Don't Be Cruel (album)
Don't Be Cruel is the second album by American R&B singer Bobby Brown. It was released in the United States on June 20, 1988 by MCA Records.
The album was far more successful than Brown's debut, peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart and spawning 5 Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles, including Brown's very first #1, "My Prerogative". It spent a total of six weeks on top of the Billboard 200 and was the best-selling album of 1989 in the United States. The album also reached the Top 5 in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Don't Be Cruel received extremely positive reviews from music critics. Brown also won his first Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the 1990 Grammy Awards for "Every Little Step".
The album has been certified 7 x Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipments of over 7 million units in the United States.
Development
Brown changed producers for this album, and worked extensively with hit-making songwriting/production duo Babyface and L.A. Reid. Alex Henderson of Allmusic writes
Don't Be Cruel
"Don't Be Cruel" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley and written by Otis Blackwell in 1956. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2004, it was listed #197 in Rolling Stone's list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song is currently ranked as the 173th greatest song of all time, as well as the sixth best song of 1956, by Acclaimed Music.
Elvis Presley
Recording
"Don't Be Cruel was the first song that Presley's song publishers, Hill and Range, brought to him to record. Blackwell was more than happy to give up 50% of the royalties and a co-writing credit to Presley to ensure that the "hottest new singer around covered it".
Freddy Bienstock, Elvis' Music Publisher, gave the following explanation for why Elvis received co-writing credit for songs like Don't Be Cruel. "In the early days Elvis would show dissatisfaction with some lines and he would make alterations, so it wasn't just what is known as a 'cut-in'. His name did not appear after the first year. But if Elvis liked the song, the writers would be offered a guarantee of a million records and they would surrender a third of their royalties to Elvis'."
Don't Be Cruel (Bobby Brown song)
"Don't Be Cruel" is a song performed by R&B artist Bobby Brown. Taken from his second and most successful album as its title track, the song was written and produced by the R&B production duo Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and Antonio "L.A." Reid.
Chart performance
"Don't Be Cruel" was Brown's second single to reach the top position of the R&B chart where it remained for two weeks. As a pop crossover, it rose from number 59 to number 49, on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, the week of August 13, 1988 but it took two months to finally peak at number eight the week of October 15, 1988. In October 2004, Don't Be Cruel appeared in popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on fictional new jack swing radio station CSR 103.9.
Music video
http://www.vevo.com/watch/bobby-brown/dont-be-cruel/USUV70500400
The music video was filmed in Boston in May 1988.
Charts
References
External links
Podcasts:
