“This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)” by Natalie Cole

Musical legend Natalie Cole wouldn’t really reach her true peak until she stepped into her father’s world and found her place singing the Great American Songbook, but she did have a fairly major career and a handful of big hits as an Aretha Franklin-style R&B singer in the Seventies and Eighties. Granted, she never quite made it into the top tier of R&B singers the way she would as a standards singer, but her talent was definitely apparent even at this early stage. This was the very first single of her career, and like most of her early singles, it was produced by her then-husband Marvin Yancy, an exceptionally talented R&B producer who came from a Gospel background, something that is definitely audible in the song. Of course, popular R&B of the day often resembled secular Gospel, but the resemblance is especially pronounced here, particularly on the extremely memorable chorus. Admittedly, a large part of this song’s appeal comes from Yancy’s superb production, but Natalie’s famous way of joyously throwing herself into everything she sings with all her energy was already more than apparent.

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