Gregory Abbott

This article deals with the musician Gregory Abbott, for the politician and lawyer of the same name see Greg Abbott .

Gregory Abbott (2016)

Gregory Joel Abbott (born April 2, 1954 in New York ) is an American soul musician , singer , composer and record producer .

biography

Gregory Abbott's mother is from Venezuela and his father from the island of Antigua . Abbott therefore has dual citizenship , on the one hand from Antigua and on the other hand from the USA, where he was born. His mother gave him piano lessons at an early age and encouragement to practice his pleasant singing voice. At the age of eight he sang in the famous choir of St. Patrick's Cathedral , with which he even recorded an album and appeared on television.

Before beginning his musical career , Abbott studied psychology and received his master's degree. Minor subjects were music and performing arts . Abbott financed his studies at Boston University , the University of Berkeley and Stanford University by performing with a band. During this time he shaped his musical style. While teaching English at Berkeley , he kept an eye on his love of music.

Eventually Abbott decided to make music a profession and continued to hone his skills as a singer-songwriter , guitarist , composer, producer, keyboardist and drummer . Musically, he made his first appearance for an independent label as a background singer in a duet between Whitney Houston and her mother Cissy . He then produced Ahmet Ertegün's band "EQ" for Atlantic Records .

A short time later, the single Shake You Down and the album of the same name were released. The song achieved platinum status and became the most played airplay hit of the year in the US, and it was the fastest track to post a million radio hits. For his music, the singer coined the term " groove - ballad ", critics and others also called the style "Wall Street Soul".

In addition to various high international chart placements, Gregory Abbott received numerous honors, including two Soul Train Music Awards for "Best Male Singer" and "Best New Artist".

Abbott was also successful outside of his music career, including being featured on six Playboy fashion pages and part of a feature about the ten hottest male artists in Playgirl . When he was also very successful in Japan , the title track from his album I'll Prove It to You was used there for the soundtrack of a film. In Belgium he starred in a video with Stéphanie von Monaco , with Brazil's hottest singer Rosanna he recorded a duet in English and Portuguese .

Then came the rare opportunity to travel to Russia for a songwriting summit (MSLTW, Music Speaks Louder Than Words) . After that, Epic Records released an album with songs by 20 top American and Russian composers, including well-known names such as Cyndi Lauper , Brenda Russell , Diane Warren , Barry Mann , Mike Stoller and Michael Bolton . Abbott's contribution was interpreted by the Spanish pop star Emmanuel.

Back in the US he sang on recordings for the Bill Cosby Show and released his album One World in 1996 ! with Caribbean influences , which he dedicated to his parents. A sought-after songwriter, he wrote for Ronnie Spector , Jennifer Warnes and Freda Payne , with whom he was married from 1976 to 1979. The 2000 album Eyes, Whispers, Rhythm, Sex ... offered more groove than its predecessor. Two more albums followed by 2006, Dancing the Inner Realm ... and Rhyme and Reason . It wasn't until 2011 that Abbott released another long player, Drop Your Mask .

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B
1986	Shake you down	DE26 (11 weeks) DE	-	CH21 (4 weeks) CH	UK53 (5 weeks) UK	US22nd gold (36 weeks)US	R&B5 (38 weeks) R&B	First published: September 1986 Producers: Gregory Abbott, Charles Koppelman
1988	I'll Prove It to You	-	-	-	-	US132 (9 weeks) US	R&B17 (16 weeks) R&B	First published: May 1988 Producers: Gregory Abbott, Charles Koppelman

More albums

• 1996: One World!
• 2002: Eyes, Whispers, Rhythm, Sex ...
• 2005: Dancing the Inner Realm ... (release: August 1st)
• 2011: Drop Your Mask (release: September 1st)

Compilations

• 1998: Super Hits (released July 21)
• 2006: Rhyme and Reason (released January 31)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)						Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US	R&B
1986	Shake You Down Shake You Down	DE13 (15 weeks) DE	AT18 (4 weeks) AT	CH15 (6 weeks) CH	UK6th silver (14 weeks)UK	US1 platinum (22 weeks)US	R&B1 (27 weeks) R&B	First published: August 1986 Author: Gregory Abbott
1987	I Got the Feeling (It's Over) Shake You Down	-	-	-	UK76 (4 weeks) UK	US56 (11 weeks) US	R&B5 (15 weeks) R&B	First published: January 1987 Author: Gregory Abbott
1988	I'll Prove It to You I'll Prove It to You	-	-	-	-	-	R&B5 (16 weeks) R&B	First published: April 1988 Author: Gregory Abbott
	Let Me Be Your Hero I'll Prove It to You	-	-	-	-	-	R&B34 (10 weeks) R&B	First published: August 1988 Author: Gregory Abbott

More singles

• 1986: You're My Angel
• 1994: Handyman
• 1994: Do the Caribbean
• 2002: Sexual
• 2007: Middle of Harlem
• 2007: Shake You Down (Remake)
• 2008: Baby Mama

Awards

• Soul Train Music Award - Best Male Singer , Best New Artist
• New York Music Award - Best R&B Album , Best Debut Album , Best R&B Vocalist , Rising Star Award
• Black Gold Award - 2 awards
• New York Music Award
• R&B Award Las Vegas
• NY Image Award
• CEBA Awards Dinner (Communications Excellence Aimed at Black Audiences) - 2 awards
• Tokyo Music Festival - 1st Prize

swell

1. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Singles Albums UK US1 US2
2. ↑ ^{a b} gold / platinum database US UK
3. ^ Joel Whitburn : Top R&B Albums 1965–1998, ISBN 0-89820-134-9 .
4. ^ Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0898201864 .

Web links

• Official website
• Gregory Abbott at myspace
• Gregory Abbott at Allmusic (English)
• Gregory Abbott in Discogs (English)
• Biography at Taurus Press