Quincy Jones recorded “If I Ever Lose This Heaven” for his 1974 album, Body Heat. Minnie Riperton, Al Jarreau, and Leon Ware sang together on the song written by Ware and Pam Sawyer. Jones balanced the vocal acrobatics of Minnie Riperton and Al Jarreau against Leon Ware’s understated delivery, placing a master songwriter at the center of an R&B piece defined by its premier singers. He acted as a master curator, placing a visionary songwriter at the heart of an arrangement that defined the mid-70s soul aesthetic.
“If I Ever Lose This Heaven” had a modest chart position because radio did not know how to classify Jones’ R&B that bridged the gap between jazz and funk. The Body Heat album was a top ten album on the jazz, Billboard 200, and R&B charts as fans preferred to hear the full collection of songs. Body Heat would be the last album Jones recorded before suffering from two near-fatal brain aneurysms months after its release.
Jones’s medical events stopped his trumpet playing as advised by his doctors, and he spent the rest of his life working as a producer. “If I Ever Lose This Heaven” also appears on I Heard That!!, Live At Budokan, and The 75th Birthday Celebration. The song is included on almost every career retrospective compilation, including The Best of Quincy Jones; Classics, Vol. 3; Greatest Hits; 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection; and The Ultimate Collection.
