** Chirpin**' is an album by the American musical group the Persuasions, released in 1977. It was rereleased in 1990, following the success of the PBS documentary Spike Lee & Company: Do It a Cappella.

Production

The album was produced by David Dashev. After two albums that contained instrumental accompaniment, Chiripin' was a return to an a capella style, albeit without member Jayotis Washington.

Critical reception

The Richmond Times-Dispatch praised the "rich, gutsy and romantic harmonies," and considered Chirpin' the group's best album. Greil Marcus, in The Village Voice, wrote of "Willie and Laura Mae Jones": "'That was another place, and another time,' runs the last line of Tony Joe White’s chorus; as the Persuasions sing it, it is full of dignity, close to bitter, and empty of regret. I don’t know that I have heard new black music this strong since the days that followed Sly Stone’s There’s a Riot Goin’ On." He later listed the album as one of the ten best of the 1970s.

Track listing

Details