Come to My Garden

Come to My Garden is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton which was produced, arranged and orchestrated by Charles Stepney and released in 1970 under GRT Records. It was re-released in 1974 on the Janus label, in the same time frame as Riperton's album Perfect Angel and her hit "Lovin' You."^[4]

Come to My Garden
Studio album by Minnie Riperton
Released	September 23, 1970
Recorded	November 24–26, 1969 Ter Mar Studios (Chicago, Illinois)
Genre	Soul R&B
Length	37:01
Label	GRT
Producer	Charles Stepney
Minnie Riperton chronology
Come to My Garden (1970) Perfect Angel (1974)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Billboard	(favorable)[2]
Cashbox	(favorable)[3]

The album was first released on CD in 1990, and has since been made available in digital form. None of the CD editions have material transferred directly from the original master tapes. All CD editions were mastered in UK, USA and other countries using LP records and different noise reduction methods. It is quite possible that original tapes that belonged to GRT were lost forever.^[5]

The album peaked at number 160 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart in 1974.^[6] Some versions of the CD release do not include the last track, "Whenever, Wherever." Riperton said she wanted a sound like the great Dionne Warwick / Burt Bacharach collaborations for the album.

Background

Minnie Riperton was presented as a solo artist by Ramsey Lewis on Saturday, December 26, 1970, at Chicago's famed London House. She performed several numbers from the album accompanied by Charles Stepney, the album's producer. Although commercially unsuccessful, Come to My Garden is considered a masterpiece by critics.^{[7][8][9][10]} "Les Fleur"^{[lower-alpha 1]} is probably the album's best known song,^[12] and "Expecting" remains a favorite among fans.

The heavy rock aspect of Riperton's band Rotary Connection is absent here, replaced by lush orchestrations. The songs, mostly by Stepney and Riperton's husband Richard Rudolph, are largely minor-key ballads.

Singles

The album opener "Les Fleurs" got to No. 34 on both the UK Vinyl Singles and UK Physical Singles charts.^[13]

Track listing

Side 1

1. "Les Fleurs"^{[lower-alpha 1]} (Charles Stepney, Richard Rudolph) – 3:18
2. "Completeness" (Stepney, Rose Johnson) – 3:32
3. "Come to My Garden" (Rudolph) – 3:19
4. "Memory Band" (Stepney) – 4:05
5. "Rainy Day in Centerville" (Stepney, Rudolph) – 5:22

Side 2

1. "Close Your Eyes and Remember" (Stepney, Rudolph) – 3:38
2. "Oh, By the Way" (Stepney, Rudolph) – 2:58
3. "Expecting" (Stepney, Jon Stocklin) – 3:51
4. "Only When I'm Dreaming" (Stepney, Sidney Barnes) – 3:24
5. "Whenever, Wherever" (Stepney, Johnson) – 3:34^[14]

Personnel

• Elsa Harris, Kitty Hayward, Minnie Riperton – Backing vocals
• Maurice White – Drums
• Phil Upchurch – Guitar
• Ramsey Lewis – Piano
• Cleveland Eaton - Bass ^[10]
• Charles Stepney – Arranger and conductor
• Minnie Riperton – Vocals^[15]

In popular culture

The album has been featured in various samples and covers.

• "Les Fleur" was sampled in "Similak Child" by Black Sheep on the album A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
• "Rainy Day in Centerville" was sampled in "Where Y'all At" by Nas from the album Hip Hop Is Dead
• "Only When I'm Dreaming" was sampled in "Hellucination" by Smif-n-Wessun from the album Dah Shinin'
• "Les Fleur"^{[lower-alpha 1]} was covered by British band 4hero on their 2001 album Creating Patterns.^[16]
• "Les Fleur" was featured in the 2014 film adaptation of Inherent Vice by Paul Thomas Anderson, who is the husband of Riperton's daughter, Maya Rudolph.
• "Les Fleur" was prominent during the ending of the 2019 horror film Us.
• "Les Fleur" was featured in episode 3 of Them (dir. Nelson Cragg et al., 2021).
• "Les Fleur" was featured in the episode The Big Payback of Atlanta season 3 (2022).
• "Les Fleur" was featured in a women's sports campaign by BBC Sport in the summer of 2022 titled We Know Our Place.^[17]
• "Les Fleur" was featured in the Amy Winehouse biographical drama film titled Back to Black

Notes

1. For unknown reasons, the original record label listed the song as "Les Fleur,"^[11] although the correct French spelling is "Les Fleurs." Many reissues and compilations use the latter spelling.

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Special Merit Picks. Vol. 82. Billboard Magazine. December 6, 1970. p. 65.
3. Cashbox Album Reviews. Vol. 32. Billboard Magazine. November 28, 1970. p. 28.
4. "Minnie Riperton – Come to My Garden (1974, Vinyl)". Discogs.
5. Rosen, Jody (June 11, 2019). "The Day the Music Burned". New York Times. Retrieved October 26, 2022.
6. "Minnie Riperton – Chart history". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 21, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2017.
7. Ankeny, Jason. "Come To My Garden Review". All Music. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
8. Smotroff, Mark. "Listening Report: Minnie Riperton's Come To My Garden, RSD Essential Reissue". Audiophile Review. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
9. Olson, Aaron M. "Mining Gold From the Music Stream: Minnie Riperton - Come To My Garden". Retrieved September 13, 2022.
10. Proctor, Brittnay L. Minnie Riperton's Come to My Garden. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781501379154.
11. "Minnie Riperton – Come To My Garden". www.discogs.com. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
12. Lopez, Julyssa (September 16, 2021). "Yola on Minnie Riperton's 'Les Fleurs': 'It's Pure Genius'". Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
13. "Minnie Riperton - Les Fleurs". officialcharts.com.
14. Vinyl edition of Come to My Garden on discogs.com
15. CD edition of Come to My Garden on discogs.com
16. Chick, Stevie (June 29, 2016). "Minnie Riperton – 10 of the best". The Guardian.
17. "We Know Our Place: Women's sport campaign launched by BBC Sport". BBC. May 25, 2022.