Barry White

Barrence Eugene White Carter (Galveston, Texas, September 12, 1944-Los Angeles, California, July 4, 2003), known artistically as Barry White, was an American songwriter, singer, arranger, and music producer of the disco, R&B, and soul genres. Characterized by a low, serious and hoarse timbre, he won two Grammy Awards in 2000 and other recognitions, such as the Soul Train or American Music Awards.

White's greatest success came from 1973, when he suddenly emerged as a solo artist, thus building a legacy that continued through the rest of the 1970s, although his career continued until 1999 with the production of a total of 20 studio albums under his name. He reached number 1 on the Hot 100 charts in his country three times, with the songs that made him world famous: Love's Theme (performed by his orchestra, The Love Unlimited Orchestra), Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe and You're the First, the Last, My Everything, the last two from the album Can& #39;t Get Enough, from 1974. Due to chronic renal failure, he died at the age of 58.

During the course of his career in the music business, White achieved 106 gold albums, 41 of which also achieved platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, world record sales of over 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, The Supremes, The Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye and Isaac Hayes (acknowledged by Barry White himself as an influence).^{[citation needed]}

Trajectory

Barry White was born in Galveston, Texas, on September 12, 1944, registered under the name Barrence Eugene Carter, the son conceived in a free relationship - like his brother - of Sadie M. Carter and Melvin A. White. Looking at the birth certificate, Melvin saw that his child had the last name Carter and crossed it out, replacing it with White. He grew up in the black ghetto of the city of Los Angeles, in the bosom of a poor family. Raised from a young age in one of the worst environments in South Los Angeles, he learned to defend himself at an early age, being part of a youth gang from the age of 10. At the age of 15 he was jailed along with his brother Darryl Lionel White for two months for the theft of some tires. Inspired by the song It's Now or Never , by Elvis Presley, which he heard while in prison, he decided to change his life and friends. From a very young age he entered the world of music, since his mother was a pianist trained in a conservatory and at home they listened to musicians such as Mozart, Bach and Beethoven. He tried to learn scale exercises, but White got tired of the lessons and two weeks later, to his delight, his mother told him to do whatever he wanted. He later entered a fraternity in which he played the piano and sang in the church choir. He was quickly promoted to choir director.^{[citation needed]}

In his autobiography, White said that his deep bass-baritone voice, for which he would later be known, appeared suddenly when he was fourteen: "It scared me and my mother when I spoke that morning; it was completely unexpected; my chest trembled, I mean vibrated; my mother just looked at me, she was amazed. The next thing she knew was when her astonished face turned into a big smile; her tears ran down her face and she told me: 'My son is a man' & # 34;. Already become a singer, during the 1960s he recorded several albums under his real name and as a member of groups such as & # 39; The Upfronts & # 39;, & # 39; The Atlantics & # 39; and 'The Majestics'. His biggest success of the decade, however, came as a producer for artists like Felice Taylor, Viola Wills, and Johnny Wyatt.^{[citation needed]}

In 1969, White met singers Diane Taylor, Glodean James (who would be his second wife, in 1974) and his younger sister Linda James, with whom, after a year of rehearsals, he created the group Love Unlimited, and whose first success came from his hand in 1972 after composing their first single Walkin'; in the rain with the one I love (#14 Billboard Hot 100, #6 R&B). Said song appears on the first album produced by White: From A Girl's Point Of View We Give To You.... For this girl group, while also fulfilling a lifelong wish, she created the 40-piece Love Unlimited Orchestra. Although Barry White composed and to a lesser extent conducted the orchestra's melodies, it was his friend and right-hand man, the renowned arranger, pianist, and conductor Gene Page, who, thanks to his conservatory training, was primarily in charge from 1972 to 1976 to flesh out the characteristic orchestral sound, with elaborate string arrangements and White's modern rhythmic arrangements.^{[citation needed]}

In 1973 and after his success with his first album I've Got So Much To Give (from which his hit I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby, #1 R&B, #3 Pop), White had blazed a new path for his music, so he reunited his orchestra in the studio to record Rhapsody in White, the album that contained the classic Love's theme (#1 Pop in 1974).^{[citation needed]}

At the end of 1973, he released his second album, Stone Gon', featuring the song "Never, never gonna give you up" (#2 R&B and #7 Pop in 1973), and in 1974 with his #1 album Can't Get Enough, which contains the classics Can't Get Enough. Get Enough of Your Love, Babe (#1 Pop and #1 R&B) and You're the First, the Last, My Everything (#1 R&B, #2 Pop).^{[citation needed]}

Later came other hits like What am I gonna do with you (#1 R&B, #8 Pop in 1975), and Let the music play (#4 R&B in 1976). His last big hit came in 1977, when the lead single from Barry White Sings For Someone You Love, It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me, it reached the top of the US charts (#1 R&B). During this golden age, White sponsored and produced other artists and musical groups, such as Tom Brock, Evan Pace, Jay Dee, Gloria Scott and White Heat, among others, but his successes were minor. While editing and producing albums, he left 20th Century Records and created his own record company, CBS subsidiary Unlimited Gold Records, in 1976.

In parallel, White was giving shape to his lifelong dream: a soul band. In an interview, White declared that "I have always liked symphonies, pure music, without a singer", so in 1973, after many attempts, he convinced his record company to release an instrumental LP. The concept was viewed with skepticism by managers; even Russ Regan himself said: "Barry, you're taking advantage of your record company, we can't sell an orchestra." "This one is going to sell," White replied. The album, which contained a total of eight songs, ended with the classic 'Love's Theme', an instrumental theme that became a worldwide hit. The theme was originally created for Love Unlimited, but Gene Page's string arrangements moved White deeply, so he decided to leave it just that, instrumental. From there, a series of instrumental albums and singles emerged that publicized White's songwriting and arranging side. They embarked on tours around the world, in countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico and others, in which at least one song was instrumental, and often 'Love's Theme'. #3. 4; It was conducted live by White himself. Although White's skills were limited, he managed to transfer his ideas to the musicians, interpreting the chords, accents, rhythms and whatever details he wanted to be part of the final theme on the instruments himself.^{[citation required]}

At the height of disco music fever, when various artists around the world began to emphasize the rhythm of their records, Barry White became one of the winners of the last years of the decade with songs like the one belonging to his album The Man, Your sweetness is my weakness (#2 R&B in 1978). He capped off his heyday with his version of Billy Joel's classic Just the way you are (#12 UK).^{[citation needed]}

During the 1980s, after having signed a new record deal with Columbia Records, he dedicated himself to recording a series of albums that had almost no impact (with the exception of The Message Is Love), among them one made with his wife Glodean White with the title Barry & They glorify. However, the hits barely reached the Top 50. In 1985, after the death of his mother, the death of Diane Taylor (vocalist of his group Love Unlimited) and the murder of his brother Darryl Lionel at the hands of a criminal gang, White entered a period of reflection. Unhappy with promotion, he left Columbia Records and had to shut down his Unlimited Gold label in 1986 in an urgent financial reorganization to stop losing money, after which he switched to A&M Records, and with it, his career took a new direction. characterized by the mixture between the electronic sound of the synthesizers and part of the orchestral sound of The Love Unlimited Orchestra. Success returned in 1987 with the song Sho' You Right , which entered the UK Top 20 and culminated in the award-winning hit The Icon Is Love, in 1994, his biggest hit since Barry White Sings For Someone You Love. Nevertheless, and despite an apparent decline, he earned 106 Gold and 46 Platinum Records during his artistic career.However, touring during the 1980s did not stop, and he presented concerts mainly in Europe.

Together with British singer Lisa Stansfield, he recorded a new version of Stansfield's hit All Around The World in 1992, but it was not as successful as the original. During the 1990s, the commercially successful albums Put Me In Your Mix and The Icon Is Love gave White the reputation of being more than just a cult figure.. He also emerged as a minor television celebrity, making appearances on such popular shows as The Simpsons and Ally McBeal.^{[citation needed i>]}

In 1999, the Private Music company released his album Staying Power, through the single that bears the title of the album, which, despite not having been a significant success, brought him White to win two Grammy Awards. She also presented a retrospective of her artistic career writing, along with Marc Eliot, her autobiography Love Unlimited: Insights of Life & Love", in a kind of farewell, with increasingly evident health problems.^{[citation needed]}

Health problems and death

In early 2001, and after decades of continuous smoking, White's health began to deteriorate as he suffered from chronic hypertension, and he was hospitalized in September 2002 with kidney failure, awaiting a transplant. For this reason, he underwent hemodialysis treatment, but his body could not resist the complications of both diseases and he died on July 4, 2003, at 9 in the morning, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles., at 58 years old. His body was cremated and on July 12 his ashes were scattered by his wife Glodean White in the Pacific Ocean, off the California coast, in an event attended by forty guests, including family and friends close to the singer., like Michael Jackson.^{[citation needed]}

Will and inheritance

The Barry White case is well known in the United States regarding outdated wills. From 1990 until his death, White had been in a relationship with Katherine Denton after separating, on good terms, from his wife Glodean White in 1988, to whom he had been married since July 1974. However, possibly due to the good relationship the two they maintained, they never divorced. When White died, the estate laid out in a will written in 1980 went to his wife. Famous New York-born lawyer Adam F. Streisand mediated the dispute between Glodean and the composer's lawyers and manager. Katherine Denton sued for inheritance rights, stating that she had given birth four weeks before the singer's death, at a time when he was already hospitalized. A paternity test revealed that the girl was not his. However, Denton left the trial, taking with him the house in which the couple had been living, located in Encino and valued at two million dollars. Several documents allegedly signed by Barry White allowed her manager and confidante Abby Schroeder to exploit her intellectual property through small companies controlled by her. These documents had been prepared by the singer's lawyers three years before his death. At trial it was revealed that on the date these were affixed with his signature, White was performing in Australia. Adam F. Streisand brokered a deal transferring millions of dollars, including his songs and his albums, to the singer's estate.

In the audiovisual world

In 1974, White composed, arranged and produced the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Together Brothers, an American production made by 20th Century Fox, directed by William A. Graham and released in theaters on August 7 of that year. The album is considered to belong to the Love Unlimited Orchestra discography. Although the song Say it again, from Love Unlimited, appears in one of the opening scenes as background music, it does not appear on the soundtrack; on the other hand, White's song "Honey please, can't ya see" (belonging to his album Stone Gon'), which is one of the last songs on the album, does not appear in the film. White sings '"Somebody's gonna off the man", in the opening credits, and "People of tomorrow are the children of today" in the end credits.^{[citation needed]}

The song "What a groove", composed by White and from Love Unlimited Orchestra's first studio album, Rhapsody in White (1974), was used as the theme song for Final credits for the 1974-1976 seasons of the Mexican television program El Show de Los Polivoces, which was broadcast during the 1970s on Televisa's Canal de las Estrellas.^{[ citation required]}

In 1975, White starred in the controversial film Coonskin, by film director Ralph Bakshi, which mixes animation with real scenes. The singer not only appears in the opening scenes, but doubles as Brother Bear, one of the animated characters.^{[citation required]}

Two songs written by White for the Love Unlimited Orchestra, "My Sweet Summer Suite" and "You, I Adore", appear in the episode "Un Chapulín en Acapulco", by Chespirito, in 1977.^{[citation required]}

In the 1990s, White returned to fame with the television series Ally McBeal (Season 2, Episode 18, Those Lips, That Hand) and in The Simpsons: In the chapter Cudgel Day (Season 4, Episode 20), he sings his classic Can't get enough of your love, babe, allowing the Springfield snakes to take refuge in the Simpson family home to avoid the tradition of clubbing, and at the beginning of the chapter Krusty is canceled (Season 4, Episode 22). Can't get enough of your love, babe sounds at the end of the chapter Homer's Last Temptation (Season 5, Episode 9).^{[citation required]}

White was the inspiration for the character Chef, from South Park and for the character Barry from the series Grumpy Beavers.^{[citation needed ]}

Her hit Love#39;s theme appears in the movie Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and sets the scene for one of the best scenes.^{[citation required]}

Another of his greatest hits, Never, never gonna give you up, is part of the soundtrack of the movie Como Dios. In one of the scenes, Bruce Nolan (Jim Carrey) lowers the Moon with his powers to Grace Connelly (Jennifer Aniston) to make this evening the perfect date, accompanied by candlelight, wine and the harmony offered by the artist's voice. ^{[citation required]}

In episode 13 (titled Searching for soul) of the first season of the reality television show Locos por los autos (Counting Cars), aired on the History Channel and produced by Leftfield Pictures, the protagonists are tasked with finding and repairing White's legendary car, a 1979 Stutz IV Porte. His widow Glodean was a guest on the episode, which aired on 25 September 2012.

In episode 26 of season 9 of the British documentary-series broadcast by Channel 5 and Reelz Autopsy: The Last Hours of... the last moments of the life of White. It aired on October 6, 2018.

Awards and distinctions

In the mid-'70s, White won a BMI award for selling more than three million copies of the instrumental single Love's Theme.

In 1991, White was nominated for a Grammy Award for the song The secret garden, by Quincy Jones.

In 1994, White was awarded the Soul Train Award for Lifetime Achievement in Music.

In 1996, White was nominated for a Grammy Award for his album The Icon Is Love and a Soul Train Award nominee for the song Practice What You Preach.

In 2000, he won two Grammy Awards for Best Traditional Music and Best Rhythm and Blues for Staying Power.

In 2004 he was the first artist inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame, along with Donna Summer and the Bee Gees.

On September 12, 2013, Barry White was posthumously awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At the ceremony, Glodean White, accompanied by her sister Linda James, a member of the group Love Unlimited, delivered a speech on his behalf. Legendary music producer Berry Gordy also paid tribute to the singer.^{[citation needed]}

Discography

Recordings

Studio albums

• I've Got So Much To Give (1973)
• Stone Gon' (1973)
• Can't Get Enough (1974)
• Just Another Way To Say I Love You (1975)
• Let The Music Play (1976)
• Is This Whatcha Wont? (1976)
• Barry White Sings For Someone You Love (1977)
• The Man (1978)
• I Love To Sing The Songs I Sing (1979)
• The Message Is Love (1979)
• Sheet Music (1980)
• Barry " Glodean (1981) (grabbed with his wife Glodean White)
• Beware! (1981)
• Change (1982)
• Dedicated (1983)
• The Right Night & Barry White (1987)
• The Man Is Back! (1989)
• Put Me In Your Mix (1991)
• The Icon Is Love (1994)
• Staying Power (1999)

Simple

• I'm gonna love you just a little more baby (1973)
• I've got so much to give (1973)
• Never, never gonna give already up (1973)
• Honey please, can't ya see (1974)
• Can't get enough of your love, babe (1974)
• You're the first, the last, my everything (1974)
• What am I gonna do with you (1975)
• I'll do for you anything you want me to (1975)
• Let the music play (1976)
• You see the trouble with me (1976) (with Ray Parker, Jr.)
• Baby, we better try to get it together (1976)
• Don't make me wait too long (1976)
• I'm qualified to satisfy you (1977)
• It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me (1977)
• Playing your game, baby (1977)
• Oh what a night for dancing (1978)
• Your sweetness is my weakness (1978)
• Just the way you are (1978)
• Sha la means I love you (1979)
• Any fool can see (you were meant for me) (1979)
• It ain't love, babe (until you give it) (1979)
• I love to sing the songs I sing (1979)
• How did you know it was me? (1979)
• Love ain't easy (1980)
• Sheet music (1980)
• Love makin' music (1980)
• I believe in love (1980)
• Louie Louie (1981)
• Beware (1981)
• Change (1982)
• Passion (1982)
• America (1982)
• Don't let them blow your mind (1984)
• Sho' you right (1987)
• For your love (I'll do most anything) (1987)
• Super lover (1989)
• Follow that and see (where it leads y'all) (1989)
• I wanna do it good to ya (1990)
• When will I see you again (1990)
• Put me in your mix (1991)
• Practice what you preach (1994)
• Love is the icon (1994)
• Come on (1994)
• I only want to be with you (1994)
• There it is (1994)
• Staying power (1999)
• The longer we make love (1999) (with Lisa Stansfield and Chaka Khan)

Duet singles

• Didn't we make it happen, baby (with Glodean White, 1981)
• I want you (with Glodean White, 1981)
• The secret garden (together with Quincy Jones, 1990)
• All of me (with Big Daddy Kane, 1990)
• Dark and lovely (with Isaac Hayes, 1992)
• All around the world (with Lisa Stansfield, 1992)
• At the end of the day (along with Quincy Jones, 1995)
• Slow jams (along with Babyface, Quincy Jones and SWV, 1996)
• Wildest dreams (along with Tina Turner, 1996)
• My everything (with Faith Evans, 1997)
• Basketball Jones (with Chris Rock, 1996)
• You're the first, the last, my everything (along with Luciano Pavarotti, 2001)

Featured Compilations

• Barry White's Greatest Hits (1975)
• Barry White's Greatest Hits 2 (1981)
• The Collection (1988)
• Just For You (4 CD) (1992)
• All Time Greatest Hits (1994)
• Boss Soul - The genius of Barry White (1995). Compilation of composite songs during the 1960s for Felice Taylor, Viola Wills, Johnny Wyatt and Barry White.
• Your Heart and Soul: The Love Album (2000). Collection of "demos" composed by White and launched for the first time in 1974 under the title No Limit In Love.
• The Ultimate Collection (2000)
• The Best of Barry White (2003)
• White Gold: The Very Best of Barry White (2005)
• Unlimited (4 CD + 1 DVD) (2009)
• The Complete 20th Century Records Singles (2018)
• The 20th Century Records Albums [1973-1979] (9 CD) (2018)

Live recordings available

• Live in Mexico (1976)
• Live in Germany (1975)
• Live in Concert: Frankfurt (1979)
• Live In Belgium (1991). First sold in VHS format.
• An Evening With Barry White (Arrowhead Pond in Southern California) (1999)

Albums by other artists composed and/or produced by Barry White

The following albums were not only produced by Barry White, but also arranged by the White/Gene Page/Love Unlimited Orchestra trio (except for the last title on the list, on which Gene Page was not involved):

• Evan Pace - Face To Face (1973)
• Gloria Scott - What Am I Gonna Do (1974)
• Jay Dee... Come On In Love (1974)
• Gene Page - Hot City (1974)
• Tom Brock - I Love You More And More (1974)
• Danny Pearson - Barry White Presents Mr. Danny Pearson (1977)
• Jimmie & Vella Cameron - Song Painters (1981)

The following albums were produced by Barry White, and his creative or orchestral input was minimal:

• Westwing - Westwing (1975)
• White Heat - White Heat (1975)
• Black Satin featuring Fred Parris - Black Satin featuring Fred Parris (1976)

The latter contains the song How I wish we could do it again, composed by Barry White and Robert Relf.