Peabo Bryson

Having returned to Capitol Records for 1989's All My Love and enjoyed a career uptick, Peabo Bryson moved again to Columbia Records, where he completed his comeback to the commercial status he had enjoyed in the early '80s. Bryson seemed to have reconciled himself to the public's view of him as primarily a balladeer, and he delivered the goods, especially on the title track, a number one R&B hit, and on the Cynthia Weil/Barry Mann tune "Closer Than Close," which also hit the R&B Top Ten. (Bryson helped his own cause considerably by involving himself in the writing and production of five of the 11 songs.) The album topped the R&B charts, and although Bryson still had trouble crossing over to the pop charts, it was his biggest seller in seven years. The album's success, however, was quickly overshadowed by Bryson's soundtrack work, as he placed hits from the Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin scores in the charts later in 1991 and 1992. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide