[youtube id=”sd0gMmlw86g”] Randy Crawford covered Prince’s “Purple Rain” for her 1995 Naked and True album. The project consisted mostly of cover songs which included versions of Simply Red’s “Holding Back The Years” and George Benson’s “Give Me The Night” the latter artist of whom she started her singing career with in New York during the ’70’s. Crawford became known as the vocalist for The Crusader’s “Street Life” in 1979 after starting her solo career in 1976 with her Everything Must Change debut album. Naked and True was an acknowledgement of her funk roots as well because Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell and Fred Wesley appeared on the album. Crawford’s 2012 Live album with Joe Sample is her most recent release.
