| Powerful People | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 1974 | |||
| Studio | A&M (Hollywood) | |||
| Genre | Soft rock, jazz fusion, art rock, pop rock | |||
| Length | 32:48 | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer |
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| Gino Vannelli chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Rolling Stone Album Guide (1992) | [2] |
Powerful People is the title of both the second studio album of Canadian singer Gino Vannelli, and the sixth track on this album. The album was released in 1974, and was produced by Gino and his brother Joe Vannelli. Herb Alpert (who produced Vannelli's first album) is credited as associate producer.
After his debut Crazy Life had failed to chart due to poor record company promotion,[3] Vannelli assembled a band to record his second album. He and brother Joe had played all the instruments on Crazy Life, but Powerful People is characterized by Joe Vannelli's first experiments with synthesizers and the use of session musicians.
The funky "People Gotta Move" was Vannelli's first hit in the United States, when disco music was gaining popularity. The song reached #22 on Billboard Top 100 and #21 in Canada.[4] "Powerful People" reached #34 in Canada.[5] The last track, "Poor Happy Jimmy", is a tribute to American singer Jim Croce, who died in an airplane accident a year earlier. The album was on the Canadian charts four separate times totalling 28 weeks between November 16, 1974, and August 14, 1976.
