African Queens

{{Infobox album|

| name = African Queens

| type = Studio

| artist = the Ritchie Family

| cover = African queens album the ritchie family.jpg

| alt =

| released = 1977

| recorded = Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

| venue =

| studio =

| genre = Disco

| length =

| label = Marlin

| producer = Jacques Morali

| prev_title = Life Is Music

| prev_year = 1977

| next_title = American Generation

| next_year = 1978

}}

African Queens is the fourth studio album recorded by American female vocal trio the Ritchie Family, released in 1977 on the Marlin label.

History

The album features the track, "Quiet Village", which peaked at No. 1 on the Hot Dance/Disco chart along with songs "African Queens" and "Summer Dance". "Quiet Village" also peaked at No. 68 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.

Critical reception

{{Album ratings

| rev1 =AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{AllMusic |class=album |id=mw0000875342 |label=African Queens review |first= |last= |accessdate=2016-06-28}}

}}

The Bay State Banner wrote that "the music moves swiftly via massive string swoops and spurts of high hat drumming, jetting far away from present reality towards exotic distances only the world of fantasy can reckon."{{cite news |last1=Freedberg |first1=Mike |title=Record Reviews |work=Bay State Banner |issue=97 |date=25 Aug 1977 |page=17}}

Track listing

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| all_writing = Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and Phil Hurtt, except where noted

| title1 = African Queens (Nefertiti, Cleopatra and the Queen of Sheba)

| length1 = 4:35

| title2 = Theme of Nefertiti

| length2 = 1:30

| title3 = Theme of Cleopatra

| length3 = 1:30

| title4 = Theme of the Queen of Sheba

| length4 = 1:30

| title5 = African Queens (reprise) (Nefertiti, Cleopatra and the Queen of Sheba)

| length5 = 3:40

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title6 = Summer Dance

| length6 = 5:28

| title7 = Quiet Village

| writer7 = Les Baxter

| length7 = 5:45

| title8 = Voodoo

| length8 = 5:35

}}

Personnel

Gwendolyn Oliver, Cassandra Ann Wooten and Cheryl Mason Jacks - Vocalists
Russell Dabney – drums
Alfonso Carey – Fender bass
Jimmy Lee – lead guitar
Rodger Lee – rhythm guitar
Nathaniel "Crocket" Wilke – Fender Rhodes electric piano, clavinet
Babatunde Olatunji – Ngoma drums, Shekere, bongos
Ralph MacDonald – tambourines, triangle, bell tree, cowbell
Mario Grillo – timbales
Anthony Robinson – congas
J.M. Diatta – ngoma drums
Charles Payne – Djembe

Production

Jacques Morali – producer, rhythm, percussion and vocal arrangements
Henri Belolo – executive producer
Phil Hurtt – vocal arrangements
Horace Ott – strings and horns arrangements
Gerald Block – engineer
Carla Bandini, Jeff Stewart – assistant engineers
John Galluzzi – photographer

Charts

class="wikitable"

!Chart (1977)

!Peak
{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=mn0000502437|tab=awards|title=The Ritchie Family > US Charts|accessdate=2016-07-11}}

Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|author-link=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=253}}

| style="text-align:center;"|66

U.S. Billboard Top LPs

|align="center"|164

U.S. Billboard Top Soul LPs

|align="center"|57

;Singles

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
rowspan="2"\| Year ! rowspan="2"\| Single ! colspan="2"\| Peak chart positions
style="font-size:smaller;" ! width="40"\| US R&B ! width="40"\| US Dan
rowspan="3"\|1977 \| align="left"\| "Quiet Village" \| 68 \| rowspan="3"\| 1
align="left"\| "African Queens" \| —
align="left"\| "Summer Dance" \| —

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Single

! colspan="2"| Peak chart positions

style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="40"| US
R&B

! width="40"| US
Dan

rowspan="3"|1977

| align="left"| "Quiet Village"

| 68

| rowspan="3"| 1

align="left"| "African Queens"