Chaka Khan's career through the 1996 release of Epiphany: The Best of Chaka Khan, Vol.
1 -- involving eight albums with Rufus and eight solo albums, along with assorted collaborations -- produced roughly 40 Top 40 R&B singles, not to mention dozens of undervalued album cuts.
So it is clear that any one-disc attempt at wrapping up the highlights is bound to work more like a sampler than a true best-of.
And though this release is given the "Vol.
1" tag, it remained without a sequel as late as 2005, when Reprise reissued it without altering the contents.
Yet another frustration is that previously unreleased songs take the place of missing classics like "Sweet Thing," "Clouds," "Fate," "Close the Door," and "Stay." (That's just for starters.) Nonetheless, the disc does contain Khan's most popular work, from ballads like "Through the Fire" to anthems like "I'm Every Woman" and "Ain't Nobody," along with other radio staples, such as "I Feel for You" and "Tell Me Something Good." At the absolute least, Khan deserves a solo-only best-of, as well as a disc that sticks strictly to her work with Rufus.
(The Very Best of Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan, the only anthology dedicated to Rufus, has its own set of issues.).
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ain't NobodyDavid "Hawk" Wolinski | Chaka Khan | Play | 04:40 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 2 | Papillon (aka Hot Butterfly)Greg Diamond | Chaka Khan | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 3 | I Feel for YouPrince | Chaka Khan | Play | 05:46 | 13 MB | 41 MB |
| 4 | I Know You, I Live YouChaka Khan, Arif Mardin | Chaka Khan | Play | 04:28 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 5 | I'm Every WomanNickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson | Chaka Khan | Play | 04:08 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 6 | Love Me StillBruce Hornsby, Chaka Khan | Chaka Khan | Play | 03:27 | 7 MB | 17 MB |
| 7 | The End of a Love AffairEdward Redding | Chaka Khan | Play | 05:12 | 11 MB | 29 MB |
| 8 | Through the FireDavid Foster, Tommy Keane, Tom Keene, Cynthia Weil | Chaka Khan | Play | 04:46 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 9 | What Cha' Gonna Do for MeNed Doheny, Hamish Stuart | Chaka Khan | Play | 03:53 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | EverywhereChristine McVie | Chaka Khan | Play | 04:51 | 11 MB | 33 MB |
| 11 | Never Miss the WaterGerry DeVeaux, Charlie Mole | Chaka Khan | Play | 04:46 | 10 MB | 32 MB |
| 12 | Somethin' DeepKeith Crouch, Kipper Jones, Chaka Khan | Chaka Khan | Play | 04:58 | 11 MB | 30 MB |
| 13 | Your Love Is All I KnowJud J. Friedman, Allan Rich, Chris Walker | Chaka Khan | Play | 04:34 | 10 MB | 27 MB |
| 14 | Every Little ThingGerry DeVeaux, David Gamson, Chaka Khan, Dave Thomas | Chaka Khan | Play | 05:12 | 11 MB | 35 MB |
| 15 | Tell Me Something Good (Live) | Chaka Khan | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 16 | And The Melody Still Lingers On (Night In Tunisia) | Chaka Khan | Play | 05:01 | 11 MB | 35 MB |
| 73 mins | 168 MB | |||||
| 73 mins | 485 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nickolas Ashford | Composer |
| 2 | Steve Baxter | Trombone |
| 3 | Andre Betts | Producer |
| 4 | Chris Botti | Flugelhorn, Trumpet |
| 5 | Lyn Bradley | Art Direction, Design |
| 6 | Norman Brown | Guitar |
| 7 | Raymond Chue | Fender Rhodes |
| 8 | Tammy Coleman-McCrary | Executive Producer |
| 9 | Luis Conte | Percussion |
| 10 | Keith Crouch | Arranger, Composer, Producer, Vocal Arrangement |
| 11 | Gerry DeVeaux | Composer |
| 12 | Greg Diamond | Composer |
| 13 | Ned Doheny | Composer |
| 14 | Derrick Edmondson | Horn Arrangements, Saxophone |
| 15 | Lawrence Feldman | Flute |
| 16 | Barry Fletcher | Hair Stylist |
| 17 | David Foster | Arranger, Composer, Producer |
| 18 | Jud J. Friedman | Composer |
| 19 | John Fumo | Trumpet |
| 20 | Gloria Gabriel | Production Coordination |
| 21 | David Gamson | Composer, Drums, Engineer, Keyboards, Producer, Programming, Rhythm Arrangements |
| 22 | Humberto Gatica | Producer |
| 23 | Dizzy Gillespie | Composer |
| 24 | Jason Goldstein | Assistant Engineer |
| 25 | Grandmaster Melle Mel | Guest Artist |
| 26 | Arif Griffin | Arranger |
| 27 | Reggie Griffin | Arranger |
| 28 | Dave Grusin | Arranger |
| 29 | Steve Hall | Mastering |
| 30 | Jerry Hey | Arranger, Flugelhorn |
| 31 | Bruce Hornsby | Arranger, Composer |
| 32 | Paul Jackson, Jr. | Guitar |
| 33 | Kipper Jones | Composer, Vocal Arrangement |
| 34 | Tommy Keane | Composer |
| 35 | Tom Keene | Composer |
| 36 | Chaka Khan | Composer, Executive Producer, Primary Artist, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 37 | Matt Knobel | Engineer |
| 38 | Oliver Leiber | Guitar, Rhythm Arrangements |
| 39 | Arif Mardin | Arranger, Composer, Producer |
| 40 | Howard McCrary | Vocals (Background) |
| 41 | Christine McVie | Composer |
| 42 | Chieli Minucci | Guitar |
| 43 | Charlie Mole | Composer |
| 44 | Carl Nappa | Assistant Engineer |
| 45 | Meshell Ndegeocello | Bass, Guest Artist, Vocals |
| 46 | Michael O'Reilly | Engineer, Mixing |
| 47 | Frank Paparelli | Composer |
| 48 | Federico Pena | Fender Rhodes, Piano |
| 49 | Roy "Dog" Pennon | Bass |
| 50 | Charlie Pizzarello | Photography |
| 51 | Bob Power | Mixing |
| 52 | Prince | Composer |
| 53 | Edward Redding | Composer |
| 54 | Allan Rich | Composer |
| 55 | Rail Jon Rogut | Engineer |
| 56 | Valerie Simpson | Composer |
| 57 | Steve Skinner | Arranger, Keyboards, Synthesizer |
| 58 | Mark Stevens | Vocals (Background) |
| 59 | Hamish Stuart | Composer |
| 60 | Dave Thomas | Composer |
| 61 | Russ Titelman | Producer |
| 62 | Charles Veal | Concert Master |
| 63 | Isaac Vere | Bass |
| 64 | Chris Walker | Composer |
| 65 | Elaine Wallace | Stylist |
| 66 | Wah-Wah Watson | Guitar |
| 67 | Cynthia Weil | Composer |
| 68 | Reggie Wells | Make-Up |
| 69 | Larry Williams | Flute |
| 70 | David "Hawk" Wolinski | Arranger, Composer |
| 71 | Stevie Wonder | Composer |
| 72 | Benjamin F. Wright | String Arrangements |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |