Be Yourself

Be Yourself
Studio album by Patti LaBelle
Released	1989
Recorded	1988-1989
Genre	Contemporary R&B, pop rock, dance-pop, soft rock
Length	53:38
Label	MCA
Producer	Full Force, Prince, Narada Michael Walden, Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach, Stewart Levine
Patti LaBelle chronology
Winner in You (1986) Be Yourself (1989) This Christmas (1990)

Be Yourself marked Patti LaBelle's ninth solo album and her first since 1986's platinum hit, Winner in You, released in 1989 on the MCA label, her second album with the company. The album featured the popular singles, "If You Asked Me To", which was also featured on the James Bond soundtrack to the movie, Licence to Kill and the top ten Prince-written socially conscious dance hit, "Yo Mister". The album also featured the modest R&B hit, "I Can't Complain", which charted in 1990. Despite this, it failed to go gold in the U.S.

Tracklisting

1. "If You Asked Me To" – 3:58 (Diane Warren)
2. "I Can't Complain" – 5:08 (Sami McKinney, Raymond Jones)
3. "Be Yourself" – 5:40 (Bunny Hull, Thelma Houston, Jeff Hull)
4. "Yo Mister" – 5:08 (Prince)
5. "I Got It Like That" – 5:38 (Full Force)
6. "Love 89" – 5:09 (Prince, Sheena Easton)
7. "Still in Love" – 4:36 (Narada Michael Walden, Jeffrey Cohen)
8. "I'm Scared of You" – 4:46 (Allan Dennis Rich, Alan Roy Scott)
9. "Can't Bring Me Down" – 4:13 (Tena Clark, Gary Prim)
10. "Need a Little Faith" – 4:00 (Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager)
11. "I Can Fly" – 5:22 (Theodore McLean, Budd Ellison, Patti LaBelle)

Personnel & Production^[1]

• Track 1 arranged by Aaron Zigman. Produced by Stewart Levine. Recorded & Mixed by Darren Klein. Bunny Hull, Paulette Brown, Valerie Pinkston-Mayo: Vocal Backing; Michael Landau: Guitars; Aaron Zigman: Keyboards, Synthesizers; Lenny Castro: Percussion
• Track 2 arranged & produced by Raymond Jones & Sami McKinney. Recorded & Mixed by Larry Fergusson. Gerald Albright: Saxophone; Raymond Jones: Keyboards; Larry Robinson: Drum Programming
• Tracks 3, 9 & 11 produced by James Ellison. Tracks 3 & 9 arranged by James Ellison; track 11 arranged by Nathaniel Wilkie. Recorded & Mixed by Bob Fintz & Joe Tarsia; tracks 3 & 11 remixed by Louie Silas. Annette Hardeman, Desiree Coleman, Paula Holloway, Thelma Houston, Charlene Holloway, Deborah Dukes, Freddie Washington, Gabriel Hardeman Jr., O.J. Smallwood: Vocal Backing; James Ellison: Keyboards, Percussion; Nathaniel Wilke: Keyboards, Synthesizers; George Duke: Piano; James Herbert Smith: Guitars; Lenny Castro: Percussion; Jim Salamone: Drum Programming
• Tracks 4 & 6 arranged, produced and played by Prince. Recorded, mixed & remixed by Timmy Regisford.
• Track 5 arranged, produced, recorded & mixed by Full Force. Full Force: All instruments, vocal backing; Lisa Lisa, Cheryl "Pepsii" Riley: Vocal Backing
• Track 7 arranged by Jerry Hey. Produced by Narada Michael Walden. Recorded & mixed by David Frazier. Claytoven Richardson, Jim Gilstrap, Kitty Beethoven, Melisa Kary: Vocal Backing; Corrado Rustici: Guitars; David Sancious, Walter Afanasieff: Keyboards; Randy Jackson: Moog Bass; Kenny G: Saxophone; Narada Michael Walden: Drums, Drum Programming; Greg Conaway: Cymbals & Percussion
• Track 8 arranged & produced by Alan Roy Scott & Alan Dennis Rich. Lyndie White, Mona Rae Campbell, Ronee Martin: Vocal Backing; Mark Leggett: Guitars; Brad Cole: Keyboards; Dominic Genova: Bass; Tom Walsh: Drums, Percussion
• Track 10 arranged & produced by Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager. Recorded & Mixed by Mick Guzauski. Joe Pizzulo, Julia, Maxine & Oren Waters, Phil Perry, Stephanie Spruill: Vocal Backing; Randy Kerber: Piano; Michael Boddicker: Synthesizers; Dann Huff: Guitars; Neil Stubenhaus: Bass; Jeff Porcaro: Drums; Lenny Castro: Percussion

References