Natalie Cole--This Will Be (1975)

     Most know that Natalie Cole was the daughter of pop/jazz singer Nat King Cole, what many might not know is that her mother Maria had been a singer for the Duke Ellington Orchestra, so the musical talent ran deep from both sides of the family.
      Her initial attempts in the music business was met with some resistance because of her style. Being Nat's daughter, it was thought that her style would be smooth and poppish like his. However, she was raised to appreciate all styles of music and found herself gravitating towards r&b and rock. After meeting producers Chuck Jackson and Marvin Yancey, they cut a few demos and began passing them around. It took awhile but finally Capitol records (her Dad's old record company) signed her to a contract.
      The resulting debut album, "Inseparable" shows a debt to Aretha Franklin, but shows her to be her own woman as well. It became a hit, as did the first single, "This Will Be". It would be about 25 years before she would tackle some of the work that her dad made famous, in the meantime, she defined female contemporary r&b for the next 15 years.