Shaw's first musical influences were her uncle and grandmother, who loved to sing and play gospel music on the family’s hi-fi record player. As a young girl, Shaw was also involved with numerous gospel singing groups. Her first experience singing before a large audience was with her uncle, who played trumpet and exposed her to the music of jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie. At only 10 years old, Shaw performed with her uncle at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, and they were asked to return for the next week's show. As she recalls, her uncle got booked elsewhere on the same night, and a young Shaw had to take the stage solo at the Apollo for the second show.
Shaw's professional aspirations were rejuvenated after she was married and living on an Air Force base near Springfield, Massachusetts. Encouraged by friends, she auditioned and got gigs near the base, then made a demo tape in the garage of Charlie Parent, a local drummer. The tape eventually landed her a regular gig at the Concord, a resort hotel in the Catskill Mountains in upstate New York.
Shaw's big break was an invitation to sing with the Count Basie Orchestra. Basie’s accountant heard her at the New York Playboy club. Basie was sent a copy of one of her records, while Shaw met with Basie alumnus and trumpeter Frank Foster to arrange charts of some of her numbers. The next thing she knew, she was flown out to meet the whole band at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas.
She met with representatives of the Chess Records music label, and soon signed with them. She released her first two albums on their subsidiary Cadet Records. A 1969 album track "California Soul", a funk-soul tune written by Ashford & Simpson and originally issued as a single by American pop quintet The 5th Dimension, later became a staple of the UK rare groove scene. This song has appeared in television commercials for Dockers, KFC[3] and Dodge Ram trucks. Unable to find her own style at Chess, she moved to the jazz-oriented Blue Note Records in 1972.
In 1977 she released an LP Sweet Beginnings on Columbia that contained: "Yu Ma / Go Away Little Boy", a medley containing the old Goffin and Carole King standard, originally recorded by Nancy Wilson. The album also contained the track Look at Me, Look at You, popular on the U.K. rare groove scene. She sings the theme song "Don't Ask to Stay Until Tomorrow" from the 1977 film Looking for Mr. Goodbar that's also found on its soundtrack. She also recorded one of the disco era's biggest hits, a remake of "Touch Me in the Morning", also on Columbia Records.
In 1982 Shaw recorded the Gary Taylor ballad called "Without You in My Life" from the LP Let Me in Your Life that was jointly produced by Johnny Bristol and Webster Lewis on South Bay records. This had moderate chart success in the USA. In 1983 she recorded the vocals for "Could It Be You", a track by Phil Upchurch on his Name of the Game album.
Shaw continued to perform and record. In 1999, 2001 and again in 2007, Shaw was one of the performers at the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands.
Feel Like Making Love
Marlena Shaw Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Darlin', don't wanna live without you and your love
And if I had those golden dreams, yeah, of my yesterdays
I would wrap you in the heavens, feel you dyin' on the way
I feel like makin', feel like makin' love
Feel like makin' love, yeah
Feel like makin' love, baby, baby
Feel like makin' love to you, yeah
Yeah and darlin', if I live without you, yeah, I live without love
And if I had the sun and moon, yeah, we would shinin'
I would give you both night and day, baby, satisfyin'
I feel like makin', feel like makin' love
Feel like makin' love, yeah
Feel like makin' love, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Feel like makin' love to you, yeah baby
And if I had those golden dreams, yeah, of my yesterdays
I would wrap you in the heavens, honey, feel you dyin' on the way
I feel like makin', feel like makin' love
Feel like makin' love, yeah
Feel like makin' love, yeah, love yeah, baby, baby
Sure I feel like makin' love, baby, yeah, yeah
Yeah, makin' love to you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Said, I feel like makin' love, love
Feel like makin' love, baby
I feel like makin', feel like makin' love, baby, baby
I feel like makin' love to you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby
The lyrics of Marlena Shaw's "Feel Like Making Love" are a love letter to a special someone who she cannot imagine living without. The song describes a deep love and longing that she has for the person, using words like "golden dreams" and "wrap you in the heavens" to express the depth of her desire. Shaw's voice is soulful and passionate, adding to the song's emotional intensity.
The chorus, "I feel like makin', feel like makin' love," is repeated several times throughout the song and expresses Shaw's physical desire for the person she is singing to. However, the song is not simply a portrayal of lust but also depicts a deep emotional love between partners. The line "And if I had the sun and moon, yeah, we would shinin'/I would give you both night and day, baby, satisfyin'" suggests that Shaw wants to give her partner everything they could ever want and make them endlessly happy.
Overall, "Feel Like Making Love" is a beautiful tribute to the depth and complexity of romantic love. Through her soulful voice and heartfelt lyrics, Shaw expresses her passion and desire for the person she loves.
Line by Line Meaning
Baby, when I think about you I think about love
I associate thoughts of love with thinking of you, my beloved.
Darlin', don't wanna live without you and your love
My dearest, I cannot imagine my life without you and the love you bring.
And if I had those golden dreams, yeah, of my yesterdays
If I could travel back to my early days and relive my dreams, I would.
I would wrap you in the heavens, feel you dyin' on the way
I would embrace you in the celestial skies and experience an astonishing sensation while doing so.
I feel like makin', feel like makin' love
I am in the mood for making love and expressing my affection physically.
Feel like makin' love, yeah
I am overcome with passion and have a strong desire to make love.
Sure I feel like makin' love, baby, yeah, yeah
Without question, I am keen on making love with you, my love.
Yeah, makin' love to you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I want to make love to you in the most sincere manner possible.
Said, I feel like makin' love, love
I want to state again that making love is exactly what I'm in the mood for.
Feel like makin' love, baby
Right now, I am craving intimacy with you, my darling.
I feel like makin', feel like makin' love, baby, baby
My desire to make love with you is so strong, that I want to say it again and again.
I feel like makin' love to you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby
My love for you is so strong, that I can't help but feel like making love to you in this moment.
Contributed by Xavier R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@phifi7023
Strollin' in the park, watching winter turn to spring
Walkin' in the dark, seein' lovers do their thing, ooh
That's the time I feel like making love to you
That's the time I feel like making dreams come true, oh baby
When you talk to me, when you're moanin' sweet and low
When you're touchin' me and my feelings start to show, ooh
That's the time I feel like making love to you
That's the time I feel like making dreams come true, oh baby
In a restaurant, holdin' hands by candlelight
While I'm touchin' you, wanting you with all my might, ooh
That's the time I feel like making love to you
That's the time I feel like making dreams come true, oh baby
Strollin' in the park, watching winter turn to spring
Walkin' in the dark, seein' lovers do their thing, ooh
That's the time I feel like making love to you
That's the time I feel like making dreams come true, oh baby
Traduire en français
Strollin' in the park, watching winter turn to spring
Walkin' in the dark, seein' lovers do their thing, ooh
That's the time I feel like making love to you
That's the time I feel like making dreams come true, oh baby
When you talk to me, when you're moanin' sweet and low
When you're touchin' me and my feelings start to show, ooh
That's the time I feel like making love to you
That's the time I feel like making dreams come true, oh baby
In a restaurant, holdin' hands by candlelight
While I'm touchin' you, wanting you with all my might, ooh
That's the time I feel like making love to you
That's the time I feel like making dreams come true, oh baby
Strollin' in the park, watching winter turn to spring
Walkin' in the dark, seein' lovers do their thing, ooh
That's the time I feel like making love to you
That's the time I feel like making dreams come true, oh baby
@huckbarry579
Very underrated talented classy singer Rest in Power Marlena Shaw,🎶🎶
@mkent8279
The most underrated singer ~ RIPower ❤
@scottfree7089
She wasn't underrated
@jackspry9736
RIP Marlena Shaw (September 22, 1942 – January 19, 2024), aged 81
You will be remembered as a legend.
@habibakhelaifia5462
Moi, j'écoute cette pépite en 2024❤❤❤... RIP...
@oldschoolmusicrevived4282
GREW UP LISTINING TO YOUR CLASSIC GO AWAY LITTLE BOY ....R.I.P MARLENA SHAW
@moyo1051
最近知った曲だけど、この曲以上にときめく音楽無いってくらい音、リズム、声、全てにおいて最高‼️ 何回聞いてもときめきが止まりません。
@user-vb6vo6jz6b
こんにちは！
ほんとにその通りですよね、
ディアンジェロver.
も聴き続けてます。
@Kaykaykay69
Rest in peace Marlena
@vanessaray7209
I'm listening in January 2024 🎧🎶🎶