Sleep On It

Album: Chaka (1978)
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Songfacts®:

  • In this song from Chaka Khan's debut solo album, she offers some advice a marriage counselor might deliver: sleep on it. Seems she and her man have had a fight, but if they wait until morning, everything will be alright.
  • The song was written by the team of Larry John McNally and Andrew Kastner; they wrote another song on the album as well: "A Woman In A Man's World." Kastner later moved into video production and graphic design; McNally released his debut solo album in 1981 and kept writing songs for others, including "Long Drag Off A Cigarette" for Joe Cocker and "The Motown Song," made famous by Rod Stewart.

    "Chaka was and is a stunning talent," McNally said in a Songfacts interview. "We all went to Mikell's, the then-famous New York nightclub, after the sessions and they jammed. I was in way over my head. Chaka could sing the phone book and move you with the power of her singing. Whatever my talents were, they needed a lot of developing."
  • The album was produced by Arif Mardin, who recorded it in New York using top session musicians from the area, including Steve Ferrone from the Average White Band, who played drums. Mardin, who also worked with Aretha Franklin, produced most of Chaka's early work. The big hit from the album was the first single, "I'm Every Woman." Chaka was still a member of the band Rufus ("Sweet Thing") at the time, but was much more invested in her solo work.

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