Radioinfo is taking you back to the songs that turn 50 this year.

For every ten tracks about heartbreak, break ups or someone doing someone else wrong, there is one purely and simply about love. This Valentine’s Day it felt right to share Lovin’ You, featuring Minnie Riperton‘s astonishing five octave vocal range, one that would later inspire Mariah Carey.

Minnie, because of her voice, was in demand as a backing singer as a teen and young adult singing with acts like Etta James, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and you can hear her behind Fontella Brass’s Rescue Me.

In 1970 she married the love of her life songwriter, musician, music publisher, and producer Richard Rudolph. They already had a son Marc (who Minnie nicknamed Ringo) and their daughter, Maya, was born in 1972. She is the wonderful Maya Rudolph of Saturday Night Live, the Bridesmaids movie and The Good Place TV show, among many, many other roles.

Minnie has virtually retired to focus on her family. She and Richard apparently wrote Lovin’ You together as a way of distracting Maya so the pair could have private time together. Then in 1973 an intern working for Epic Records heard a song of hers somewhere and she was signed virtually on the spot.

The 1974 album Perfect Angel, pictured, was the result. But even then the story didn’t follow the normal record release path.

The first three singles released were slow to sell and Epic was wanting Minnie to get cracking on a follow up. But Minnie asked that they release one more single, Lovin’ You, and off a slow burn, well into 1975, it became the biggest hit of her career. She is a one hit wonder in Australia.

Tragically Minnie discovered she had breast cancer in early 1976 and while she continued touring, remained positive and became one of the first women with a high profile to openly speak about her diagnosis, Minnie died in 1979 aged just 31.

This love song lives on though, not just for you and me, but for Richard, Marc and Maya too. The album version of this song, and you can hear Minnie say it at the end of the video clip above, she switches from Lovin’ You to repeating ‘Maya Maya Maya’ over and over again. In live shows she would alternate Maya and Ringo’s names.

Maya wrote of growing up and being a comedian with the never really processed grief of losing her mother. But, every time I hear this I wonder if Minnie left the chant as a forever reminder to those dearest to her that,

“Lovin’ you is easy ’cause you’re beautiful.”

Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo. Email: [email protected]