Day 319: Teena Marie - Irons in the Fire

I feel like as a lady of a certain age, I need to start going through music within the category of “your aunt loved it when you were a child” – it could be an Enya situation where there’s a certain age where that stuff just starts to sound phenomenal. To me, Teena Marie is auntie music. I’ve never listened to her and possibly haven’t ever even heard any of her songs, so today I’m going for her 1980 release, Irons in the Fire.

Album cover courtesy of Motown

Teena Marie was an R&B and soul singer from Santa Monica, California, who was known as the Ivory Queen of Soul. She got her start as the singer in a band, which got her a foot in the door at Motown Records, but they decided to sign her as a solo act instead of signing the whole group. She was then spotted by fellow Motown act Rick James, who mentored her and launched her career, with Rick James opting to produce her debut album instead of working with Diana Ross. They were also in a relationship and were even engaged at one time.

Irons in the Fire was released as her third studio album, and it was her first one where she wrote, produced and arranged the album herself, taking full creative control. She was accompanied by the fellow Motown band Ozone, whose album she also produced. It became her first album to reach the top ten in the R&B charts, peaking at number 9, and she also cites it as her favourite album that she’s released.

Irons in the Fire displays her strong and soulful soprano voice and her skill in weaving through different genres in a way that seems pretty effortless. You can hear the similarities in style that come from being mentored by Rick James, but she’s clearly also an artist in her own right. There are groovier, funkier floor-fillers mixed with soulful ballads, all with a general theme of romance and spirituality.

I especially like the jazzier closing track “Tune in Tomorrow”, but there’s nothing on the album I dislike per se. However, something about it just falls slightly short of me wanting to hear it more than once – it’s still a good enough album that I’m keen to listen to more of her stuff, because I’m sure that there’s something in her discography that I’ll like more. Also, very cool that Rick James produced her first album and she produced every single one herself thereafter. Irons in the Fire is a very strong 7.5/10. The aunties were right, again.