The Maestro of Love has taken his final bow…
The music of Barry White shaped our lives. If you were courting or even conceived in the 70’s, it was very likely that his honey-bass voice and rich orchestrations were setting the mood. From 1973 to 1978, he dominated the black, pop, and even disco music charts with such hits as “I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More, Baby“, “I’ve Got So Much To Give“, “Never, Never Gonna Give You Up“, “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe“, “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything” and “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me.” In 1994, he another #1 hit with “Practice What You Preach” and in 1999, he finally received two long overdue Grammy awards for his Staying Power album. His music was sensual, sensual, and seductive but not sleezy. He set the stage for love without undressing it. He was triple threat with his solo work, with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, and with the Love Unlimited singers.
In Barry’s liner notes from his All-Time Greatest Hits album he said:
“The mistress,” he says, referring back to his music, “can never be satisfied. That’s because the mistress is music. Lady Music is the woman I’m trying to please. She keeps me up, has me obsessed, drives me crazy. She’s real, and she isn’t. She’s pure. She say, ‘I’ll come to you in any, I’ll be anything you want, anything you can create, whatever you imagine.’ She never stops beckoning, never stops demanding. A curse and a blessing, a whore and a saint, a witch and a goddess, my joy and my frustration.”
Sho’ you right!!!
i was going to post about barry white and skip scarborough and then i decided that you would do it much better than i could so i would defer to you. i was right. you are always so on point.
It seems so strange that all of the music was from the early to mid seventies. It all has such a timeless air to it.
There could never be another Barry White! He epitomizes what real soul music was. The current so called singers should take notes and listen to what real music sounds like. I truly truly miss the man and his music!