ed Williams, conguero Ron Davis, and arranger Chuck Mangione.

Once I Loved

Esther Satterfield released her debut solo album, Once I Loved, in 1974 on Sagoma/DGM with A&M catalog number SP-3408.

The album contains eleven outside titles, including songs associated with Miriam Makeba (“Jikele Maweni (The Retreat Song)”), Antônio Carlos Jobim (“Once I Loved”), Stevie Wonder (“You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” “For Once in My Life”), Porgy and Bess (“Summertime”), A Man and a Woman (“Love Is Stronger Far Than We”), and Summer of ’42 (“The Summer Knows”). Satterfield sings with conga player Ron Davis, drummer Joe LaBarbera, guitarist Don Potter, keyboardist Gap Mangione, reedist Gerry Niewood (saxophones, flutes, percussion), bassists Al Johnson and Ed Williams, and producer-arranger Chuck Mangione, who adds flugelhorn on “Love Is Stronger Far Than We” and “Once I Loved.”

“Lift Every Voice and Sing” rises through a church-toned lead, with Satterfield’s line held close to spare accompaniment. “Love Is Stronger Far Than We” lingers on long-breathed phrases and resolves through a poised final cadence. “Jikele Maweni (The Retreat Song)” brightens the sequence with a lighter refrain and clean forward placement for the sung line. “Look to the Children” glides through a reflective ballad contour, with the voice steady over uncluttered support. “Love Music” contracts the album’s brighter side into compact accent motion and a buoyant refrain. “Once I Loved” curls through a flexible lead, with rounded syllables and a slow close.

A1. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” (2:52) – J. Rosamond Johnson, James Weldon Johnson
A2. “Love Is Stronger Far Than We” (4:48) – Francis Lai, Pierre Barouh, Jerry Keller
A3. “Jikele Maweni (The Retreat Song)” (3:26) – Makeba
A4. “Look to the Children” (4:28) – Mangione
A5. “Summertime” (1:45) – DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin

B1. “Love Music” (2:24) – Don Potter, David Lambert
B2. “Just Leave Me Alone” (4:09) – Ron Galbraith
B3. “Once I Loved” (5:25) – Antônio Carlos Jobim, Ray Gilbert, Vinícius de Moraes
B4. “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” (3:07) – Wonder
B5. “The Summer Knows” (2:45) – Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Michel Legrand
B6. “For Once in My Life” (2:50) – Orlando Murden, Ronald Miller

Satterfield recorded Once I Loved at P.C.I. Studios in Rochester with producer-arranger Mangione and engineer Mick Guzauski. Roland Young oversaw art direction and Chuck Beeson designed the cover package. Chris Callis photographed Satterfield in a sleeveless multicolored dress before a blurred wooded backdrop.

The Need to Be

Esther Satterfield released her second album, The Need to Be, in 1976 on A&M.

The album contains three songs with a Mangione credit and outside material associated with Jim Weatherly (“The Need to Be”), Stevie Wonder (“Bird of Beauty”), Brian Ighner (“Sarah”), Michel Legrand (“You Must Believe in Spring”), Roger Davies (“Long Hard Climb”), and Cass Elliot (“New World Comin’”). Satterfield sings with Potter, Niewood, LaBarbera, and Mangione, plus bassist Chip Jackson, guitarist Peter Wofford on “You Must Believe in Spring,” concertmaster Gerald Vinci, and orchestra-personnel coordinator Kai Winding.

“The Need to Be” lingers on a first-person declaration, with Satterfield shaping long lines around the self-definition refrain. “If You Know Me Any Longer Than Tomorrow” unfurls a broad, suspended lead, with breath control carrying the phrase across the arrangement. “He’s Gone” ascends through a large ballad arc, with polished intonation set against smooth-edged accompaniment.

“Sarah” recedes into softer orchestral support under a high-register lead. “Bird of Beauty” quickens the pace with a brighter accent pattern and clipped title phrases. “You Must Believe in Spring” floats on a measured cadence, with the line held close and unforced. “Long Hard Climb” presses its ascent imagery through repeated phrases, and “New World Comin’” closes the album with direct title repetition and a firmer final cadence.

A1. “The Need to Be” (4:31) – Weatherly
A2. “If You Know Me Any Longer Than Tomorrow” (5:00) – Mangione
A3. “He’s Gone” (5:03) – B. McGrath, Mangione
A4. “Bird of Beauty” (2:48) – Wonder

B1. “Sarah” (4:28) – Ighner
B2. “You Must Believe in Spring” (3:20) – Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman, Legrand
B3. “Chase the Clouds Away” (4:13) – Mangione
B4. “Long Hard Climb” (4:09) – Davies
B5. “New World Comin’” (3:23) – Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil

Satterfield recorded The Need to Be at Manta Sound Studios in Toronto and A&M Studios in Hollywood with producer-arranger Mangione and engineer Guzauski. Ellis Sorkin assisted at A&M Studios; Gary Gray assisted at Manta Sound. Roland Young oversaw art direction and Chuck Beeson designed the cover package. The front image shows Satterfield in a close portrait against a dark ground.

The Need to Be reached No. 180 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart dated July 24, 1976.

Discography: