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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 in various episodes of The Simpsons. During
the '70s, Dinah Shore devoted a full hour of her daily syndicated Dinah! show to
White. While there was a period where Barry White wasn't releasing records or
making the pop charts, he did stay active touring and appearing on other
artists' records including Quincy Jones' " The Secret Garden (The Seduction
Suite),"
Regina Belle, and rap star Big Daddy Kane's " All of Me." It's
surprising to find out that such an illustrious career almost didn't happen
because White wasn't interested in being a recording artist.
Born in
Galveston, TX, Barry White grew up singing gospel songs with his mother and
taught himself to play piano. Shortly after moving from Texas to South Central
Los Angeles, White made his recording debut at the tender age of 11, playing
piano on Jesse Belvin's " Goodnight My Love." 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 called Lummtone Records. Later he worked for various
independent labels around Los Angeles, landing an A& R position with Bob
Keane, the man responsible for the first pop recordings by Sam Cooke. One of his
labels, Mustang, was hot at the time with a group called the Bobby Fuller Four
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 with his 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 first big hit came from an artist familiar to dancefloor
denizens -- Viola Wills, whose " Lost Without the Love of My Guy" went Top 20
R&
B. His salary went up to 60 dollars a week. White started working with the
Bobby Fuller Four. Bob Keene and Larry Nunes -- who later became White's
spiritual advisor and true friend -- wanted to cut a female act. White had heard
about a singer named Felice Taylor. They had three hit 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 arranger Gene Page,
who would later arrange or co-arrange White's hits, helped him out, giving him
work and non-repayable loans. Then three years later, 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 who hadn't done any singing professionally. They rehearsed for almost a
year. White wrote " Walkin' in the Rain (With the One I Love)" with lyrics that
were inspired by conversations with one of the singers, Glodean James (who would
later become White's second wife). White christened the 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 View became a
million-seller. Soon after, Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without
Regan, White's relationship with Uni soured. With his relationship with Uni in
chaos and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White decided he needed
to work with another act. He wanted to work with a male artist. He made three
song demos of himself singing and playing the piano. Nunes heard them and
insisted that he re-record and release them as a recording artist. They argued
for days about it. Then he somehow convinced White to do it. White was still
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 Barry White 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 Gonna Love 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 another concept album. He told
Regan he wanted to do an instrumental album. Regan thought he had lost it. White
wanted to call it the Love Unlimited Orchestra. The single, " Love's Theme," went
to number one pop, was a million-seller, and was a smash all over the world. The
song 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 Love Songs 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" ), The Man
("
Your Sweetness Is My Weakness," " Sha La La Means I Love You," " September When
We Met," a splendid cover of Billy Joel's " Just the 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 on home 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 all derailed. Russ Regan and another
ally, Hosea Wilson, left 20th Century Records and White was left with management
that he thought of in less 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 to Sing 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. He started a label called Unlimited Gold. The roster
included White, Love Unlimited, the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Jack Perry, and a
teenaged singer named Danny Pearson who charted with a song called " What's Your
Sign Girl." He also did a duet album with Glodean James called Barry &
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, White decided 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 (which contains a duet with
Issac Hayes, " Dark and Lovely" ). The Icon Is Love became his biggest-selling
album since the '70s releases, going multi-platinum. It includes the platinum
single " Pratice What You Preach." The production lineup includes Gerald Levert
and Tony Nicholas, his godson Chuckii Booker, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and
White and his longtime friend Jack Perry. While some later efforts buried 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 earned White two Grammys. White's career took him from the
ghetto to international success with 106 gold and 41 platinum albums, 20 gold
and ten 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 was undergoing
dialysis treatment, but the combination of illnesses proved too much and he died
July 4, 2003 at a West Hollywood hospital. By the time of his death, Barry White
had achieved a near-universal acclaim and popularity that few artists achieve
and even fewer within their own lifetime. ~ Ed Hogan & Wade Kergan, All
Music Guide
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