Teena Marie: Ultimate Collection

Teena Marie

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 1, 2000)
• Original Release Date: February 1, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hip-O Records
• ASIN: B000046PUF
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,337 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

All-Music Guide writer Alex Henderson put it best: "No White artist has sung R&B more convincingly than Teena Marie." This tempest is a teacup, or "little munchkin White girl," as mentor Rick James once referred to her, belted out some of the most robust, authentic R&B of the late-'70s.

From the get-go, her identity was shrouded in secrecy. To prolong the ruse, her debut album on Gordy featured no photos of her, only a soft-focus image of the sea and sky. The ploy worked: Her first single, "I'm a Sucker for Your Love," a duet with Rick James, reached #8 R&B. When the truth was learned and the jig was up, it was too late: an R&B hitmaker was let lose, and there was no stopping her. Between '79 and '91, she had 23 R&B hits; of those Seven were Top 10.

For the First Time, her finest fire from both her Gordy/Motown and Epic years is captured on a single CD, including "I Need Your Lovin'"; "Suqare Biz"; "Lovergirl"; her two duets with Rick James, "I'm a Sucker for Your Love" and "Fire & Desire"; and her tribute to fellow Motown-to-Sony defector, Marvin Gaye, "My Dear Mr. Gaye."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost "Ultimate:" Motown and Epic Music On One Album, February 21, 2000

By	Sara Stromseth "midwesterngirl" (Cresco, IA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Teena Marie's tenure with Motown Records (where she had the distinction of being it's most successful white singer) and her later affiliation with Epic (where she arguably reached her artistic maturity) both offer differing but important glimpses into Marie's gifts as an artist. Marie's Motown recordings showcased her youth, her exhuberance, and the live instrumentation and snazzy, jazzy horn section made for some great dance floor hits: among them, "Square Biz" (one of the first songs to incoporate a rap--and by a white woman, no less!), and "It Must Be Magic." At Motown, Teena Marie also began exploring the epic, grand-passion ballads that would grow into her strength on Epic Records. Her Motown affiliation does, however, offer some fine ballads: among them "Portuguese Love," an impassioned and long torch song featuring an ad lib by Rick James, her onetime producer and recently-confirmed onetime lover. When Teena Marie moved to Epic Records in 1982 and released the album "Robbery," she let loose on the ballads and released some memorable love songs; unfortunately, they are not to be found in this not-quite "Ultimate Collection." It is nice to see the exotic "Latin Lullaby," a song she wrote and performed on saxaphone goddess' Pamela Williams debut album, "Saxtress." Also of interest is the jazzy number "Work It," one of Marie's most danceable tracks, from her 1988 album "Naked To The World." "The Ultimate Collection" would have lived up to it's title had it included some of the showstopping ballads Marie released at both Motown and Epic, such as "Yes Indeed," "Where's California," "We've Got To Stop Meeting Like This," "Out On A Limb," "Dear Lover" and "Shadowboxing." The novelty in this release is that it contains both Marie's Motown and Epic affiliations, and that is commendable. But in order to get the true scope of Teena Marie's talents, check out "Lovergirl: The Teena Marie Story" for her Epic-related work and "Greatest Hits: IMPORT" for her Motown work.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but not THE ultimate, April 20, 2000

By	Kwadwo O. Burgee (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This cd is put together pretty well. Anyone who is being introduced to Teena Marie's music for the very first time should have this cd. Her R&B ballads are composed very well, and it's a wonder to listen to the extended versions of her songs, such as "Portuguese Love", "If I Were a Bell", and "Deja Vu" (the last two are NOT on this compilation, btw). However, for those who have heard her before, this compilation falls short. Some songs such as "Alladin's Lamp", "Shadow Boxing", and "Cassanova Brown" are noticeably absent. (A Best of Teena Marie contains "Alladin's Lamp", although the album is nowhere near an honest representation). There are other Lady T releases that warrant more attention, such as "Lovergirl: The Teena Marie Story"; "I Need Your Lovin': The Very Best of Teena Marie" (which contains "Deja Vu") and, in my personal opinion, "Irons in the Fire". "Irons" is one of her best, but underrated, releases with songs such as "Tune In Tomorrow", a song which mixes jazz and r&b flavor, as well as the equally underrated "You Make Love Like Springtime", and the equally enjoyable "Young Love". That cd is more than worth the price. As far as Ultimate, however, it's good, but not a true testament of Lady T's influence on the R&B world. Definately purchase any or all of the three aforementioned CDs, which have all of her songs in the extended versions, to truly experience her impact in the music industry.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lady T Sings, February 27, 2006

By	RikkiShell (Cincinnati, OH United States) - See all my reviews

Teena Marie just happens to be one of the very few white female artist that has done R&B along with pop quite well.

Her success has allowed her to cross boundaries that many other artist dream about. Her timeless voice gives her the ability to sing just about anything. Even thou I have yet to hear her sing any gospel or reggae flavored songs, she probably would do great in that area too.

I actually hesitated on buying this cd, but then I thought, buy it and see what it has to offer. Good choice I made. Even thou she has several Collections and Greatest Hits cds on the market, they all seem to be missing some of her hits or some of her awesome songs that didn't even make it off of the albums at all.

I found this cd to be filled with a little bit of everything from Funk & Pop songs like Square Biz and Sucker For Your Love. The R&B cuts like, If I were a Bell and the all time great song with Rick James, Fire & Desire. This is probably the song that really sent her on her way and put her on the map even thou her identity was kept a secret. What a marketing move that was!

Her Love Songs, Latin Lullaby, If I Were A Bell and Now That I have You should have been released as singles in her hey day. My favorite, Irons In the Fire is a melodic song that makes you wonder if she is talking about herself. She puts so much of herself in her love songs and that Spanish Flavor that she adds to her songs (not just in this cd but other ones also) in this cd is so sensual.

Even thou, I did not list all of the songs on the cd, overall, the cd is a must have for any Teena Marie Fan.

Despite the many Greatest Hits cds out there on her, this is one that I would recommend to any Teena Marie Fan. I suggest that if you can't find all the songs that you like by her on any one cd, do like I did, buy them and then create your own personal Teena Marie cd with your favorite songs for your own listening pleasure. I can listen to my favorite songs by her when I'm in a Teena Marie mood.

Here we are in a new millenium and Teena is still singing, producing, performing, and writing music on her terms and she still sounds great!


One Luv