What Am I Gonna Do

Gloria Scott | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 16, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Reel Music
• ASIN: B0025KN582
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,288 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Review

In the annals of popular music, the legacy of Barry White is secure. His blend of pop, soul, and disco was a style unto itself. His distinct voice purred low and seductively underneath his Love Unlimited Orchestra. There is no doubting his influence on the two generations of crooners who followed, though no one has quite captured the sophistication of his seminal work from the 1970s. However, there is one individual who is often overlooked in White's oeuvre. Her name is Gloria Scott.

Right about the time Barry White had begun his ascent on the pop and R&B charts, an album entitled What Am I Gonna Do (1974) hit record store shelves. It was slated to launch the solo career of the Bay Area-based Scott, following her work with the likes of Sly Stone, Johnny Otis, and Ike & Tina Turner. Scott was signed to White's Soul Unlimited production company whereupon White produced all eight tracks on What Am I Gonna Do. Back to front, it was a first-class production on par with anything White released at the time or would later record. It also marked the second release for Neil Bogart's newly launched label, Casablanca Records.

However, a combination of factors, including the growing pains of a new record company and White's focus on his own burgeoning career, ultimately limited the reach of What Am I Gonna Do. Though a follow-up single, Just As Long as We're Together, hit the R&B Top 20 and held the top spot on the Disco Singles chart in early-1975, the second album she recorded with arranger H.B. Barnum was not released. For all his solo success, Barry White was not delivering on his contract with Gloria Scott. He became one of the most seminal figures of the 1970s while Scott faded into obscurity.

Until recently. Soul music enthusiasts have long revered What Am I Gonna Do and kept Gloria Scott's name alive more thirty years after her debut, which is her only full-length album released to date. Since 1974, it's had a few resurrections around the world, including a 1996 CD issue in Japan and a European release in 2003. The album is currently reissued by Reel Music. More than 26,000 hits of uploaded streams from What Am I Gonna Do and the Just As Long as We're Together single on YouTube have raised Scott's profile higher now than 35 years ago. --Popmatters.com, March 2009

Product Description

2009 is the 35th anniversary of this classic soul album,originally released in the Casablanca label in 1974. Produced by Barry White, this album has achieved almost cult-like status and has been out of print on CD for several years. This new edition includes a bonus track in the instrumental What Shall I Do as well as the title track hit and the northern soul classic (A Case Of) Too Much Love Makin'. The 16 page full color booklet includes an extensive essay and interview with Gloria. Remastered in 24 bit from the original analog masters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Soul Gem, June 23, 2003

By 

"konnmann" (Calumet City, IL. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Am I Gonna Do (Audio CD)

This is truely a wonderful album. Although it's labeled a funk album because of a couple of tracks, don't be fooled the is classic seventy soul at it's best. Gloria Scott was a protege of the great Barry White and along with Tom Brock they crafted this wonderful album. This album plays like a complete thought which is truly rare nowadays. If your looking for a great soul album that defines it's era, look no further.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare Classic No One Knows About, April 2, 2008

By 

Cabir Marc Davis (Amazon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Am I Gonna Do (Audio CD)

How does this remarkable little album still remain unknown? I found it recently on an obscure label in a CD Store and grabbed it, as the legendary prices it commanded on Ebay were common knowledge to followers of the neo-soul movement.

For newcomers to the album, this album was released in 1974 in limited quantities on vinyl, and to date is vocalist Gloria Scott's only album (no one knows what happened to her either). As the only album she recorded, it failed within the US, but for some reason developed a cult following in Europe, and strangely enough, in Japan. In fact, the Japanese audience was sizable enough that the first ever CD release of this happened only within Japan.

Cut to 2003, when Mercury Records finally decide to release this on CD within the States, but again in limited quantities, which is bad news for you because you might not be able to find this as easily as you think you might be able to.

So what does the music sound like - well, think of some old school Diana Ross, slowed down even more and layered with a luscious jazz and blues ambience. Its stripped down, almost acoustic, and yet every track manages to sound different and unique. My personal favorite is "Its Better to have no Love" which best exemplifies the kind of superb songwriting that was present back in the 1970s. "A Case of too Much Lovemakin" was actually a minor R&B hit within the US in 1974 - but ask anyone who followed music back in that year about Gloria Scott and they'd go "Who?"

I love obscure, rare releases such as this one. Gloria Scott created an instant classic, and it holds up just beautifully. I'd suggest you get your hands on this as soon as possible. I think Mary J Blige possibly has this album though, as almost EVERY song on this album sounds like it could have inspired almost all of the best songs in Blige's catalog. Either way, this is a must-have.

Five Stars

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bought it right away!!, August 24, 2007

By 

Emmett Miller (AUSTIN, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Am I Gonna Do (Audio CD)

When I first heard this hot item played on WBLS in NYC, I knew I had to have it! The next day I tore into "Bondy's" to snatch the LP right-up!! It's a classic, and the LP still remains one of the most highly-sought soul/dance items of the '70s! To have it on CD is a collector's delight! Wonder where she is today??