September 2022
Quote Of The Month
Barry White
September 12, 1944 - July 4, 2003
Barry White (Birth name: Barry Eugene Carter)
During the mid-1970s singer/songwriter Barry White was the undisputed maestro of sensual soul music. Growling seductive lyrics in a deep, husky voice backed by lush orchestration, White produced a string of hit songs during the decade, with titles such as “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More, Baby,” “I’ll Do Anything You Want Me To,” and “I’m Qualified to Satisfy.”
His repetitive melodies and danceable rhythms were major influences on the disco music that emerged later in the decade; with his 41-piece Love Unlimited Orchestra, he produced the prognostic disco hit “Love’s Theme” in 1973. The multifaceted White frequently wrote, arranged, and produced for other performers as well as himself; by the time his popularity as a singer had waned in the late seventies, his musical talents had earned him more than one hundred million dollars in worldwide record sales.
White grew up in poverty and, like many poor black performers, got his musical start at a local church. At eight, he began singing in the choir and two years later he played the organ and assisted the choir director. Barry White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14 years old. He later recalled: "[As a child] I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man.”
Barry had a vocal range of approximately F1-E5, and had a bass-baritone voice.
By the time he was 16, White had joined a rhythm and blues band, the Upfronts, as a singer and pianist performing in small clubs in the Los Angeles area. He next joined Rampart Records and started composing and producing. During this time, he met performers Bob and Earl and wrote their 1963 hit “The Harlem Shuffle”.
In 1966 White became head of A & R (Artists and Repertoire) for Mustang/Bronco Records, where he wrote, produced, and unsuccessfully recorded as a solo vocalist. While there, he met three female singers—Diane Taylor, Linda James, and Glodean James. Naming them Love Unlimited, he produced their first single, “Walkin’in the Rain with the One I Love” which turned gold.
In 1973, White and his female associates signed recording contracts with Twentieth Century-Fox Records. His initial release, “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More, Baby,” topped the charts, the first in a succession of million-selling singles and albums which included “Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up,” “You’re My First, My Last, My Everything”, “Can’t Get Enough”, and “Just Another to Say I Love You”. White’s easy-listening soul appealed to both pop and rhythm and blues audiences and was described as “sophistisoul.” In 1973, White formed the Love Unlimited Orchestra to accompany him on his concert tours. The performer and his entourage left Twentieth Century-Fox when he founded his own recording company, Unlimited Gold, in 1979.
In 1979, Miss Kim was seated at the same table as Mr. White at a dinner banquet for Billboard Magazine held in NYC and remembers him as a charming man. (Somewhere amongst her souviners, she has his autograph on a menu from that night). She also saw him in concert many years later and still swoons to his voice.
Barry White had one of the most instantly-recognizable voices of all time. He really did have so many hits in the 1970s, and recorded some of the most enduring songs of the soul, funk and disco era and sold over 100 million records worldwide.
Barry White was overweight for most of his adult life, and suffered from health problems because of it. On July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was aged 58.
During the mid-1970s singer/songwriter Barry White was the undisputed maestro of sensual soul music. Growling seductive lyrics in a deep, husky voice backed by lush orchestration, White produced a string of hit songs during the decade, with titles such as “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More, Baby,” “I’ll Do Anything You Want Me To,” and “I’m Qualified to Satisfy.”
His repetitive melodies and danceable rhythms were major influences on the disco music that emerged later in the decade; with his 41-piece Love Unlimited Orchestra, he produced the prognostic disco hit “Love’s Theme” in 1973. The multifaceted White frequently wrote, arranged, and produced for other performers as well as himself; by the time his popularity as a singer had waned in the late seventies, his musical talents had earned him more than one hundred million dollars in worldwide record sales.
White grew up in poverty and, like many poor black performers, got his musical start at a local church. At eight, he began singing in the choir and two years later he played the organ and assisted the choir director. Barry White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 14 years old. He later recalled: "[As a child] I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man.”
Barry had a vocal range of approximately F1-E5, and had a bass-baritone voice.
By the time he was 16, White had joined a rhythm and blues band, the Upfronts, as a singer and pianist performing in small clubs in the Los Angeles area. He next joined Rampart Records and started composing and producing. During this time, he met performers Bob and Earl and wrote their 1963 hit “The Harlem Shuffle”.
In 1966 White became head of A & R (Artists and Repertoire) for Mustang/Bronco Records, where he wrote, produced, and unsuccessfully recorded as a solo vocalist. While there, he met three female singers—Diane Taylor, Linda James, and Glodean James. Naming them Love Unlimited, he produced their first single, “Walkin’in the Rain with the One I Love” which turned gold.
In 1973, White and his female associates signed recording contracts with Twentieth Century-Fox Records. His initial release, “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More, Baby,” topped the charts, the first in a succession of million-selling singles and albums which included “Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up,” “You’re My First, My Last, My Everything”, “Can’t Get Enough”, and “Just Another to Say I Love You”. White’s easy-listening soul appealed to both pop and rhythm and blues audiences and was described as “sophistisoul.” In 1973, White formed the Love Unlimited Orchestra to accompany him on his concert tours. The performer and his entourage left Twentieth Century-Fox when he founded his own recording company, Unlimited Gold, in 1979.
In 1979, Miss Kim was seated at the same table as Mr. White at a dinner banquet for Billboard Magazine held in NYC and remembers him as a charming man. (Somewhere amongst her souviners, she has his autograph on a menu from that night). She also saw him in concert many years later and still swoons to his voice.
Barry White had one of the most instantly-recognizable voices of all time. He really did have so many hits in the 1970s, and recorded some of the most enduring songs of the soul, funk and disco era and sold over 100 million records worldwide.
Barry White was overweight for most of his adult life, and suffered from health problems because of it. On July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was aged 58.
