Customer Reviews

Pebbles

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this album, if the option was around 12 years ago to review this album, I would've been raving the same way. I loved Pebbles and Girlfriend was the jam at all of my teenage parties. Ultimately Pebbles was unable to grow with the trends of the '90's, but she was certainly entertaing for her time. She is a quintessential eighties girl, who made 80's music.

I found out Pebbles in late 2001. After buying a mix cd with the single remix version of "Mercedes Boy",it was enough to make me a new fan . I am now going to get all 3 of her albums including " Greatest Hits" . I suggest new fans of her work pick up "GREATEST HITS" first because it has all the superior radio versions of her songs,if you don't you know what your missing! SIGNED MUSIC FAN.

A fine singer, Pebbles (born Perri McKissack on 8-29-65) got off to a pretty good start with her debut album, which yielded two Top 10 pop hits "Girlfriend" and "Mercedes Boy" and the Top 10 R&B hit "Take Your Time". The album also contains the beautiful nonhit ballad "Slip Away". Though she only recorded 3 albums, Pebbles has been a force in the music industry in other ways. She is a cousin of singer Cherrelle, former wife of prolific producer L.A. Reid, and founded/managed TLC (one of the most successful girl groups ever).

Reportedly, she is nicknamed "Pebbles" for a supposed resemblance to the cartoon character Pebbles Flintstone. Somebody please explain this to me, because I'm just not getting that one.

Beats the crap outta Lady Goo Goo and Bieber. Todays music sucks so bad you have to go back and pick up everything you missed in the 80s 90s and even 70s.

This cd is hot .I love the singles girlfriend and mercedesboy.I also like take your time,slip away,do me right.ths cd is a mustfor pebbles fan.

MERCEDES BOY AND GIRLFRIEND ARE THE MOST POPULAR TRACKS ON THIS VERY 80'S ALBUM.TOWARDS THE ALBUMS' END PEBBLES REALLY GETS TO SING ON "BABY LOVE" AND "GIVE ME YOUR LOVE" AND THE RESULT IS THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL SEARCHING FOR LOVE AND TRYING TO KEEP IT !

Fitting in with the R&B-dance flavour of Jody Watley, Karyn White, and Cherrelle, was the cousin of the latter, Perri McKissack, who went by the moniker Pebbles. Although I don't see the resemblance between her and the cartoon character of the same name, Pebbles yielded a few albums before going more into management. Pebbles though did better on the R&B and dance charts.

The first I'd heard of her was her contribution on the Beverly Hills Cop 2 soundtrack, the funk dance of "Love/Hate," which was produced by Andre Cymone, who'd done splendid work for Jody Watley's first album. This could've easily fit on Watley's album.

"Girlfriend" though was her first Top 40 hit, reaching #5. A typical piece of soul-dance with a pulsing funky bass and string orchestration, it's not bad, but an unlikely song to reach its position. The version of "Mercedes Boy" here is not the heavily redone radio mix. Why is it I prefer the original versions to the radio ones in all songs? Pebbles' highest charting pop singles hit, reaching #2. Nice enough song with a smooth beat, but again, an unlikely song to get so high.

Two other songs I was keen on other than the singles were the back-to-back Jets-like "First Step (In The Right Direction)" a reasonably upbeat number, and the swinging horn and synth tune "Take Your Time."

"Do Me Right" is a more relaxed mid-paced number with the usual funky synths and a host of nice backing vocals. "Baby Love" is along the same line, but the closing song "Give Me Your Love" is a nice lush synth ballad that could've been a single.

Pebbles got a lot of help on her debut, including the Sembello brothers, Babyface, Andre Cymone, and the man whom she married, Bam Bam, sorry, I mean, L.A. Reid, who also wrote songs on Karyn White's debut album. While her debut album boasts some standout tracks, and nice instrumentation, the album's mostly in second gear as opposed to Jody Watley's fourth gear debut.

pebbles has a very good first album. her music is fun to listen to. i like the songs girlfriend,mercedes boy,slip away,two hearts,do me right,take your time,and give me your love. pebbles would later manage the singing group tlc. take time to listen to this album. you will love it. yabba dabba doo! ok i adnit it,i had to get at least one flintstones refernce in! ed wilson

I agree with the reviewer "Daniel" from Japan, this CD needs more OOMPH. If you think I'm crazy, consider this......Yes, this is the same CD that propelled Pebbles to the top of the R&B ranks in 1987 and 1988 on the strength of the two smash singles "Girlfriend" and "Mercedes Boy". But keep in mind those two singles are the EXTENDED versions on this CD, not the original Edit Remix #1 versions on the radio. So if you're looking for the radio hit versions, you're better off getting "The Best of Pebbles - Greatest Hits", which contains not only those two hit singles, but also her #1 smashes "Giving You the Benefit" and "Love Makes Things Happen" (duet with Babyface) from her follow-up release "Always".

Aside from the two hit singles, the only other album tracks that stand out are "Baby Love" and "Giving You My Love" which slows the tempo down for Pebbles to put some emotion into her singing. The rest of the tracks are very typical 1980's synthesized beat fare. The songs are not memorable and are no different than those heard on Vanessa Williams or Janet Jackson releases from the 1980's. On this front, the Pebbles debut CD loses points on originality and production values. You get the feeling Pebbles and her producers are on cruise control and not really putting all that much into the album tracks. I do not feel the two hit singles are worth plunking your hard-earned dollars on this CD. The better deal is her "The Best of Pebbles" for sure.

Taken on a individual level, the real standout track here is still "Mercedes Boy" with the slinky guitar riff riding along with Pebbles cooing vocals. With her come-on's to the listener "do you want to ride in my Mercedes...R-i-i-a-a-a-y-y" it's simply too hard to resist! The imagery projected by the suggestive lyrics is simply astounding for an R&B song written in ANY era. Every time that song comes on, you can picture yourself as the driver taken on a slow, long ride with Pebbles in her Mercedes. Even today, this song is still very memorable for its writing and production. It's the one song that will always be associated with Pebbles.

In closing, I have to say her follow-up CD "Always" is superior on many levels, especially the production and quality of songwriting. Her singing also improves in terms of bringing out the song's emotional core for the listener. The #1 smash "Giving You the Benefit" is still a foot-tapper. I dare you to keep you foot from moving when that song comes on. Her duet with Babyface on "Love Makes Things Happen" is timeless and played at many weddings. Its tender vocals will melt the hardest of hearts. The other album tracks are DA BOMB and there's not a filler throw-away among them. Too bad Pebbles has dropped off the musical map, the last I heard she was planning a summer tour. So I hope she makes it happen !

I completely disagree with the comparisons to Janet Jackson's control album? They don't even sound the same? Not to mention Pebbles didn't focus on dancing like JJ did. Janet doesn't focus on singing at all as we all can hear. Pebbles didn't rely on production contrary to the prevailing opinion that LA/Face created her. This cd (album then) is very very good. I gave it 4 stars since there are a couple of songs I really dislike? "Take your Time" and "Love/Hate" are just not good songs at all. They don't even fit her style, some producer must've needed filler for the album. Everything else is quite good, some are great obvioulsy. "Do Me Right" was a much better single to me, the remix is great w/ Babyface backing her up. Everybody loves the two MegaHits "Girlfriend, and Mercedes Boy" but I love the ballads. She has an equal number of ballads on this cd, the best being "Baby Love, then Slip Away", they both showcase her voice, which is still so pleasing to listen to. I actually think Pebbles music gets better with age, mostly because there's no quality out there now like her hardly. Most of the singers now just sound plain dirty or irritating. Pebbles voice was sweet and soulful, with a touch of class and attitude. Missing from today's music scene. If you're looking to bulk up your R/B collection, Pebbles deserves to be near the top of the shelf.