Liberty Silver - Private Property (1988)

Thanks again to the indispensable Adriana, I have another rare gem for you that she gave me permission to share. I first posted Liberty Silver's double-sided single from this album on Lost Pop Treasures. Some people then requested the album, but I didn't hold out any hope of getting my hands on it until Adriana was kind of enough to send it to me. Liberty has had a very long career in Canada, about which you can read in detail from several sources on the internet, including her website. In brief, she was born in 1962 in Detroit, Michigan, but moved to Canada as a child. When she was just 12 she auditioned for a reggae band and was whisked away as part of the opening act for Bob Marley at Madison Square Garden. She remained in the Canadian music industry after that, and released many singles over the years, including a few in 1980 on the independent Scorpio label  including remakes of Blondie's "Rapture" and "The Tide Is High" and Teena Marie's "I Need Your Lovin'".  In 1985 she won two Juno Awards (Canada's Grammy's) - Best R&B/Soul Recording of the Year for "Lost Somewhere Inside Your Love" and Best Reggae/Calypso Recording for "Heaven Must Have Sent You" with Otis Gayle.  That years she was also and was asked to be part of Canada's version of USA For Africa, Northern Lights, on the song "Tears Are Not Enough", where she sang a part with Loverboy's Mike Reno. In 1987, she competed on Star Search in the U.S. and lasted seven weeks.  But "Tears Are Not Enough" was my first introduction to Liberty, and I didn't hear anything more from her until her videos for "Private Property" and "I Do Love You" were aired on TV in 1988. There was virtually no R&B scene in Canada at the time (at least not known to the general public) and I am ashamed to say that I ignored Liberty for the most part as I was biased towards American R&B, even though I liked her two singles. That was my mistake, as the album is solid. I had never heard it in full until now. It's a funky pop album, very of the time, and a cut above a lot of similar albums released at the time. She released two more singles from the album, a remake of The Shirelles "Baby It's You" and the ballad "Let It Begin Tonight". Although following this she didn't stay in the pop spotlight, she remained a fixture in the Canadian music scene and has been nominated and won many awards since. She has also continued to release albums, focusing mostly on jazz. In 2005 she took a five year hiatus in which she dealt with family issues, but in 2010 she released an old school soul album, Groove Symphony. It's a welcome return from a very powerful vocalist who should be heard. Try her out!

Download Private Property

1		I Do Love You
2		Private Property
3		Let It Begin Tonight
4		Oh No
5		On My Way
6		Baby It's You
7		Can't Get Over You
8		It's You
9		Crazy Love For You
10		I Knew It Was You