Special Love

Special Love is the second full-length gospel album by American R&B singer Deniece Williams, released in 1989 on MCA/Sparrow Records.^[1]^[2] Special Love peaked at number 11 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart.^[3]

Williams' then-husband Brad Westering produced the album. The track "Healing" from her 1986 album Hot on the Trail was re-recorded for this LP. A set of North American CD editions of Special Love contained her take on "Do You Hear What I Hear?" as a bonus track. This song first appeared on a 1988 Yuletide album entitled Christmas co-produced by Christian singer-songwriter Roby Duke and released on Sparrow Records.^[4]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[5]
Chicago Tribune	^[2]

In a review for the Chicago Tribune, Mitchell May rated the album three out of four stars. May wrote that Special Love avoids "excessive fanfare or overkill" and makes good use of Williams' "rich soprano" on every track.^[2] In the New York Daily News, Hugh Wyatt wrote that the album has "a refreshing absence of soap opera lyrics and other pop-music trash."^[6]

Williams was Grammy nominated alongside Natalie Cole in the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group for the track "We Sing Praises".^[7]

Track listings

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Special Love"	Deniece Williams, Lee Ritenour, Greg Mathieson	3:56
2.	"Fire Inside My Soul"	Russ Hollingsworth, Mark Baldwin	3:54
3.	"Healing"	Jeremy Lubbock, Paul Gordon	4:40
4.	"Free"	Sheldon Gooch	5:34
5.	"Every Moment"	D. Williams, David Raynor	4:13
6.	"Who's Who"	D. Williams, Brad Westering, Roby Duke	4:03
7.	"His Eye Is on the Sparrow"	Civilla D. Martin, Charles H. Gabriel; arranged by D. Williams, G. Mathieson	5:05
8.	"Give It All to You"	D. Williams, D. Raynor, Kenny Lamar	4:58
9.	"Somebody Loves You"	D. Williams, Bob Baldwin, Porter Carroll, Jr.	3:48
10.	"We Sing Praises" (duet with Natalie Cole)	D. Williams, D. Raynor, Jay Gruska	4:50

North American bonus track
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"Do You Hear What I Hear?"	Noël Regney, Gloria Shayne	4:16

Note: "Do You Hear What I Hear?" was produced by Brad Westering and Roby Duke; all other tracks produced by Westering.

Personnel

Musicians

Deniece Williams – vocals
Eric Persing – keyboards (1, 4, 6, 9, 11), programming (1, 4, 6, 9, 11), sequencing (1, 4, 6, 9)
Aaron Zigman – additional keyboards (1, 2, 4–6, 9, 10), keyboards (8)
Todd Yvega – Synclavier (1–3, 5, 7, 9, 10)
Jay Gruska – keyboards (2, 5), programming (2, 5), sequencing (2, 5)
Greg Phillinganes – synthesizers (2, 9), finger snaps (9)
Casey Young – additional programming (2, 5)
Randy Kerber – acoustic piano (3, 10)
Jeremy Lubbock – keyboards (3)
Tom Keane – acoustic piano (7)
Roby Duke – additional keyboards (11)
Paul Jackson Jr. – guitars (1, 2, 5)
Michael Landau – guitars (3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10), guitar solo (5), acoustic guitar (8)
James Harrah – guitars (8)
Marty Walsh – guitars (11)
Neil Stubenhaus – bass (3, 7)
Freddie Washington – bass (8, 10)
Dennis Holt – drum overbubs (3), additional drum overbubs (4–6, 9)
John Keane – drums (7, 10)
Luis Conte – percussion (3–8, 10)
Alex MacDougall – additional percussion (11)
Kirk Whalum – saxophone (2, 6), soprano saxophone (4)
Brandon Fields – electronic wind instrument (7, 8)
Steve Tavaglione – saxophone (11)
Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone (10)
Gary Grant – trumpet (10)
Jerry Hey – trumpet (10)

Music arrangements

Roby Duke – arrangements (1, 4, 6, 9)
Eric Persing – arrangements (1, 4, 6, 9)
Brad Westering – arrangements (1, 6, 7, 9)
Jay Gruska – arrangements (2, 5, 10), string arrangements (7, 10)
Jeremy Lubbock – string arrangements (3)
Greg Mathieson – arrangements (3)
Deniece Williams – arrangements (7)
Dave Raynor – arrangements (8)
Jerry Hey – horn arrangements (10)

Background vocalists

Chris Eaton – backing vocals (1, 5, 6, 10)
Lance Ellington – backing vocals (1, 5, 6, 10), step-out vocals (6)
Josie James – backing vocals (1, 4, 5, 7, 10)
Phil Perry – backing vocals (1, 4, 5, 10, 11)
Deniece Williams – backing vocals (1, 2, 4–10)
Greg Phillinganes – backing vocals (2)
Julia Tillman Waters – backing vocals (2)
Maxine Waters Willard – backing vocals (2)
Oren Waters – backing vocals (2)
Mark Williamson – backing vocals (6, 9)
Roby Duke – backing vocals (7, 10)
Fran Logan – backing vocals (7, 10)
Rick Logan – backing vocals (7, 10)
Mike Motley – backing vocals (7)
Natalie Cole – vocals (10)
Lynn Davis – backing vocals (11)

Technical and design

Richard McKernan – recording
Mick Guzauski – mixing at Conway Studios (Hollywood, California) and Devonshire Sound Studios (North Hollywood, California)
Chris Taylor – recording (11), mixing (11)
Spencer Chrislu – additional engineer
Ian Eales – additional engineer
Michael Frenchik – additional engineer
Larry Goodwin – additional engineer, mix assistant
Carl Lange – additional engineer
Elliott Peters – additional engineer
Jonathan Goodwin – assistant engineer
Scott Gordon – assistant engineer, mix assistant
Jay Lean – assistant engineer
Derek Marcil – assistant engineer, mix assistant
Chrisa Sadd – assistant engineer
Marnie Riley – mix assistant
Doug Sax – mastering at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, California)
Barbara Hearn – art direction
Stan Everson Design – design
Randee St. Nicholas – photography

Year	Singles	Peak positions
Year	Singles	CCM AC^[8]	CCM CHR^[9]	US R&B^[10]
1989	"Healing"	1	3	—
1989	"Every Moment"	2	3	55
1990	"We Sing Praises" (with Natalie Cole)	7	23	—
1990	"Somebody Loves You"	7	8	—
1990	"Fire Inside My Soul"	—	9	—

v t e Deniece Williams
Studio albums	This Is Niecy (1976) Song Bird (1977) When Love Comes Calling (1979) My Melody (1981) Niecy (1982) I'm So Proud (1983) Let's Hear It for the Boy (1984) So Glad I Know (1986) Water Under the Bridge (1987) Special Love (1989) This Is My Song (1998)
Duet albums	That's What Friends Are For (1978) (with Johnny Mathis)
Compilation albums	From the Beginning (1990)
Singles	"Free" (1976) "That's What Friends Are For" (1977) "Baby, Baby My Love's All for You" (1977) "I've Got the Next Dance" (1979) "I Found Love" (1979) "What Two Can Do" (1981) "Silly" (1981) "It's Gonna Take a Miracle" (1982) "Waiting by the Hotline" (1982) "Do What You Feel" (1983) "I'm So Proud" (1983) "Let's Hear It for the Boy" (1984) "Next Love" (1984) "Black Butterfly" (1984) "Wiser and Weaker" (1986) "Never Say Never" (1987) "I Confess" (1987) "I Can't Wait" (1988) "This Is as Good as It Gets" (1988)
Duet singles	"Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" (1978) (with Johnny Mathis) "You're All I Need to Get By" (1978) (with Johnny Mathis) "Love Won't Let Me Wait" (1984) (with Johnny Mathis)
Related topics	Discography Family Ties

Critical reception

Track listings

Personnel

Technical and design

Charts

Radio singles

References

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