"Hearts On Fire" - Richard Elliot

Richard Elliot - 'Rock Steady'

By the late 80s I had already done quite a few what they call 'guest vocals' singing and working with various artists. What is a guest vocal? A guest vocal is when you are not the artist but you're invited to sing a song or songs on another artist project.

Well one day, in 1988, I got a call from a saxophonist by the name of Richard Elliot. At the time I wasn't familiar with Richards work but come to find out that Richard was a member of one of my favorite bands of all time, Tower of Power.  Richard had played tenor sax with Tower of Power for 5 years during the 1980s.

Richard had started his solo career with an album called Trolltown in 1986, and his solo career took off when he remade the Percy Sledge classic "When A Man Loves A Woman".

Richard Elliot - Power Of Suggestion

Richard had heard of my work and called me up and sent me a copy of a great song call "Hearts On Fire". When I heard the song I thought it was a very pretty song. This was one of the songs that he was recording for his upcoming Power of Suggestion album.  We went into the studio, I sang the song and it came out great. As Richard was promoting this particular album he called me up to come sing this song on one of his sets at a local club in LA. After the performance the crowd was very pleased and I remember Richard saying to the audience, "now will you buy the album?". Everyone clapped and I'm sure some CD's  were purchased that night.

There's a funny story attached to this song, one of my good friends had a copy of this song on a cassette tape. Someone had made her a copy of various songs and only put the artist name's down, not the one singing the song. One day my friend and I were talking and at the time she had never heard me sing, so I made her a compilation of some of my work and included this song. When she heard "Hearts on Fire", she told me that I sounded like Richard Elliot, and I told her that Richard plays saxophone he doesn't sing. She then told me the story of her cassette tape and how this song was her favorite song for years and Richard Elliot was her favorite singer. She didn't realize that one of her best friends was the singer and not Richard. "We set the record straight"

Richard and his Zebra-Stripped Tenor Sax

On Facebook I always receive various comments about different performances and songs that I've sung over the years. This is one of the comments that I received on Facebook about "Hearts On Fire" from a true fan. "Mr. Ingram...For the past 20 plus years, I have listened to 'Hearts On Fire' at least once a week. Your voice is incredible and I want to thank you for bringing so much enjoyment/pleasure into my life. I've shared this song with countless individuals and all have been moved by the incredible power of voice. Again, thank you very much"  - Jack Parr.

Great song, great guy, Richard Elliot and again I'm happy that our careers crossed in history to create some beautiful music together - "Hearts On Fire" 

Until Next Time - Phillip