He very seldom comes up here in this forum. I remember he was a mainstay on R&B radio in the 80's. His records were getting just as much play as Luther and Stevie's. He continues to maintain a career today but when it comes to naming great R&B male singers from back in the day, his name so very rarely comes up. I'm in the process of replacing a couple of my Al CD's with some reissues that were released a few years ago with bonus tracks and was just curious as to why he seems so under-rated and forgotten?

I wouldn't call myself a fan yet, but I've been listening to his music for years and I love a lot of it. He's an incredibly gifted musician and artist!

I wouldn't call myself a hardcore fan of his, but for most of the 80's I listened to his music pretty regularly. His 1983 album Jarreau is one I can listen to from start to finish without skipping a song. I like his Nile Rodgers-produced album L is for Lover alot as well.

...

Right here! Big fan since '76! I actually did a big Al Jarreau appreciation thread here, almost a year ago...and since that thread, I've kinda been going back, through a Jarreau Renaissance, LOL.....

....

...

[Edited 4/29/13 14:50pm]

definately

He's not under-rated or unappreciated by me! I love a lot of Al's stuff--such joyous music and what a voice! I'm glad he's still with us; he went through a lot...

hell yeah me some Al

UnderMySun said:

I wouldn't call myself a hardcore fan of his, but for most of the 80's I listened to his music pretty regularly. His 1983 album Jarreau is one I can listen to from start to finish without skipping a song. I like his Nile Rodgers-produced album L is for Lover alot as well.

"Jarreau" is one of the titles I'm replacing with the 2009 remastered version because it contains a song called "I Keep Calling", which was originally released only as a b-side to one of the singles from that album. I remember some of the R&B stations were giving "I Keep Calling" some heavy play. I had actually forgotten all about the song until I discovered it on the remaster. It's crazy that they left that track off of the orignal album.

kitbradley said:

UnderMySun said:

I wouldn't call myself a hardcore fan of his, but for most of the 80's I listened to his music pretty regularly. His 1983 album Jarreau is one I can listen to from start to finish without skipping a song. I like his Nile Rodgers-produced album L is for Lover alot as well.

"Jarreau" is one of the titles I'm replacing with the 2009 remastered version because it contains a song called "I Keep Calling", which was originally released only as a b-side to one of the singles from that album. I remember some of the R&B stations were giving "I Keep Calling" some heavy play. I had actually forgotten all about the song until I discovered it on the remaster. It's crazy that they left that track off of the orignal album.

Now, that's interesting! Could you hip me to some unreleased Al that I could look for? I've never done that with Al...

I love Al Jarreau. I was already a fan of his hit albums like Breakin Away & Jarreau when I discovered We Got By. I never would have guessed that he could be so funky. The album is great, and these early performances are, too!