Les Fleurs

Recorded at Ter Mar Studios in Chicago in November 1969 for Minnie Riperton’s debut album Come to My Garden. Charles Stepney produced, arranged, and orchestrated the session, with Richard Rudolph credited as co-writer. The track opened Come to My Garden when it was released on GRT Records in 1970, and it quickly stood out as the album’s signature piece. It showcased Riperton’s wide vocal range and Stepney’s lavish chamber-soul production, which later critics and writers described as unusually adventurous for its time. ‘Les Fleurs’ remained Riperton’s best-known deep-cut and later found new life through prominent uses in film, including Jordan Peele’s Us, and through sampling and cover versions by later artists. Its continued circulation has kept it central to Riperton’s reputation beyond her bigger hit singles.