Al Jarreau - Breakin' Away (Warner Brothers Records 1981)
Breakin' Away is an album by Al Jarreau, released on June 30, 1981, through the Warner Bros. Records label. To cite Allmusic, "Breakin' Away became the standard bearer of the L.A. pop and R&B sound."
The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA.
Breakin' Away remains Al Jarreau's most popular album. It spent two years on the Billboard 200 and peaked at #9.[3] The album also hit #1 on both the Jazz and R&B charts.
Three single releases made the charts: "We're in This Love Together" (#15 pop, #6 AC, #6 R&B), "Breakin' Away" (#43 pop, #30 AC, #25 R&B), and "Teach Me Tonight" (#70 pop, #19 AC, #51 R&B).
At the Grammy Awards in 1982 the album was given the prize for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male, while "(Round, Round, Round) Blue Rondo à la Turk" received the award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Male. The album was also nominated for Album of the Year.
Alwin Lopez "Al" Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. He received a total of seven Grammy Awards and was nominated for over a dozen more. Jarreau is perhaps best known for his 1981 album Breakin' Away. He also sang the theme song of the late-1980s television series Moonlighting, and was among the performers on the 1985 charity song "We Are the World."
Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 12, 1940, the fifth of six children. The Jarreau website refers to Reservoir Avenue, the name of the street where he lived. Jarreau's father was a Seventh-day Adventist Church minister and singer, and his mother was a church pianist. Jarreau and his family sang together in church concerts and in benefits, and he and his mother performed at PTA meetings.
Jarreau was student council president and Badger Boys State delegate for Lincoln High School. At Boys State, he was elected governor. Jarreau went on to attend Ripon College, where he also sang with a group called the Indigos. He graduated in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science in psychology. Two years later, in 1964, he earned a master's degree in vocational rehabilitation from the University of Iowa. Jarreau also worked as a rehabilitation counselor in San Francisco, and moonlighted with a jazz trio headed by George Duke. In 1967, he joined forces with acoustic guitarist Julio Martinez. The duo became the star attraction at a small Sausalito night club called Gatsby's. This success contributed to Jarreau's decision to make professional singing his life and full-time career.
It was reported on July 23, 2010, that Jarreau was critically ill at a hospital in France, after performing in Barcelonnette, and was being treated for respiratory problems and cardiac arrhythmias. Jarreau was conscious, in stable condition, and in the cardiology unit of La Timone hospital in Marseilles, the Marseilles Hospital Authority said. He remained there for about a week for tests.
In June 2012, Jarreau was diagnosed with pneumonia, which caused him to cancel several concerts in France. Jarreau made a full recovery and continued to tour extensively for the next 5 years until February 2017.
On February 8, 2017, after being hospitalized for exhaustion in Los Angeles, Jarreau cancelled his remaining 2017 tour dates. On that date, the Montreux Jazz Academy, part of the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, announced Jarreau would not return as a mentor to ten young artists, as he had done in 2015.
On February 12, 2017, Jarreau died of respiratory failure, at the age of 76, just two days after announcing his retirement.
He is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).
Look what you've done for me
You're making more fun for me
Troubadour me, destined to be
Set in my ways, stuck in my daze
You were the butterfly
Winking at me
Making my fires fly
Brought me romance
Taught me to dance
Making me win, making me grin
Schooling me
[CHORUS]
Breaking away
Your love has opened eyes
That couldn't see
Breaking away
Your beacon in the night
Discovered me
Show me some parachutes
Away today, sail away
As long as I'm here
Bring me some climbing boots
Open the door
Give me some more
Fasten me in, loosen the pin
Pull for me
[Repeat CHORUS 5x to fade]