The Sweetest Days
The Sweetest Days is the third studio album by American singer and actress Vanessa Williams. It was released on December 6, 1994, by Wing Records and Mercury Records. The album peaked at number 57 on the US Billboard 200 and at number 25 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and has been certified platinum by the Recording [Industry Association of America].
The album includes the singles "You Can't Run", "Betcha Never", "The Way That You Love", and the title track. It also includes the first recording of the song "Higher Ground" later covered by Barbra Streisand as the title track from her 1997 album, as well as cover versions of songs previously recorded by Patti Austin and Sting. The album was re-released in 1995 with the additional track "Colors of the Wind", the theme from the Disney animated film Pocahontas.
"The Way That You Love" and "You Can't Run" were nominated at the 1996 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female and Best R&B Song, respectively.
Track listing
Personnel
Adapted from AllMusic.Musicians
- Vanessa Williams – vocals, backing vocals, arrangements, vocal arrangements, BGV arrangements
- Gerry Brown – keyboards, special effects, arrangements, electric piano
- Leon Pendarvis – acoustic piano
- J. Dibbs – programming, rhythm arrangements
- Babyface – keyboards, drum programming
- Randy Walker – MIDI programming
- Keith Thomas – acoustic piano, synthesizer programming, bass, arrangements
- Joel Diamond – organ
- Jeff Bova – strings, keyboards, programming, additional synthesizer programming, Mellotron
- Greg Phillinganes – Rhodes electric piano
- Laythan Armor – Rhodes electric piano, programming, rhythm arrangements
- Philippe Saisse – keyboards, acoustic piano
- Joe Mennonna – accordion
- Phil Galdston – keyboards, synthesizer programming, arrangements, BGV arrangements
- Dominic Cortese – accordion
- Nick Moroch – guitars, Mellotron, synth bass, arrangements, mandolin
- Ricardo Silveira – guitars
- Dann Huff – acoustic guitar, electric guitar
- Larry Carlton – guitar solo
- Bill Malina – guitars, arrangements
- Ira Siegel – guitars
- Ron Carter – acoustic bass
- Armand Sabal-Lecco – bass
- Anthony Jackson – bass
- Pino Palladino – bass slides, bass
- Mark Hammond – drum programming
- Kenwood Dennard – drums
- Peter Erskine – drums
- James Murphy – drums
- Roy Ayers – vibraphone
- Paulinho da Costa – percussion
- Carol Steele – percussion
- Ron Blake – saxophone
- Roy Hargrove – trumpet
- Toots Thielemans – harmonica
- The Nashville String Machine – strings
- Ronn Huff – string arrangements and conductor
- Clare Fischer – string arrangements, string conductor
- Brent Fischer – string orchestration
- Carl Gorodetzky – string contractor
- Morris Repass – string contractor
- Abenaa – backing vocals
- Tabitha Fair – backing vocals
- Kenny Hicks – backing vocals, BGV arrangements
- Bunny Hull – backing vocals
- Fonzi Thornton – backing vocals
- Soul Man – rap
- Sting – backing vocals
- Brock Walsh – backing vocals, arrangements, BGV arrangements
Production
- Ed Eckstine – executive producer
- Gerry Brown – producer, mixing
- Vanessa Williams – producer
- J. Dibbs – co-producer
- Babyface – producer
- Keith Thomas – producer
- Phil Galdston – producer
- Bill Malina – engineer, mixing, recording, digital editing
- Brad Gilderman – engineer
- Mick Guzauski – mixing
- Bill Whittington – recording, mixing
- Al Schmitt – engineer
- Nick Moroch – mixing
- Mike Scott – engineer
- Tim Leitner – additional engineer
- Mike Scott – assistant mix engineer
- Ryan Arnold – assistant engineer
- Bryan Carrigan – assistant engineer
- Tim Conklin – assistant engineer
- Martin Czembor – assistant engineer
- Tim Donovan – assistant engineer
- Suzanne Dyer – assistant engineer
- Eric Fischer – assistant engineer
- Carl Glanville – assistant engineer
- Vaughn Merrick – assistant engineer
- Jay Militscher – assistant engineer
- Jen Monnar – assistant engineer
- Marty Ogden – assistant engineer
- Greg Parker – assistant engineer
- Jamey Perenot – assistant engineer
- Joe Pirrera – assistant engineer
- Marnie Riley – assistant engineer
- Rory Romano – assistant engineer
- Dexter Simmons – assistant engineer
- Bill Smith – assistant engineer
- Robert Smith – assistant engineer
- Brian Sperber – assistant engineer
- Casey Stone – assistant engineer
- King Williams – assistant engineer
- Dann Wojnar – assistant engineer
- Mick Corey – technical support
- Barry Duryea – technical support
- Artie Smith – technical support
- Christian "Wicked" Wicht – technical support
- Max Risenhoover – digital editing
- Herb Powers – mastering at The Hit Factory Mastering
- Victor Winograd – cartage services
- Jackie Brown – production assistant
- Derek Duffey – production assistant
- Ivy Skoff – production coordinator
- Todd Moore – production coordinator
- Anthony Block – cover typeset
- Chris Thompson – art direction
- Marty Maidenberg – package layout design
- Peter Lindbergh – photography
- Marietta Ciriello – stylist
- Odile Gilbert – hair stylist
- Stephanie Marais – make-up
- Hervey & Company – management
Charts