Blue Obsession

Released

March 28, 2000

Recorded

1999

Studio

The Bennett House, Sound Kitchen and North Beach Studios (Franklin, TN); The Dugout, Love Shack, Sound Stage, Sixteenth Avenue Sound and Woodland Studios (Nashville, TN); Bingham Bend (Leper's Fork, TN); Orange Whip (Santa Barbara, CA).

Genre

Blue-eyed soul

Length

60:03

Label

Ramp Records

Producer

Tommy Sims, Bernie Chiaravalle, Michael McDonald, Chris Pelonis.

Michael McDonald chronology

Blink of an Eye
(1993)

Blue Obsession
(2000)

Motown
(2003)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]

Blue Obsession is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Michael McDonald. The album was released on March 28, 2000, by Ramp Records.^[2]^[3] The original album was pulled from release before it got to stores, but a few advance copies did get out. The original has a different track listing and 3 songs from it were removed and replaced by other songs. A cover of "Tell It Like It Is" was pulled and still has never been officially released. Catalog # 2-46508 was the promo on the Reprise label, not Ramp.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"All I Need"	Tommy Sims, Michael McDonald	5:41
2.	"No Love to Be Found"	Bernie Chiaravalle, Michael McDonald	5:32
3.	"Obsession Blues"	Bernie Chiaravalle, Michael McDonald	4:36
4.	"Where Would I Be Now"	Tony Joe White, Michael McDonald	6:09
5.	"Build Upon It"	Bernie Chiaravalle, Michael McDonald	5:06
6.	"The Meaning of Love"	Jim Photoglo, Michael McDonald	5:31
7.	"Open the Door"	Tommy Sims, Michael McDonald	5:50
8.	"Kikwit Town"	Chester Thompson, Michael McDonald	5:42
9.	"Down by the River"	Neil Young	5:37
10.	"Someday You Will"	Bernie Chiaravalle, Michael McDonald	4:24
11.	"Ain't That Peculiar"	Smokey Robinson, Marvin Tarplin, Robert Rogers, Warren Moore	5:15
12.	"You Can't Make It Love"	John Scott Sherrill, Michael McDonald	4:27

Personnel

Michael McDonald – lead vocals, rhythm arrangements (2, 3, 6, 8, 10), synthesizers (2, 4, 8, 10), vocal arrangements (2), organ (3, 7, 9), acoustic piano (4, 5, 11, 12), clavinet (5), backing vocals (11)
Tommy Sims – rhythm arrangements (1, 2, 6-8), keyboards (1, 6, 8), bass (1-3, 6-8, 10), vocal arrangements (1, 2), horn arrangements (1, 2, 7), duet vocals (1), clavinet (2), rhythm guitar (2), drum programming (6), guitars (6, 7), synthesizers (7), percussion (8), acoustic piano (8, 10)
Marc Harris – organ (1, 4–7, 12), clavinet (5)
Billy Livsey – organ (2, 10)
Johnny Neel – Hammond B3 organ (3)
David Pack – additional keyboards (11), guitars (11)
Joe Houge – programming (11), organ (11), sampling (11)
Chris Rodriguez – guitars (1, 11), acoustic guitar (12)
Bernie Chiaravalle – rhythm guitar (2), guitar solo (2), guitars (3-5, 10), cymbal (4)
George Cocchini – acoustic guitar (3), guitars (8)
Will Owsley – electric guitar (3)
Gordon Kennedy – acoustic guitar (6, 10), electric guitar (10)
Chris Pelonis – guitars (9)
Chris Kent – electric bass (5)
Todd Smith – bass (9)
Dan Needham – drums (1-3, 7, 8, 10), percussion (3)
Yvette Preyer – drums (4, 5), tambourine (5)
Chester Thompson – wave drum (8)
Brian Zsupnik – drums (9)
George Perilli – drums (11)
Tom Roady – percussion (1, 7)
Terry McMillan – percussion (4), congas (5)
Danny Duncan – sound effects (8), percussion (10)
Tim Akers – horn arrangements (1, 2, 7), string arrangements (1, 8), conductor (1), organ (4)
Mark Douthit – saxophones (1, 2, 7)
Doug Moffet – saxophones (1, 2, 7)
Denis Solee – saxophones (1, 2, 7)
Barry Green – trombone (1)
Mike Haynes – trumpet (1)
Sam Levine – flute (6)
Bobby Taylor – oboe (6)
Viktor Krauss – bass fiddle (4)
Ronn Huff – string arrangements and conductor (6)
Carl Gorodetzky – concertmaster (1, 6), violin (8)
The Nashville String Machine – strings (1, 6)
Anthony LaMarchina – cello (1, 6)
Bob Mason – cello (1, 6, 8)
Carol McClure – harp (1, 6)
Alan Umstead – viola (1, 6)
Gary Vanosdale – viola (1, 6)
Kris Wilkinson – viola (1, 6, 8)
David Davidson – violin (1, 6)
Conni Ellisor – violin (1, 6)
Lee Larrison – violin (1, 6)
Pamela Sixfin – violin (1, 6, 8)
Mary Kathryn Vanosdale – violin (1, 6)
Tabitha Fair – backing vocals (1)
Angelo Petrucci – backing vocals (1)
Veronica Petrucci – backing vocals (1)
Nicol Smith – backing vocals (1, 8)
Chris Willis – backing vocals (1)
Wendy Moten – duet and backing vocals (2), vocal arrangements (2)
Amy Holland – harmony vocals (4), backing vocals (7, 9)
Rodney Covington – backing vocals (5), BGV arrangements(5)
Stacy Covington – backing vocals (5)
Delores Cox – backing vocals (5)
Ladre Fayne – backing vocals (5)
Pamela Holman – backing vocals (5)
Alfreda McCrary – backing vocals (5)
Tiffany Palmer – backing vocals (5)
Demitria Slaydon – backing vocals (5)
Duane Starling – backing vocals (5)
Timothy Terry – backing vocals (5)
Karla Bonoff – backing vocals (9)
Christopher Cross – backing vocals (9)
Claude McKnight – backing vocals (10)
Joey Kibble – backing vocals (10)
Mark Kibble – backing vocals (10)
Kevin Max Smith – backing vocals (11)
Toby McKeehan – duet and backing vocals (11)
Michael Tait – backing vocals (11)

Production

Producers – Tommy Sims (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 & 12); Bernie Chiaravalle (Tracks 4 & 5); Michael McDonald (Tracks 4, 5, 9 & 11); David Pack (Track 11).
Production Coordination – Gail Chiaravalle, Bridgett Evans O'Lannerghty and Susan Henson.
Engineers – Mark Casselman, Ben Fowler, Andy Gerome, Jon Lechner, Russ Martin, Chris Pelonis, Greg Rubin, Grady Walker and Martin Woodlee.
Assistant Engineers – Joe Costa, Tim Coyle, Dave Dillbeck, Mark Frigo, Tony Green, Graham Lewis, Shawn McLean, Hank Nirider and F. Reid Shippen.
Mixing – Greg Rubin (Tracks 1, 7, 8, 10 & 12); Rick Will (Tracks 2–6 & 11); Chris Pelonis (Track 9).
Hard Disk Editing on Tracks 4 & 5 – Shyene Guy
Editing on Track 11 – Joe Houge
Art Direction – Bruce Steinberg
Design – Simon Design
Photography – Gary Braasch (back cover), Dennis Keeley (front cover), Bruce Steinberg (inside) and Tony Stone Images.

References

^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Blue Obsession – Michael McDonald". AllMusic. Retrieved May 16, 2020.
^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Blue Obsession – Michael McDonald | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
^ "Michael McDonald, Patient With 'Blue Obsession'". Articles.latimes.com. 2000-02-03. Retrieved 2015-09-22.

v t e Michael McDonald
Studio albums	If That's What It Takes (1982) No Lookin' Back (1985) Take It to Heart (1990) Blink of an Eye (1993) Blue Obsession (2000) Motown (2003) Motown Two (2004) Soul Speak (2008) Wide Open (2017)
Compilation albums	Sweet Freedom (1986)
Singles	"I Keep Forgettin' (Every Time You're Near)" "Yah Mo B There" "No Lookin' Back" "Sweet Freedom" "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" "Reach Out, I'll Be There" "Baby I Need Your Lovin'" "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" "Deck the Halls/Jingle Bells" "Walk On By" "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas!"
Related articles	Discography The Doobie Brothers Toto Amy Holland