Just a Little Lovin'

Just a Little Lovin' is a 1970 studio album by Carmen McRae, directed and produced by Arif Mardin. The recording in a studio of Atlantic Records in Miami was set up with a horn section, an occasional string section and The Sweet Inspirations as backing vocals on some tracks. The studio's own Dixie Flyers, a rhythm section founded by Sammy Creason, provided the contemporary electrified sound for a repertoire that derived mainly from only recently written pop songs, three alone by the Beatles, two by the Muscle Shoal crew like "Breakfast in Bed", written in 1968 for Dusty Springfield, and a Laura Nyro original. The electrified orchestral sound is advanced twice, on "Something" with the use of a cimbalom, and with a Mellotron on "What'cha Gonna Do" that harmonizes with the strings. Slightly out of the pop vein are a straightforwardly played blues shuffle, "I Love the Life I Live" by Willie Dixon, and "Didn't We", an intimate duet with guitarist Al Gafa.