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Say the name Barry White and you'd be hard pressed to follow it with the name of any other recording artist with such a
huge, cross-sectional following. He was at home appearing on Soul Train, guesting with a full band on The Today Show, and
appearing in cartoon form invarious episodes of The Simpsons. During the '70s, Dinah Shore devoted a full hour of her daily
syndicated Dinah! show to White. Whilethere was a period where Barry White wasn't releasing records or making the pop
charts, he did stay active touring and appearing on otherartists' records including Quincy Jones' "The Secret Ga ...read more
Say the name Barry White and you'd be hard pressed to follow it with the name of any other recording artist with such a
huge, cross-sectional following. He was at home appearing on Soul Train, guesting with a full band on The Today Show, and
appearing in cartoon form invarious episodes of The Simpsons. During the '70s, Dinah Shore devoted a full hour of her daily
syndicated Dinah! show to White. Whilethere was a period where Barry White wasn't releasing records or making the pop
charts, he did stay active touring and appearing on otherartists' records including Quincy Jones' "The Secret Garden (The
Seduction Suite)," Regina Belle, and rap star Big Daddy Kane's "All ofMe." It's surprising to find out that such an illustrious
career almost didn't happen because White wasn't interested in being a recordingartist.
Born in Galveston, TX, Barry White grew up singing gospel songs with his mother and taught himself to play piano. Shortly
after moving fromTexas to South Central Los Angeles, White made his recording debut at the tender age of 11, playing piano
on Jesse Belvin's "Goodnight MyLove." He made his first record when he was 16 with a group called the Upfronts. The song
was called "Little Girl" on a local L.A. label calledLummtone Records. Later he worked for various independent labels around
Los Angeles, landing an A&R position with Bob Keane, the manresponsible for the first pop recordings by Sam Cooke. One of
his labels, Mustang, was hot at the time with a group called the Bobby FullerFour in 1966. White was hired for 40 dollars a
week to do A&R for Keane's family of labels: Del-Fi, Mustang and Bronco. During this time,White flirted with the idea of being
a recording artist, making a record for Bronco called "All in the Run of a Day." But he chose to stick withhis A&R duties. One
of the first groups he worked with was the Versatiles who later changed their name to the 5th Dimension. White's firstbig hit
came from an artist familiar to dancefloor denizens -- Viola Wills, whose "Lost Without the Love of My Guy" went Top 20 R&B.
Hissalary went up to 60 dollars a week. White started working with the Bobby Fuller Four. Bob Keene and Larry Nunes -- who
later becameWhite's spiritual advisor and true friend -- wanted to cut a female act. White had heard about a singer named
Felice Taylor. They had threehit records, "It May Be Winter Outside," "I'm Under the Influence of Love," and "I Feel Love
Coming On." They were huge hits in England.White started making 400 dollars a week.
When Bronco went out of business, White began doing independent production. Those were some lean times for White.
Veteran arrangerGene Page, who would later arrange or co-arrange White's hits, helped him out, giving him work and non.
repayable loans. Then three yearslater, Paul Politti, who also worked at Bronco, contacted him to tell him that Larry Nunes
was interested in starting a business with him.Nunes had started cutting tracks for a concept album he was working on.
Meanwhile, White had started working with this girl group whohadn't done any singing professionally. They rehearsed for
almost a year. White wrote "Walkin' in the Rain (With the One I Love)" with lyricsthat were inspired by conversations with one
of the singers, Glodean James (who would later become White's second wife). White christenedthe group Love Unlimited.
Larry Nunes took the record to Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. Love Unlimited's From a Girl's
Point of Viewbecame a million-seller. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without Regan, White's relationship
with Uni soured. With hisrelationship with Uni in chaos and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White decided he
needed to work with another act. Hewanted to work with a male artist. He made three song demos of himself singing and
playing the piano. Nunes heard them and insisted thathe re-record and release them as a recording artist. They argued for
days about it. Then he somehow convinced White to do it. White wasstill hesitating up to the time the label copy was made.
He was going to use the name "White Heat," but the record became the first BarryWhite album. That first album was 1973's
I've Got So Much to Give on 20th Century Records. It included the title track and "I'm GonnaLove You Just a Little More
Baby..
White got a release from Uni for Love Unlimited and they joined him over at 20th Century Records. Then he had a brainstorm
for anotherconcept album. He told Regan he wanted to do an instrumental album. Regan thought he had lost it. White wanted
to call it the LoveUnlimited Orchestra. The single, "Love's Theme," went to number one pop, was a million-seller, and was a
smash all over the world. Thesong earned him a BMI award for over three million covers.
For the next five years, from 1974 to 1979, there was no stopping the Barry White Hit Train -- his own Stone Gon, Barry
White Sings LoveSongs for the One You Love ("It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me," "Playing Your Game Baby"), Let
the Music Play (title track,"You See the Trouble with Me"), Just Another Way to Say I Love You ("I'll Do for You Anything You
Want Me To," "Love Serenade"), TheMan ("Your Sweetness Is My Weakness," "Sha La La Means I Love You," "September
When We Met," a splendid cover of Billy Joel's "Justthe Way You Are"), and Love Unlimited's In Heat ("I Belong to You," "Move
Me No Mountain," "Share a Little Love in Your Heart," and"Love's Theme," with lyrics). He also scored a soundtrack for the
20th Century Fox film The Together Brothers, enjoying a resurgence onhome video.
His studio band included such luminaries as guitarists Ray Parker, Jr. (pre-Raydio, co-writer with White on "You See the
Trouble With Me"),bassist Nathan East, Wah Wah Watson, David T. Walker, Dean Parks, Don Peake, bassist Wilton Felder of
the Crusaders, Lee Ritenour,drummer Ed Greene, percussionist Gary Coleman, and later keyboardist Rahn Coleman. His hit
streak seemed, well, unlimited. Then it allderailed. Russ Regan and another ally, Hosea Wilson, left 20th Century Records and
White was left with management that he thought of inless than glowing terms.
White left after fulfilling his contract with two more album releases, Love Unlimited Orchestra's My Musical Bouquet and his
own I Love toSing the Songs I Sing. White signed a custom label deal with CBS Records. At the time it was touted as one of
the biggest deals ever. Hestarted a label called Unlimited Gold. The roster included White, Love Unlimited, the Love Unlimited
Orchestra, Jack Perry, and a teenagedsinger named Danny Pearson who charted with a song called "What's Your Sign Girl." He
also did a duet album with Glodean James calledBarry & Glodean. Aside from the gold album The Message Is Love, most of the
albums weren't huge sellers. After eight Barry White albums,four Love Unlimited albums, four Love Unlimited Orchestra albums,
constant touring, and dealing with the rigors of the music industry, Whitedecided to take a break.
Then in 1992, White signed with A&M, releasing the albums The Man Is Back, The Right Night & Barry White, and Put Me in
Your Mix (whichcontains a duet with Issac Hayes, "Dark and Lovely"). The Icon Is Love became his biggest-selling album
since the '70s releases, goingmulti-platinum. It includes the platinum single "Practice What You Preach." The production lineup
includes Gerald Levert and TonyNicholas, his godson Chuckii Booker, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and White and his longtime
friend Jack Perry. While some later effortsburied his vocals in whiz-bang electronic effects, on The Icon Is Love, White's deep
steam engine baritone pipes are upfront in the mix.Staying Power followed in 1999, showcased in the best tradition of soul
music where the focus is the singer and the song. The album earnedWhite two Grammys. White's career took him from the
ghetto to international success with 106 gold and 41 platinum albums, 20 gold andten platinum singles, with worldwide sales
in excess of 100 million.
White, who suffered from hypertension and chronic high blood pressure, was hospitalized for kidney failure in September of
2002. He wasundergoing dialysis treatment, but the combination of illnesses proved too much and he died July 4, 2003 at a
West Hollywood hospital. Bythe time of his death, Barry White had achieved a near-universal acclaim and popularity that few
artists achieve and even fewer within theirown lifetime. « hide |
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