Touch Me in the Morning (album)

Touch Me in the Morning is the fourth studio album by American singer Diana Ross, released on June 22, 1973, by Motown Records. It reached number 5 in the USA (number 1 R&B) and sold around 650,000 copies.^[1] The arrangements were by Gene Page, Tom Baird, Michael Randall, James Anthony Carmichael, Deke Richards, Gil Askey and Ross.

Touch Me in the Morning
Studio album by Diana Ross
Released	June 22, 1973
Recorded	1971–1973
Studio	Motown Recording Studios, Hollywood, California
Genre	Pop Soul R&B
Length	34:08
Label	Motown
Producer	Gil Askey Michael Masser Deke Richards Michael Randall Diana Ross Berry Gordy, Jr. (exec.)
Diana Ross chronology
Greatest Hits (1972) Touch Me in the Morning (1973) Diana & Marvin (1973)
Singles from Touch Me in the Morning
"Touch Me in the Morning" Released: May 3, 1973 "All of My Life" Released: 1973

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[2]
Christgau's Record Guide	C^[3]

The album contained the hit title track, which became Diana Ross' second number 1 single on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, and helped the album peak at number 5 on the US Billboard 200 albums chart.

In the UK the title track and "All of My Life" were both Top Ten singles, and the album reached number 7 and was certified Gold for sales in excess of 100,000 copies.^[4]

It includes the first tracks Diana would personally produce on one of her albums, "Imagine" and "Medley: Brown Baby/Save the Children". Several cuts here, including the closing Medley and "My Baby (My Baby, My Own)", were originally intended for the abandoned To The Baby album that Ross also worked on in this period. She would also begin working with her brother/songwriter, Arthur "T-Boy" Ross, during these sessions.

Several of the songs on the album are covers of classics, including John Lennon's "Imagine", Marvin Gaye's "Save the Children" and the Richard Rodgers' standard "Little Girl Blue". The album also includes her recording of "I Won't Last a Day Without You", released a year prior to The Carpenters' hit version, as well as covers of lesser known songs originally recorded by The Fifth Dimension ("Leave A Little Room") and Oscar Brown Jr ("Brown Baby").

Track listing

1. "Touch Me in the Morning" (Michael Masser, Ron Miller) – 3:26
2. "All of My Life" (Michael Randall) – 3:31
3. "We Need You" (Deke Richards) – 3:44
4. "Leave a Little Room" (Michael Randall) – 3:37
5. "I Won't Last a Day Without You" (Roger Nichols, Paul Williams) – 3:49
6. "Little Girl Blue" (Lorenz Hart, Richard Rodgers) – 3:58
7. "My Baby (My Baby, My Own)" (Tom Baird) – 2:45
8. "Imagine" (John Lennon) – 3:01
9. "Medley: Brown Baby/Save the Children" (Tom Baird/Renaldo Benson, Oscar Brown, Jr., Al Cleveland, Marvin Gaye) – 8:17

2010 Expanded Edition

Touch Me in the Morning: Expanded Edition, released in January 2010, includes a newly remastered version of the original album plus previously unreleased mixes and alternate versions as well as two songs recorded during the same timeline: "Kewpie Doll", written and co-produced by Smokey Robinson, and "When We Grow Up", from Marlo Thomas' 1972 album Free to Be...You and Me.

Disc two of the expanded edition contains the entire previously unreleased To The Baby album, which includes covers of Michael Jackson's "Got To Be There" and Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", as well as the original title tune, written by Diana's brother Arthur "T-Boy" Ross. It also includes the medley, "Imagine/Save The Children", two songs that were split for the Touch Me In The Morning album, plus alternate original mixes of songs including "Young Mothers", which previously had been issued in 1983.

Track listing

Disc 1 (Touch Me In The Morning) [bonus tracks]

11. "Touch Me in the Morning" (alternate version #1)

12. "All of My Life" (alternate mix)

13. "We Need You" (alternate mix)

14. "Leave a Little Room" (alternate mix)

15. "Touch Me in the Morning" (alternate version #2)

Disc 2 (To The Baby)

1. "Part Of You"
2. "A Wonderful Guest"
3. "Young Mothers" (alternate version)
4. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"
5. "Got To Be There"
6. "To The Baby"
7. "Brown Baby" (alternate version)
8. "My Baby (My Baby, My Own)" (alternate version)
9. "Turn Around" (alternate version)
10. "Imagine/Save the Children" (original edit/alternate version)
11. "Kewpie Doll"
12. "When We Grow Up" (from Free to Be... You and Me)

Charts

Chart (1973)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)^[5]	20
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)^[6]	5
UK Albums (OCC)^[7]	7
US Billboard 200^[8]	5
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[9]	1

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)^[10]	Gold	100,000^^
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of number-one R&B albums of 1973 (U.S.)

External links

• Diana Ross-Touch In The Morning at Discogs

References

1. "THE SUPREMES, DIANA ROSS, STEVIE WONDER and RAY CHARLES.....USA album sales" Greasy Lake Community, October 29, 2013.
2. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r16933/review
3. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: R". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 12, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
4. "UK Certified Awards Search > Diana Ross". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 2013-01-11. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 259. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
6. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4920". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
7. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
8. "Diana Ross Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
9. "Diana Ross Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 11, 2021.
10. "British album certifications – Diana Ross – Touch Me in the Morning". British Phonographic Industry.