Eloise Laws (born November 6, 1943) – Love Comes Easy (1977)

The quiet storm masterpiece from the great singer's second LP Eloise was co-produced by Linda Creed who co-wrote the original with Thom Bell for the Stylistics.

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The great singer Eloise Laws released her first single in 1968, then worked with songwriters and producers Holland-Dozier-Holland and Linda Creed during the seventies on a string of excellent singles and albums.

Born in Houston, Texas, she was the fourth of eight children of the exceptionally talented Laws family, the younger sister of flutist Hubert Laws and older sister of saxophonist Ronnie Laws and singer Debra Laws. Their mother was a choir director and all the Laws children grew up around music. In a 2018 interview, Laws discussed those early years:

“My biggest influence was my mom and my brother Hubert, because my other siblings came after me. My mother was our choir director in the church and I sang in the choir. She also exposed me to other artists in our home such as Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington. We were constantly surrounded by music on a weekly basis as we had choir rehearsals in our home, and I did a lot of solo work in the choir. She was very encouraging, giving me a lot of opportunity to sing before an audience in church.”

After two early singles on Columbia Records released in 1968 and 1970, Laws recorded the first of several records for Holland-Dozier-Holland’s labels, “Tighten Him Up” (1972) b/w the superb, upbeat jam “You Made Me An Offer I Can’t Refuse,” released on Music Merchant. The B-side was co-written by Brian Holland, Eddie Holland, and Lamont Dozier along with the unsung singer/songwriter Reggie Milner (who tragically died in 1980 when he was hit by a train), and co-produced by Milner, Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier.

She followed it up in 1973 with another Music Merchant single that became a classic on the UK’s early seventies Northern Soul scene, the upbeat “Love Factory” with its retro Holland-Dozier-Holland Motown sound, b/w the slow jam “Stay With Me.”

Laws’ next single, the funky, sexy jam “Touch Me” was on Invictus, and her debut album Ain't It Good Feeling Good came out on the label in 1977. It one of the last Invictus releases before the label shut down later that same year.

The dancefloor jam “Love Goes Deeper Than That” was issued as a 12” disco single from the LP, co-written by the Holland brothers with Harold Thomas aka Harold Beatty. Its B-side was also co-written by the Hollands and Thomas, the phenomenal “Put A Little Love Into It (When You Do It),” an upbeat disco-funk jam with an extended funky outro. The album version featured Beatty trading improvised erotic vocals with Laws, and was later released as the A-side to a 7” promo single. The album’s epic, symphonic closing cut “Camouflage” was on the B-side, co-written by the Hollands along with Melvin Miller and Richard Davis.

After Invictus abruptly ceased operations, Laws connected with famed Philly songwriter and producer Linda Creed, who co-produced her Eloise LP (1977) for ABC Records along with War producer Jerry Goldstein of Far Out Productions. It was arranged and conducted by Gene Page and featured Wilton Felder of the Crusaders on bass, James Gadson on drums, Sonny Burke on keyboards, and David T. Walker, Melvin “Wah Wah Watson” Ragin, and Ray Parker, Jr. on guitars.

Its first single was the somewhat formulaic disco track “Number One,” co-written by Pat and Lolly Vegas of Redbone, b/w the superb love song “Forever Now,” written by Aalon Butler and featuring Ronnie Laws in a guest appearance on sax.

The album’s laid back opening cut “Baby You Lied” was chosen as her next single, co-written by Creed and Goldstein. The beautiful slow jam “Love is Feeling” was on the B-side, co-written by Creed and Leroy “Lonnie” Jordan of War, with Jordan on ARP synthesizer.

Eloise included two songs Creed had originally written with Thom Bell. “His House And Me” was first recorded by Dionne Warwick in 1975. The album’s masterpiece, the quiet storm jam “Love Comes Easy,” earlier appeared on the Stylistics’ 1973 album Rockin' Roll Baby. Laws’ cover is considered by most to be the definitive version of the track.

Happy 80th Birthday to the great Eloise Laws.

Further info:

“A Conversation With Eloise Laws,” L.A. Sentinel, December 20, 2012.

“Eloise Laws: Still Looking Forward After 30 Years in the Music Industry,” interview by by Sheryl Aronson, Agenda Magazine, April 6, 2018.

#soul #funk #disco #jazz #EloiseLaws