A Letter to Myself

For the Sherman Chung album, see A Letter to Myself (Sherman Chung album).

A Letter to Myself is the fifth studio album by American soul group The Chi-Lites, produced and largely written by lead singer Eugene Record. The album was released in 1973 on the Brunswick label.

A Letter to Myself
Studio album by The Chi-Lites
Released	March 1973
Genre	R&B, soul
Length	46:23
Label	Brunswick
Producer	Eugene Record
The Chi-Lites chronology
Greatest Hits (1972) A Letter to Myself (1973) Chi-Lites (1973)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

History

The first single released from the album was "We Need Order" and the song peaked at #13 on the R&B chart and #61 on Billboard Hot 100. The title track was released as the second single and peaked at #3 on the R&B chart and #33 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was the third of four consecutive Chi-Lites albums to make the R&B top 5 (reaching #4), but has only a moderate critical reputation, with none of the tracks being considered as strong as the highlights on (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People or A Lonely Man.

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"A Letter to Myself"	Eugene Record, Sandra Drayton	5:30
2.	"Too Late to Turn Back Now"	Eddie Cornelius	4:25
3.	"Just Two Teenage Kids (Still in Love)"	Eugene Record, Barbara Acklin, Carl Davis	5:56
4.	"Sally"	Eugene Record, Sandra Drayton	3:36
5.	"Someone Else's Arms"	Eugene Record, Barbara Acklin	4:11

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"We Need Order"	Eugene Record, Quinton Joseph	5:20
7.	"Love Comes in All Sizes"	Eugene Record	5:58
8.	"My Heart Just Keeps on Breakin'"	Eugene Record, Stan McKinney	4:05
9.	"You Smiled the Same Old Way"	Eugene Record	6:40

Personnel

• Eugene Record, Marshall Thompson, Robert "Squirrel" Lester, Creadel "Red" Jones – vocals
• Thomas (Tom Tom) Washington – piano
• Arthur Hoyle, Raymond Orr, Murray Watson – trumpets
• Murray Watson, Raymond Orr – flugelhorn
• Cliff Davis – baritone saxophone, flute, tenor saxophone, alto saxophone
• Gene Barge – alto saxophone
• Frank Robinson – tenor saxophone, flute
• William A. Adkins – tenor saxophone, piccolo
• Morris Ellis – trombone, bass trombone
• Ethel Merker, Julia M. Studebaker – French horn
• Bobby Christian, Floyd Morris – marimba, tympani, orchestra bells
• Floyd Morris – cello
• Sol Bobrov, Elliot Golab, Edward Green, Gerasim Warutian, Frank Borgognone, Roger Moulton, Johnny Frigo – violins
• Carl Fruh, Roger Malitz, Emil Mittermann – viola
• Eugene Record – electric bass, organ, electric guitar
• William Robinson – electric bass
• Rufus Reid – upright bass
• Cy Touff – harmonica
• Danny Reid – electric guitar
• Ron Steele – acoustic guitar
• Quinton Joseph – drums

Production

• Eugene Record – producer
• Thomas (Tom Tom) Washington – arranger, conductor, associate producer
• Bruce Swedien – audio engineer, associate producer
• Quinton Joseph – associate producer, director
• Willie Henderson – director
• William Sanders – arranger

Charts

Chart (1973)	Peak [2]
U.S. Billboard Top LPs	50
U.S. Billboard Top Soul LPs	4

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions
		US [2]	US R&B [2]
1972	"We Need Order"	61	13
1973	"A Letter to Myself"	33	3
	"My Heart Just Keeps on Breakin'"	92	46