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Randy Crawford was born Macon, Georgia and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio. After high school she began to gig at local clubs and once performed with a band that included Bootsy Collins. In the early ’70’s she toured as an opening act for George Benson and later attracted the attention of Cannonball Adderley. She sang on Adderley’s Big Man album and spent a brief time signed to CBS Records where she recorded “Don’t Get Caught-Up In Love.” In 1976 she became a recording artist for Warner Brothers and her first album Everything Must Change came out. She was three albums deep in her solo career when she recorded “Street Life” with The Crusaders in 1979 and became known to the mainstream. They produced her 1980 album Now We May Begin that included the songs “Last Night At Danceland” and “One Day I’ll Fly Away.” “Rio De Janeiro Blue” is from her 1981 album Secret Combination. It is her most known album and she had success with “Rainy Night In Georgia,” “Secret Combination” and “You Might Need Somebody” in addition to “Rio De Janeiro Blue.” She also appeared on the Casino Lights album that was recorded live in Montreux and she did a duet of “Your Precious Love” with Al Jarreau Windsong followed-up Secret Combination in 1982 and her cover of “Imagine” and the single “One Hello” both made the U.K. charts. She had a minor hit with “Nightline” in 1983 but received better notice in the American market because of the “Taxi Dancing” duet with Rick Springfield in 1984. Abstract Emotions from 1986 and Rich and Poor from 1989 produced “Almaz,” “Desire” and a hit duet of “Knocking On Heaven’s Door” with Eric Clapton. Through The Eyes of Love found her singing a nice cover of Journey’s “Who’s Crying Now” with the help of her friend Joe Sample. Her more than competent way with other people’s material continued with the mostly covers album Naked and True where she sang her version of George Benson’s “Give Me The Night.” Every Kind Of Mood from 1997 was considered worthwhile for its take on Massive Attack’s “Hymn Of The Big Wheel” and Aretha Franklin’s “Johnny.” Crawford’s R&B cred went up again with the release of 2001’s Permanent thanks to the “Sweetest Thing,” “Fire and Rain” and the title track. Crawford’s last two albums, Feeling Good and No Regrets were released in 2006 and 2008 and she worked with Joe Sample on both projects.
