Day 14: Minnie Riperton - Come to My Garden

Album cover courtesy of GRT Records

I wanted to find something pleasant to listen to while I was cooking, and a bit of ‘70s soul by Minnie Riperton seemed like just the ticket. I had to strap in for about 40 minutes of making a meal that’s easy to make but takes a bit of time, so I needed to listen to something good to keep me interested.

I was going in sort of blind, aside from having heard “Loving You” and “Les Fleurs”, but Minnie Riperton did not disappoint. Come to My Garden is like the musical equivalent of running through a field of flowers in slow motion. It’s orchestral, jazzy soul with a gentle hippie vibe that’s just a joy to listen to. Riperton’s voice is almost angelic, especially on the falsetto-heavy “Expecting”. The album also has a fun and very distinct ‘70s sound, maybe from the horn arrangements.

Come to My Garden was Riperton’s debut solo record, first released in 1970. She’d previously been in a psychedelic soul band called Rotary Connection, and her fellow band mate Charles Stepney produced, arranged and orchestrated it. The album wasn’t much of a commercial success at the time, but it was re-released after “Loving You” became a massive hit – a song she wrote to soothe her baby, who went on to become comedian Maya Rudolph. At the end, you can hear her sing “Maya, Maya, Maya”.

“Les Fleurs” is definitely the best song on the album, but that one would be hard to beat on any metric. I also love “Whenever, Wherever”. It’s such a unique album in how it mixes genres and influences. This one is an 8/10, and I’m looking forward to going through Minnie Riperton’s discography. Thank God podcasts are so crap these days. In the past, I would have filled that cooking time with some podcast that’s either somewhat fun or somewhat informative, but this was so much better. Consider me a fan.