Whitney Houston | The Bodyguard (Original Soundtrack) [Import] | CD

Producers: David Foster (tracks 1, 2, 4); Narada Michael Walden; L.A. Reid and Babyface; Whitney Houston and BeBe Winans; David Foster and Walter Afanasieff; Ian Devaney and Andy Morris; Robert Clivilles and David Cole; Danny Kortchmar; Alan Silvestri; Charlie Midnight.
Engineers: Bill Schnee, Dave Reitzas, Peter J. Yianilos; Dave Reitzas (tracks 2, 4); Matt Rohr, Marc Reyburn; Barney Perkins and Milton Chan; Mike McCarthy and Victor Caldwell; Humberto Gatica; Bobby Boughton; Acar S. Key; Mark Desisto; Dennis Sands.
Recorded in Miami, Florida; The Hit Factory, New York, New York; Ocean Way and Encore Studios, Los Angeles, California; Tarpan Studios, San Rafael, California; Larrabee Sound Studios and Summa Music Group, West Hollywood, California; Studio LaCoCo, Atlanta, Georgia; Quad Studio, 16th Avenue Sound and Javelina Recording Studio, Nashville, Tennessee; Village Recorders, Los Angeles, California; The Plant Studio, Sausalito, California; Studio G, Seattle, Washington; Blue Zone Studios, Rochdale, England; Axis, House of Sound and Skyline, New York, New York; Warner Brothers Scoring Stage; House of Music, New Jersey; and Image Recording, Los Angeles, California.
THE BODYGUARD won the 1994 Grammy Award for "Record Of The Year." "I Will Always Love You" won 1994 Grammys for "Record Of The Year" and "Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female." "I'm Every Woman" was nominated for a 1994 Grammy Award for "Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female."
One of the highlights of THE BODYGUARD soundtrack is how the film's female lead, Whitney Houston, brings her gospel roots front and center on the half dozen tracks which feature her soaring vocals. These churchy musical overtones are apparent throughout "Jesus Loves Me!" and on her unaccompanied intro to the hit "I Will Always Love You" (penned by country diva Dolly Parton), and in case you didn't get the message, Kirk Whalum's sanctified saxophone break adds an exclamatory Amen. Elsewhere Houston continues to mine her rich vein of ornate balladry and pop-flavored dance workouts on the Ashford & Simpson original "I'm Every Woman" and on her own "Queen Of The Night," with its percolating upbeat production a la L.A. Reid & Babyface.
But for fans of romantic pop there's more than Whitney Houston to recommend THE BODYGUARD: The quavering falsetto and rich tenor of the great vocal stylist Aaron Neville find a perfect compliment in Kenny G's soulful alto breaks on "Even If My Heart Would Break;" Curtis Stigers offers a taste of Stax/Volt soul on his version of Nick Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding," and Joe Cocker teams with Sass Jordan on the rocking love song "Trust In Me."
This limited edition of THE BODYGUARD includes a picture disc with a 1994 calendar.
Producers: David Foster (tracks 1, 2, 4); Narada Michael Walden; L.A. Reid, Babyface; Whitney Houston, BeBe Winans; David Foster, Walter Afanasieff; Ian Devaney, Andy Morris; Robert Clivilles, David Cole; Danny Kortchmar; Alan Silvestri; Charlie Midnight.
Engineers: Bill Schnee, Dave Reitzas, Peter J. Yianilos; Dave Reitzas (tracks 2, 4); Matt Rohr, Marc Reyburn; Barney Perkins, Milton Chan; Mike McCarthy, Victor Caldwell; Humberto Gatica; Bobby Boughton; Acar S. Key; Mark Desisto;
Dennis Sands.
Recorded in Miami, Florida; The Hit Factory, New York, New York; Ocean Way and Encore Studios, Los Angeles, California; Tarpan Studios, San Rafael, California; Larrabee Sound Studios and Summa Music Group, West Hollywood, California; Studio LaCoCo, Atlanta, Georgia; Quad Studio, 16th Avenue Sound and Javelina Recording Studio, Nashville, Tennessee; Village Recorders, Los Angeles, California; The Plant Studio, Sausalito, California; Studio G, Seattle, Washington; Blue Zone Studios, Rochdale, England; Axis, House of Sound and Skyline, New York, New York; Warner Brothers Scoring Stage; House of Music, New Jersey; and Image Recording, Los Angeles, California.
"I Will Always Love You" won the 1994 Grammy Award for "Record Of The Year."
THE BODYGUARD won the 1994 Grammy Award for "Album Of The Year." "I Will Always Love You" won the 1994 Grammy Award for "Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female." "I'm Every Woman" was nominated for a 1994 Grammy Award for "Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female."
Personnel: Curtis Stigers, Aaron Neville, Joe Cocker, Lisa Stansfield , S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M., Whitney Houston (vocals); Paul Jackson, Jr. (guitar); Dan Wilensky, Kirk Whalum (saxophone); Gary Grant (trumpet); Geoff Stradling, Steve Burton (keyboards); James T. Alfano, Chauncey Mahan, Louis Biancaniello, Ricky Crespo (programming); C.J. Mackintosh (drum programming); Claude V. McKnight III, Alvin Chea, BeBe & CeCe Winans, BeBe Winans (background vocals).
Audio Mixers: Chris Lord-Alge; Dave Way; David Cole; Dave Reitzas; Ian Devaney; Acar S. Key; Bobby Boughton; Jim "Z" Zumpano; John Rollo; Marc DeSisto; Mick Guzauski; Andy Morris; Robert Clivill?s; Bob Rosa; Bruce Miller.
Audio Remixers: David Cole; Paul Wright ; C.J. Mackintosh; Robert Clivill?s.
Recording information: 16th Ave. Sound; Axis; Blue Zone Studios, Rochdale, England; Encore Studios, LA, CA; House Of Music, NJ; House Of Sound; Image Recording, Los Angeles, CA; Javelina Recording Studio, Nashville, TN; Larrabee Sound Studios; Miami, FL; ocean way; Quad Studio; Skyline, NY; Studio G, Seattle, WA; Studio LaCoCo, Atlanta, GA; Summa Music Gro; Summa Music Group, West Hollywood, CA; Tarpan Studios, San Rafael, CA; The Hit Factory, NY, NY; The Plant Studio, Sausalito, CA; Village Recorders, Los Angeles, CA; Warner Bros. Scoring Stage.
Director: Ricky Minor.
Editors: Robert Clivill?s; Ricky Crespo.
Photographers: Ben Glass; Matthew Rolston; Zanna; Moshe Brakha; Ken Nahoum; Paul Cox; Randee Saint Nicholas.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Kenny G; Sass Jordan.
Arrangers: David Cole; Jud J. Friedman; Kenny G; Robert Clivill?s; Whitney Houston; William Ross ; BeBe & CeCe Winans; BeBe Winans; David Foster; Cedric Caldwell; Chaka Khan.
Few observers expected that Whitney Houston's first big-screen role in 1992's The Bodyguard would generate a phenomenon. Not that the film itself was a phenomenon -- it was a healthy success, due not only to Houston, but to her co-star Kevin Costner's drawing power -- but the soundtrack's success was astonishing. The Bodyguard followed Houston's cover of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" to the top of the charts, and once they got there, neither the single nor the album budged for weeks. "I Will Always Love You" spent a record-shattering 14 weeks in the top slot, while The Bodyguard spent 20 weeks at number one, eventually selling over 15 million copies and winning the Grammy award for Album of the Year. Like many phenomena of that magnitude, it's hard to see, in retrospect, what triggered such a massive public response. True, The Bodyguard isn't a typical soundtrack in that its first half plays like Houston's sequel to I'm Your Baby Tonight, but its second half is filled with the flotsam and jetsam typical for a big-budget soundtrack -- an excerpt from Alan Silverstri's score, some flavorless but pleasant Kenny G instrumentals, dated pop and dance numbers, and a cover (Curtis Stigers' take on "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding," which is notable in some circles as the recording that made the song's author, Nick Lowe, a millionaire). Then again, nobody really paid attention to anything outside of the first six songs, all of which rank among Houston's best efforts, demonstrating progress from the somewhat stilted I'm Your Baby Tonight. It's not startling enough to justify the phenomenon, but "I Have Nothing," "Queen of the Night," "Run to You," and especially her cover of "I'm Every Woman" are all first-rate urban pop songs that skillfully capture Houston at her best. In a sense, the album is no different than any other album Houston recorded. It may seem odd that a soundtrack is Houston's biggest-selling album to date, but consider this -- even her best records had five or six great songs surrounded by well-constructed filler; the same is true here, only the filler is recorded by other artists. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

• Format: CD
• Released: 11/17/1992