Sparkle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack album for the 2012 Sony/TriStar Pictures film Sparkle, a remake of the 1976 film of the same name. The album was released through Sony Music Entertainment's RCA Records on July 31, 2012. The film's soundtrack includes new recordings of four songs from the original film's soundtrack as well as new original music by Jordin Sparks, Whitney Houston and Cee Lo Green. The soundtrack's first official lead single is the last song recorded by Whitney Houston before she died on February 11, 2012, a duet with R&B/pop singer and American Idol winner Jordin Sparks on a song called "Celebrate". The song premiered on On Air with Ryan Seacrest on May 21, 2012 and was made available for digital download on iTunes on June 5. Whitney Houston's other track, "His Eye is On the Sparrow", debuted only one day after the premiere of "Celebrate". The official music video for "Celebrate" was filmed on May 30, 2012. It made its world premiere on BET's 106 & Park on June 27, 2012.
Background The songs on the soundtrack are performed by the actors in the film, including Jordin Sparks, Whitney Houston, Cee Lo Green, Carmen Ejogo, Tika Sumpter, and others. Sparkle features songs from the original film written by soul musician Curtis Mayfield as well as new compositions by R&B artist R. Kelly and others. The soundtrack includes new songs not present in the 1976 version of Sparkle: "Celebrate", "His Eye is On the Sparrow", among others. "Celebrate" was sent to radio the week of May 21, 2012 as the first official from the Sparkle soundtrack. The song premiered on On Air with Ryan Seacrest on May 21. and was made available for digital download on iTunes on June 5. Houston's other track, "His Eye is On the Sparrow", debuted only one day after the premiere of "Celebrate".
Composition Music and themes Sparkle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack takes on matters of the celebration, heartache, heartbreak and seduction with a mixture of ballads, mid- and up-tempos.
Release The Sparkle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on July 31, 2012; though announced with 13 tracks, it was released with only 11 tracks. The entire soundtrack was made available to stream exclusively through Jordin Sparks' Official store and Essence.com five days prior to its official release.http://www.jordinsparks.com/us/news/stream-entire-sparkle-soundtrack-jordin-spark%E2%80%99s-official-store Jordin Sparks, who worked closely with Houston throughout the making of Sparkle, finds the release of the soundtrack to be "bittersweet." Sparks states, "I worked with my idol and that was a dream come true. I used to watch the Cinderella adaptation with her and Brandy every day after school. But she should really be here promoting it with me and [it's] really hard for me to be doing it alone."
Reception Critical response
AllMusic writer Andy Kellman gave it three and a half out of five stars and called the soundtrack "an enjoyable if muddled affair" and commended the four songs covered on the new soundtrack stating "the 2012 soundtrack features faithful and decent covers of four songs from the original. When it comes to "Something He Can Feel," it would be an understatement to say that the deck is stacked against Sparks and her vocal partners, Carmen Ejogo and Tika Sumpter." Entertainment Weekly's Melissa Maerz gave Sparkle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack a B rating and praised Sparks version of "Look Into Your Heart" stating "Sparks bellows Mayfield's power ballad Look Into Your Heart with absolute conviction. Jody Rosen of Rolling Stone gave the soundtrack 3½ of 5 stars, commenting that "Sparkle revives four soul chestnuts and includes three originals written and produced by R. Kelly. It's the second-most-satisfying retro-soul album of the year – after Kelly's Write Me Back"; however, he was ambivalent towards Houston's last two recordings before her death, saying that, "Celebrate is forgettable disco-pop, and on the gospel standard "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" Houston sings – and croaks – in a voice octaves lower than in her prime. At times the song has a ravaged magnificence, but mostly it's painful."
Chart performance For the week ending August 18, 2012 the soundtrack debuted on the Billboard 200 at # 26, # 7 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and # 1 on the Billboard Top Soundtracks Albums, selling 12,000 copies in its first week. To date, the soundtrack has sold 86,000 copies.
Singles "Celebrate" is the first official single from the soundtrack. It is the last song recorded by Whitney Houston before she died on February 11, 2012, a duet featuring her and R&B/pop singer Jordin Sparks. It was officially released on June 5, 2012 for digital download and it was written by R. Kelly who also produced the track. For the week June 16, 2012, "Celebrate" debuted at number 34 on the US Adult R&B Airplay chart, having amassed 45 spins for that week ending. During that same week, "Celebrate" also debuted at number 84 on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, and has since peaked at number 54. The music video for "Celebrate" was filmed on May 30, 2012. A preview of the video premiered on Entertainment Tonight on June 4, 2012. The music video made its world premiere on BET's 106 & Park on June 27, 2012.
"His Eye Is on the Sparrow" is the second official single from the soundtrack. The song is a gospel hymn performed by Whitney Houston. Houston is seen performing the song in a church scene in the film trailer. The song was officially released on June 8, 2012 for digital download from Amazon and iTunes. The song was originally written in 1905 by lyricist Civilla D. Martin and composer Charles H. Gabriel. The song is most associated with actress-singer Ethel Waters who used the title for her autobiography.Waters, Ethel, with Charles Samuels, His Eye Is on the Sparrow: An Autobiography, New York, 1951, reprinted by Da Capo Press, 1992
Track listing Credited singers on each track are marked with parentheses. Credits adapted from Sparkle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack liner notes.
Notes (*) donates as co-producer
Charts Chart (2012)Peakposition South Korean International Albums (Gaon)11US Billboard 20021US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums3US Soundtrack Albums1
Credits and personnel Adapted from allmusic.com.
Creativity and management
Debra Martin Chase – Executive Producer T.D. Jakes – Executive Producer Erwin Gorostiza – Art Direction, Design Donnie Meadows – Production Coordination Carlos Taylor – Production Coordination
Mara Brock Akil – Executive Producer Salim Akil – Executive Producer Trina Bowman – Production Coordination Tanisha Broadwater – Production Coordination
Performances
Jordin Sparks – Primary Artist Whitney Houston – Primary Artist Cee Lo Green – Primary Artist Olga Konospelsky – Background Vocals Emma Kummrow – Background Vocals Charles Parker – Background Vocals
Tika Sumpter – Primary Artist Carmen Ejogo – Primary Artist Goapele – Primary Artist R. Kelly – Additional Vocals The Rumor – Background Vocals Voices of Praise – Background Vocals Eliza Cho – Background Vocals
Technical
Bigg Makk – Arranger, Bass, Keyboards, producer R. Kelly – Arranger, composer, Keyboards, Mixing, producer David Boyd – Assistant Michael Daley – Assistant Trehy Harris – Assistant Dabling Harward – Assistant James Jones III – Bass Ray Nesmith – Bass Matt Taylor – Bass Maria C. Ward – Cello Joan Collaso – Choir/Chorus Yvonne Gage – Choir/Chorus Pastor Chris Harris – Choir/Chorus Mike Harvey – Choir/Chorus Jeff Morrow – Choir/Chorus Lauren Pilot Morrow – Choir/Chorus Robin Robinson – Choir/Chorus Claude Kelly – Composer, producer, Vocal Producer Guordan Banks – Composer, Vocals Thomas DeCarlo Callaway – Composer Warren Felder – Composer Charles Gabriel – Composer Charlie Gambetta – Composer Charles Harmon – Composer Curtis Mayfield – Composer Waynne Nugent – Composer Kevin Risto – Composer Andrew Wansel – Composer Autoro "Toro" Whitfield – Drums, Engineer, Piano Margis Miles – Drums Abel Garibaldi – Engineer, Programming Andrew Hey – Engineer, Vocal Engineer The MIDI Mafia – Engineer, producer Ian Mereness – Engineer, Programming Benjamin Adamson – Engineer
Mike "TrakGuru" Johnson – Engineer Craig White – Engineer Joel Geddis – Guitar Donnie Lyle – Guitar Andrew Meixner – Guitar Ben Oniel – Guitar Mark Strowbridge – Guitar Harry Wilson – Guitar Dexter Wansel – Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements The Regiment – Horn Kenneth Crouch – Keyboards, Organ Rodney East – Keyboards Herb Powers Jr. – Mastering Phil Seaford – Mixing Assistant Dirty Swift – Mixing, Programming Harvey Mason Jr. – Mixing, Vocal Producer Kevin "KD" Davis – Mixing Serban Ghenea – Mixing John Hanes – Mixing Jaycen Joshua – Mixing Spring Aspers – Music Supervisor Kier Lehman – Music Supervisor Chuck Harmony – Musician, producer, Vocal Producer The Underdogs – Musician, producer Jameel Roberts – Organ, producer Ronald "Flippa" Colson @Flippa123 – Producer Pop Wansel – Producer Bruce Waynne – Programming Ron Kerber – Saxophone Hitomi Oba – Saxophone Paul Arbogast – Trombone Michael Jorosz – Trumpet Tom Terrell – Trumpet Nina Cottman – Viola Ruth S. Fraizier – Viola
Release history + List of radio and release dates with formats and record labels Region Release date Format Label Australia July 27, 2012CD, digital downloadRCA Records Belgium Denmark Finland France Japan Netherlands New Zealand Norway Sweden United Stateshttp://www.jordinsparks.com/us/news/celebrate-sparkle-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-july-31st July 31, 2012 Canada Mexico
References