| Niecy | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Deniece Williams |
| Cover: | Deniece Williams - Niecy.jpg |
| Released: | March 19, 1982 |
| Recorded: | 1981 |
| Studio: | Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Genre: | R&B, soul |
| Label: | ARC/Columbia |
| Producer: | Thom Bell, Deniece Williams |
| Prev Title: | My Melody |
| Prev Year: | 1981 |
| Next Title: | I'm So Proud |
| Next Year: | 1983 |
Niecy is an album by American singer Deniece Williams which was released in 1982 on ARC/Columbia Records.[1] The album reached No. 5 on the Top Soul Albums chart and No. 20 on the Billboard 200.
With a B+, Robert Christgau found "Williams's exquisite clarity and thrilling range have always slotted her among the perfect angels for me, but there's a lot more to her work with Thom Bell, who finally challenges Burt Bacharach on his own turf, applying strings and woodwinds and amplifiers with a deft economy that textures rather than sweetens. And Williams's lyrics, while never startling, become increasingly personal as her professional confidence grows--she's wrinkling her brow more and her nose less." People described the album as "upbeat, soulful and polished."[2]
Justin Kantor of AllMusic wrote that "Williams enlisted Philly soulmeister Thom Bell as her co-producer (and primary co-writer) a second time on this mellow 1982 release. Building upon the lush balladry of 1981's My Melody, this set inevitably bears a few similarities to its predecessor, but manages a more diverse soundscape." J.D. Considine of Musician wrote: "Williams like the Spinners' Philippe Wynne has the uncanny ability to pull the most out of a tune while maintaining a distinctive vocal personality. Philly Soul lives."[3] Crispin Cioe of High Fidelity found "as a writer, Williams deals in the unabashedly romantic; as a singer she lends her lines an emotionalism that rings true. In Bell's sympathetically rich arranging/production context small sentiments take on grand proportions, and therein lies the album's charm."[4]
A cover of The Royalettes' "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" was released as a single. The song peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, No. 6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles chart and No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" | US Billboard Hot 100 | 10 |
| US Billboard R&B Singles | 1 | ||
| US Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles | 6 | ||
| "Waiting by the Hotline" | US Billboard Hot 100 | 103 | |
| US Billboard R&B Singles | 29 | ||
| "Waiting" | 72 |