Follow the Rainbow is the twelfth studio album by American keyboardist George Duke released in 1979 through Epic Records. The album peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Top Jazz Albums chart and No. 17 on the Billboard Top Soul Albums chart.
Overview Follow the Rainbow was produced by George Duke. Recording sessions for the album took place at Westlake Recording Studios in Hollywood, California, except for track 8, "Corine", which was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City.
Duke played various keyboard instruments on Follow the Rainbow, including Fender Rhodes, Yamaha Electric Grand, Yamaha Grand Piano 9', Hohner D-6 clavinet, ARP Odyssey, Minimoog, Oberheim, Prophet, Funkosizer, Crumer Strings. The album features contributions from Napoleon Murphy Brock & Lynn Davis on vocals, Roland Bautista & Charles "Icarus" Johnson on guitars, Ricky Lawson & Leon Chancler on drums, Larry Williams, Jerry Hey and Sheila Escovedo among others.
Critical reception
Alex Henderson of AllMusic declared, "Follow the Rainbow is, in fact, a creative album, and it's an album that has very little to do with jazz... This album is consistently excellent, but it isn't recommended to jazz snobs—only those with a healthy appreciation of 1970s soul and funk will enjoy this album."
Singles "Say That You Will" reached No. 25 on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart.
Track listing
Personnel George Duke – vocals, acoustic grand piano, electric grand piano, electric piano, clavinet, synthesizers Charles Foster Johnson – guitars Roland Bautista – electric guitar (1, 2) Kevin "Serious Biz" Dugan – guitars, bass (1, 2, 4–10) Byron Miller – bass (3), vocals (3) Ricky Lawson – drums (1–6, 9, 10) Leon "Ndugu" Chancler – drums (7, 8) Sheila E. – percussion, vocals Larry Williams – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, flute Rick Culver – trombone Jerry Hey – trumpet, flugelhorn Napoleon Murphy Brock – vocals Lynn Davis – vocals Josie James – vocals Darrell "Sweet D" Cox – cosmotic narrator (1, 3) Children of Distinction – choir (6)
Production George Duke – producer Kerry McNabb – recording (1–7, 9, 10), mixing David Palmer – recording (8) Dave Rideau – assistant engineer John Golden – mastering at Kendun Recorders (Burbank, California) Tony Lane – art direction Tom Drennon – design John Laven – illustration Bruce Talamon – photography
Chart history Chart (1979)PeakpositionUS Top LPs & Tape56US Top Jazz LPs3US Top Soul LPs17
References