Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye (born Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr., April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was a legendary American soul and R&B singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer and performer who gained international fame as an artist on the Motown label in the 1960s and 1970s.
Beginning his career at Motown in 1961, Gaye quickly became Motown's top solo male artist and scored numerous hits during the 1960s, among them "Stubborn Kind of Fellow", "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", and several hit duets with Tammi Terrell, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "You're All I Need to Get By", before moving on to his own form of musical self-expression. Gaye is notable for fighting the hit-making, but creatively restrictive, Motown record-making process, in which performers and songwriters and record producers were generally kept in separate camps.[1] With his successful 1971 album What's Going On and subsequent releases including Trouble Man and Let's Get It On, Gaye, who was a part-time songwriter for Motown artists during his early years with the label, proved that he could write and produce his own singles without having to rely on the Motown system. This achievement (along with those of contemporaries, Curtis Mayfield and George Clinton), would pave the way for the successes of later self-sufficient singer-songwriter-producers in African American music, such as Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, and Babyface.
During the 1970s, Gaye would release several other notable albums, including Let's Get It On and I Want You, and had hits with singles such as "Let's Get It On", "Got to Give It Up", and, in the early 1980s, "Sexual Healing". By the time of his death in 1984 at the hands of his clergyman father, Gaye had become one of the most influential artists of the soul music era.
Contents[hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Early life
1.2 Early music career
1.3 Early success
1.4 Tammi Terrell
1.5 What's Going On
1.6 Continued success in music
1.7 Later years and his death
1.8 Personal life
2 Legacy, tributes and award recognitions
3 Trivia and myths
4 Discography
4.1 U.S. and UK Top Ten Singles
4.2 Top Ten Albums
4.3 Sound clips
5 Notes
6 References
7 Further reading
8 See also
9 External links
//

[edit] Biography

Marvin Gaye's 1966 LP Moods of Marvin Gaye

[edit] Early life
Marvin Gaye was born the first son and second eldest of four children to Rev. Marvin Pentz Gay, Sr and Alberta Cooper. His sisters, Jeanne and Zeola, younger brother Frankie and Marvin lived in the segregated section of Washington, D.C.'s Deanwood neighborhood in the northeastern section of the city. As a teen, he caddied at Columbia Country Club just outside of D.C. in Chevy Chase, Maryland. Gaye's father preached in a Seventh-day Adventist Church sect called the House of God, which went by a strict code of conduct and mixed teachings of Orthodox Judaism and Pentecostalism.
After dropping out of Cardozo High School, Gaye joined the United States Air Force. He was discharged because he refused to follow orders.
After starting his recording career at Motown Records, he changed his name from Marvin Gay to Marvin Gaye, adding the 'e' to separate himself from his father and in admiration of his idol, Sam Cooke, who also added an 'e' to his last name ([1]).

[edit] Early music career
Gaye began his career in several doo wop groups, settling on The Marquees, a popular D.C. group. With Bo Diddley, The Marquees released a single, "Wyatt Earp", in 1958 on Okeh Records and were then recruited by Harvey Fuqua to become The Moonglows. "Mama Loocie", released in 1959 on Chess Records, was Gaye's first single with the Moonglows and his first recorded lead. After a concert in Detroit, the "new" Moonglows disbanded and Fuqua introduced Gaye to Motown Records president Berry Gordy. He signed Gaye first as a session drummer for acts such as The Miracles, The Contours, Martha and the Vandellas, The Marvelettes and others. Most notably, he was the drummer on The Marvelettes' 1961 number one hit "Please Mr. Postman" and Little Stevie Wonder's 1963 number one hit "Fingertips Pt. 2". He also co-wrote Martha & the Vandellas' 1964 hit "Dancing in the Street" and The Marvelettes' 1962 hit "Beechwood 4-5789". After much pleading, Gaye was signed as a singer less than a year later.
Popular and well-liked around Motown, Gaye already carried himself in a sophisticated, gentlemanly manner and had little need of training from Motown's in-house Artist Development director, Maxine Powell.

[edit] Early success
Gaye issued his first solo recording, The Soulful Moods of Marvin Gaye, in June of 1961, which was the first album issued by the Motown record label besides The Miracles' Hi, We're the Miracles! album. An album of Broadway standards and jazz-rendered show tunes, the record failed to chart and Motown issued three singles by Gaye that also failed to chart. After arguing over direction of his career with Gordy, Gaye eventually agreed to conform to record the more R&B-rooted sounds of his label mates and contemporaries issuing the single, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" in July of 1962. The record, co-written by Gaye and produced by friend William "Mickey" Stevenson and which was an autobiographical jab at Gaye's moody behavior, became a top ten hit on the Hot Soul Singles chart and started Gaye's rise. The single would be followed by his first Top 40 singles "Hitch Hike", "Pride & Joy" and "Can I Get a Witness", all of which were charted successes for Gaye in 1963. The success continued with the 1964 singles "You Are a Wonderful One", which featured background work by The Supremes, "Try It Baby", which featured backgrounds from The Temptations, "Baby Don't You Do It" and "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)", which became a signature song of his. His work with Smokey Robinson on the 1966 album, Moods of Marvin Gaye, spawned two consecutive top ten singles in "I'll Be Doggone" and "Ain't That Peculiar", which became another signature song of his.

[edit] Tammi Terrell
Main article: Tammi Terrell
A number of Gaye's hit singles for Motown were duets with female artists, such as Mary Wells, Kim Weston and Tammi Terrell; the first Gaye/Wells album, 1964's Together, was Gaye's first charting album. Terrell and Gaye in particular had a good rapport and their first album together, 1967's United, birthed the massive hits "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (later covered by Diana Ross and more recently, by former Doobie Brothers singer, Michael McDonald) and "Your Precious Love". Real life couple Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson provided the writing and production for the Gaye/Terrell records; while Gaye and Terrell themselves were not lovers (though rumors persist that they may have been), they convincingly portrayed lovers on record; indeed Gaye sometimes claimed that for the durations of the songs he was in love with her. On October 14, 1967, Terrell collapsed into Gaye's arms onstage while they were performing at the Hampton University homecoming in Virginia (contrary to popular belief, it was not Hampden-Sydney College, also in Virginia). She was later diagnosed with a brain tumor and her health continued to deteriorate.
Motown decided to try and carry on with the Gaye/Terrell recordings, issuing the You're All I Need album in 1968, which featured the hits "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need to Get By". By the time of the final Gaye/Terrell album, Easy in 1969, Terrell's vocals were performed mostly by Valerie Simpson. Two tracks on Easy were archived Terrell solo songs with Gaye's vocals overdubbed onto them.
Terrell's illness put Gaye in a depression; when his Norman Whitfield-produced "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (sample (help·info)) became his first #1 hit and the biggest selling single in Motown history to that point with four million copies sold, he refused to acknowledge his success, feeling that it was undeserved. Meanwhile, Gaye's marriage with Anna was crumbling and he continued to feel irrelevant, singing endlessly about love while popular music underwent a revolution and began addressing social and political issues. His work with Norman Whitfield would result in similar success with the singles "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" and "That's the Way Love Is".

Marvin Gaye (left) and James Jamerson perform "What's Goin' On" live.

[edit] What's Going On
Tammi Terrell died of a tumor on March 16, 1970. Devastated by her death, Marvin was so emotional at her funeral that he'd talk to the remains as if she were going to respond. Gaye subsequently went into seclusion, and did not perform in concert for nearly two years. He tried various spirit-lifting diversions, including a short-lived attempt at a football career with the Detroit Lions. He trained hard, but the team's managers turned him down without a tryout. He continued to feel pain, with no form of self-expression. As a result, he entered the studio on June 1, 1970 and recorded the songs "What's Going On", "God is Love", and "Sad Tomorrows" - an early version of "Flying High (In the Friendly Sky)".
Gaye wanted to release "What's Going On" (sample (help·info)). Motown head Berry Gordy refused, however, calling the single "uncommercial". Gaye refused to record any more until Gordy gave in and the song became a surprise hit in January 1971. Gordy subsequently requested an entire album of similar tracks from Gaye.
The What's Going On album became one of the highlights of Gaye's career and is today his best-known work. Both in terms of sound (influenced by funk and jazz) and lyrical content (heavily political) it was a major departure from his earlier Motown work. Two more of its singles, "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" and "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", became Top 10 pop hits and #1 R&B hits. The album became one of the most memorable soul albums of all time and, based upon its themes, the concept album became the next new frontier for soul music. It has been called "the most important and passionate record to come out of soul music, delivered by one of its finest voices".[2]

1973's Let's Get It On LP is among Marvin Gaye's most noted works.

[edit] Continued success in music
After the success of the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film, Trouble Man in 1972, Marvin decided to switch topics from social to sensual with the release of Let's Get It On (sample (help·info)). The album was a rare departure for the singer for its blatant sensualism inspired by the success of What's Going On and Marvin's need to produce himself in his own way. Yielded by the smash title track and subsequent other hits such as "Come Get to This", "You Sure Love to Ball" and "Distant Lover". Let's Get It On became Marvin Gaye's biggest selling album during his lifetime, surpassing What's Going On. Also, with the title track, Gaye broke his own record at Motown by surpassing the sales of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine". The album would be later hailed as "a record unparallelled in its sheer sensuality and carnal energy."[3]
Gaye began working on his final duet album, this time for Diana Ross for the Diana & Marvin project, an album of duets that began recording in 1972, while Ross was pregnant with her second child. Gaye refused to sing if he couldn't smoke in the studio, so the duet album was recorded by overdubbing Ross and Gaye at separate studio session dates. Released in the fall of 1973, the album yielded the US Top 20 hit singles "You're a Special Part of Me and "My Mistake (Was to Love You)" as well as the UK versions of two The Stylistics's "You Are Everything" at #5 and "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)" at #25, respectively.
In 1976, Gaye released the I Want You LP, which yielded the number-one R&B single, "I Want You" and the modest charter, "After the Dance." and produced erotic album tracks such as "Since I Had You" and "Soon I'll Be Loving You Again" with its musical productions gearing Gaye towards more funky material.

[edit] Later years and his death
In 1977, Gaye released the seminal funk single, "Got to Give It Up", which went to number-one on both the pop, R&B and dance singles charts and helped his Live at the London Palladium album sell over two million copies and becoming one of the top ten best-selling albums of the year. The following year, after divorcing his first wife Anna, he agreed to remit a portion of his salary and sales of his upcoming album to his ex for alimony. The result was 1978's Here, My Dear, which addressed the sour points of his marriage to Anna and almost led to Anna filing an invasion of privacy against Marvin, though she later reversed that decision. That album tanked on the charts (despite its later critical reevaluation) however, and Gaye struggled to sell a record. By 1979, besieged by tax problems and drug addictions, Gaye filed for bankruptcy and moved to Hawaii where he lived in a bread van. In 1980, he signed with British promoter Jeffrey Kruger to do concerts overseas with the promised highlight of a Royal Command Performance at London's Drury Lane in front of Princess Margaret. Gaye failed to make the stage on time and by the time he came, everyone had left. While in London, Marvin worked on In Our Lifetime?, a complex and deeply personal record. When Motown issued the album in 1981, Gaye was livid: he accused Motown of editing and remixing the album without his consent, releasing an unfinished song ("Far Cry"), altering the album art he requested and removing the question mark from the title (rendering the intended irony imperceptible).
After being offered a chance to clear things out in Oostende, Belgium, he permanently moved there in 1981. Still upset over Motown's hasty decision to release In Our Lifetime, he negotiated a release from the label and signed with Columbia Records in 1982, releasing Midnight Love that year. The album included Marvin's final big hit, "Sexual Healing" (sample (help·info)). The song gave Gaye his first two Grammy Awards (Best R&B Male Vocal Performance, Best R&B Instrumental) in February 1983. The following year, he won a Grammy nomination for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance again, this time for the Midnight Love album itself. In February 1983, Gaye gave an emotional performance of The Star-Spangled Banner at the NBA All-Star Game, held at The Forum in Inglewood, California, accompanied by a drum machine. In March, 1983, he gave his final performance in front of his old mentor and label for Motown 25, performing "What's Going On". He then embarked on a U.S. tour to support his album. The tour, ending in August 1983, was plagued by health problems and Gaye's bouts with depression, and fear over an alleged attempt on his life.
When the tour ended, he isolated himself by moving into his parents' house. He threatened to commit suicide several times after numerous bitter arguments with his father, Marvin, Sr. On the E! True Hollywood Story about Gaye, singer Little Richard revealed that Gaye had premonitions of his murder in his final years of life. On April 1, 1984, one day before his forty-fifth birthday, Gaye's father shot and killed him after an argument that had started after Marvin's parents argued over misplaced business documents. Marvin, Sr. later was sentenced to six years of probation after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Charges of first-degree murder were dropped after doctors discovered Marvin, Sr. had a brain tumor. Later serving his final years in a retirement home, he died of pneumonia in 1998.
After some posthumous releases cemented his memory in the popular consciousness, Gaye was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He later was inducted to Hollywood's Rock Walk in 1989 and was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990.

[edit] Personal life
Gaye married twice. His first marriage, to Berry Gordy, Jr.'s sister Anna Gordy(who was seventeen years his senior), who inspired some of Gaye's earlier hits including "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" and "You Are a Wonderful One", produced an adopted son, Marvin Pentz Gaye III (b. June 8, 1965). Troubled from the start, the marriage permanently imploded after Gaye began courting Janis Hunter(seventeen years his junior), the seventeen-year-old daughter of hipster jazz icon Slim Gaillard, in 1973 following the release of his Let's Get It On album. Hunter was also an inspiration to Gaye's music, particularly his entire post-What's Going On/Trouble Man period which included Let's Get It On and I Want You. Their relationship produced two children, Nona Marvisa Gaye (b. September 4, 1974) and Frankie Christian Gaye (b. November 16, 1975). Marvin and Janis married after Marvin's divorce from Anna was finalized. Shortly after their October 1977 wedding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, however, they separated due to growing tensions between them, finally divorcing in February 1981.
After Gaye's death, two of his children followed in his footsteps to show business: eldest son Marvin Pentz Gaye III became a record producer and has control of his estate, while Gaye's only daughter, Nona, became a model, an actress and a singer. His youngest child, son Frankie Christian, has not followed his siblings into show business.

[edit] Legacy, tributes and award recognitions

Marvin Gaye on the cover of his 1969 LP I Heard It Through the Grapevine, originally released in 1968 as In the Groove.
Even before Gaye died, there had already been tributes to the singer. In 1983, the British group Spandau Ballet recorded the single "True" as a partial tribute to both Gaye and the Motown sound he helped establish. A year after his death, The Commodores made reference to Gaye's death in their 1985 song Nightshift as did the Violent Femmes in their 1988 song "See My Ships". Former Motown alum Diana Ross also paid tribute with her Top 10 pop single "Missing You" (1985) while the soul band Maze featuring Frankie Beverly recorded the tribute song, "Silky Soul" (1989), in honor of their late mentor. He was also mentioned in the next-to-last choral verse of George Michael's record, "John & Elvis are Dead", featured on his album, Patience.
In 1995, certain artists including Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Speech of the group Arrested Development and Gaye's own daughter Nona, paid tribute to Gaye with the MTV-assisted tribute album, Inner City Blues: The Music of Marvin Gaye, which also included a documentary of the same name that aired on MTV. In 1999, R&B artists such as D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Brian McKnight and Will Downing paid their respects to Gaye in a tribute album, Marvin Is 60. In October 2001, an all-star cover of "What's Going On", produced by Jermaine Dupri, was issued as a benefit single, credited to "Artists Against AIDS Worldwide". The single, which was a reaction to the tragedy of the September 11, 2001 attacks as well as to the AIDS crisis, featured contributions from a plethora of stars, including Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Mariah Carey, Destiny's Child, Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit, Nelly Furtado, Alicia Keys, Aaron Lewis of the rock group StainD, Nas, *NSYNC, P. Diddy, ?uestlove of The Roots, Britney Spears, and Gwen Stefani [2]. The "What's Going On" cover also featured Nona, who sang one of the song's memorable lines, Father, father/we don't need to escalate.
In 1987, Marvin was inducted posthumously to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with Marvin's first wife Anna Gordy and son Marvin III accepting for Marvin. He was later given his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1990. In 1996, he was posthumously awarded with the Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement Award and was honored in song by admirers Annie Lennox and Seal. In 2004, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #18 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.[4]
Throughout his long career, Gaye scored a total of forty-one Top 40 hit singles on Billboard's Pop Singles chart between 1963 and 2001, sixty top forty R&B singles chart hits from 1962 to 2001, eighteen Top Ten pop singles on the pop chart, thirty-eight Top 10 singles on the R&B chart (according to latest figures from Joel Whitburns Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004, 2004), three number-one pop hits and thirteen number-one R&B hits and tied with Michael Jackson in total as well as the fourth biggest artist of all-time to spend the most weeks at the number-one spot on the R&B singles chart (52 weeks). In all, Gaye produced a total of sixty-seven singles on the Billboard charts in total spanning five decades including five posthumous releases.
The year a remix of Marvin's "Let's Get It On" was released to urban adult contemporary radio, "Let's Get It On" was certified gold by the RIAA for sales in excess of 500,000 units, making it the best-selling single of all time on Motown in the United States. Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" holds the title of the best-selling international Motown single of all time, with high sales explained by a re-release in Europe following a Levi's 501 Jeans commercial in 1986.
In 2005, rock group A Perfect Circle released "What's Going On" as part of an anti-war CD titled eMOTIVe. The next year, it was announced that rock group the Strokes was going to cover Marvin's "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" on their next album. In October 2005, a discussion was delivered at Marvin's hometown of Washington, D.C.'s City Council to change the name of a park located at Marvin's childhood neighborhood from Watts Branch Park to Marvin Gaye Park and was soon offered so for $5 million to make the name change a reality. The park was renamed on April 2, 2006 on what would've been Marvin's sixty-seventh birthday.
A documentary about Gaye's life and death - What's Going On: The Marvin Gaye Story - was a UK/PBS USA co-production, directed by Jeremy Marre. Gaye is referenced as one of the supernatural acts to appear in the short story and later television version of Stephen King's Nightmares and Dreamscapes in You Know They Got a Hell of a Band.
A Marvin Gaye biopic, titled Marvin - The Marvin Gaye Story, is being set for production in 2007 by Producer Duncan McGillivray (Film by Humans Production Co., LLC) with singer Roberta Flack supervising on the music. It will be a full-scale, $40 million dollar biopic of the entire life story of Gaye.
A play co-composed by Gaye's baby sister Zeola about the singer is currently playing.

[edit] Trivia and myths
It has been said that Marvin did most of his vocals lying on his back.

[edit] Discography
For further information, see: Marvin Gaye discography.

[edit] U.S. and UK Top Ten Singles
The following singles reached the Top Ten of either the United States pop singles chart or the United Kingdom pop singles chart.
Year
Song title
US chart
UK chart
1963:
"Pride & Joy"
1964:
"How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)"
1965:
"I'll Be Doggone"
1965:
"Ain't That Peculiar"
1967:
"Your Precious Love(with Tammi Terrell
1967:
"If I Could Build My Whole World Around You"(with Tammi Terrell)
1968:
"Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing"(with Tammi Terrell)
1968:
"You're All I Need to Get By"(with Tammi Terrell)
1968:
"I Heard It through the Grapevine"Listen (help·info)
1969:
"Too Busy Thinking About My Baby
1969:
"The Onion Song"(with Tammi Terrell)
1969:
"Abraham, Martin & John"
1969:
"That's the Way Love Is"
1971:
"What's Going On"Listen (help·info)
1971:
"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)"
1971:
"Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)"
1972:
"Trouble Man"
1973:
"Let's Get It On"Listen (help·info)
1974:
"You Are Everything"(with Diana Ross)
1977:
"Got to Give It Up"
1982:
"Sexual Healing"Listen (help·info)

[edit] Top Ten Albums
The following albums reached the Top Ten on either the United States pop albums chart or the United Kingdom pop albums chart.
1971: What's Going On (U.S. #6)
1973: Let's Get It On (U.S. #2)
1973: Diana & Marvin (w/Diana Ross) (UK #6)
1974: Marvin Gaye Live! (U.S. #8)
1976: I Want You (U.S. #4)
1977: Live at the London Palladium (U.S. #3)
1982: Midnight Love (U.S. #7; UK #10)
1994: The Very Best of Marvin Gaye (UK #3)
2000: Marvin Gaye Love Songs (UK #8)

[edit] Sound clips
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine" (file info) — play in browser (beta)
Released as a single in 1968 from In the Groove, this single was the best-selling Motown single of the 1960s. - 1.2 MB
"What's Going On" (file info) — play in browser (beta)
Released as a single in 1971 from What's Going On, one of Marvin Gaye's best-known recordings. - 691 KB
"Let's Get It On" (file info) — play in browser (beta)
Marvin Gaye's popular #1 1973 single from the album Let's Get It On - 208 KB
"Sexual Healing" (file info) — play in browser (beta)
The last major single released before his death, from the album Midnight Love - 232 KB
Problems playing the files? See media help.

Peabo Bryson

Peabo Bryson (born Robert Peabo Bryson on April 13, 1951) is an American R&B and soul singer, born in Greenville, South Carolina. He is well known for singing soft-rock ballads, often as a duo with female singers, and his contribution to several Disney animated feature soundtracks.
Bryson won a Grammy Award in 1992 for his performance of the song "Beauty and the Beast" with Céline Dion and another in 1993 for "A Whole New World" (Aladdin's Theme) with Regina Belle.
Peabo's greatest solo hits include 1978's "Feel The Fire" and "I'm So Into You" and the 1985 hit "If Ever You're In My Arms Again". In 1985, he appeared on the soap opera One Life to Live to sing a lyrical version of its theme song. Bryson's vocals were added to the regular theme song in 1987 and his voice was heard daily until 1992.
Among his duets:
"Beauty and the Beast", with Céline Dion
"Light The World", with Deborah Gibson
"The Gift", with Roberta Flack
"A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme)", with Regina Belle
"Tonight I Celebrate My Love", with Roberta Flack
"The Best Part", with Nadia Gifford
"Lovers After All", with Melissa Manchester
"A Whole New World (Aladdin's Theme)", with J-pop artist Kumi Koda in 2006 for her album BEST ~second session~
"You Are My Home" (from The Scarlet Pimpernel) with Linda Eder
"By The Time This Night is Over" with Kenny G
Bryson has also performed in theater and operatic productions, most notably the tenor role of "Sportin' Life" in the Michigan Opera Theater of Detroit's version of Porgy and Bess.
His tax problems caught up with him on August 21, 2003, when the U.S. Internal Revenue Service seized property from his Atlanta, Georgia, home. He is reported to owe $1.2 million in taxes going back to 1984. The IRS auctioned much of his possessions, including both Grammy Awards, electronic equipment and grand piano. Plunkett, John. "Peabo Bryson's Grammys, other possessions, auctioned to pay $1.2 million tax debt", Jet Magazine, 2004-01-12. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.

[edit] Discography
Peace on Earth (1997)
Through the Fire (1994)
The Best Part with Nadia Gifford (1993)
Tonight I Celebrate My Love (1992)
Can You Stop the Rain (1991)
All My Love (1989)
Positive (1988)
Straight From the Heart (1986)
Quiet Storm (1986)
Take No Prisoners (1985)
The Peabo Bryson Collection (1984)
Born to Love (1983)
Don't Play With Fire (1982)
Turn The Hands Of Time (1981)
Paradise (1980)
Live & More (with Roberta Flack) (1980)
The Best of Friends (with Natalie Cole) (1979)
Crosswinds (1978)
Reaching For The Sky (1978)
Peabo (1976)

Barry White

Barry Eugene White (born Barrence Eugene Carter, September 21, 1944(1944-09-21) – July 4, 2003) was a Grammy Award winning American record producer, songwriter and singer responsible for the creation of numerous hit soul and disco songs. He released 106 gold and 41 platinum albums, 20 gold singles and ten platinum singles. All inclusive, record sales of White's music with singles, albums, compilation usage and paid digital downloads as a singer, songwriter and producer now exceed 100 million worldwide.
He created the Love Unlimited Orchestra,which consisted of live musicians, including string and percussion players. Records featuring White's deep bass voice and suave delivery were used by couples wishing to create a romantic ambience. Considered handsome and deeply romantic by his many female fans and admired for the unique blend of soul and classical orchestral musical elements he created, White was often affectionately referred to as the "Maestro" or "The Man with the Velvet Voice". His portly physical stature led some in the popular press to refer to him as the "Walrus[edit] Early life and career
White was born in Galveston, Texas, [1] and grew up in the high-crime areas of South Los Angeles, where he joined a gang at the age of 10. At 17, he was jailed for four months for stealing $10,000 worth of Cadillac tires.
After being jailed, White left gang life and began a musical career at the dawn of the 1960s in singing groups before going out on his own in the middle of the decade. The marginal success he had to that point was as a songwriter; his songs were recorded by rock singer Bobby Fuller and TV bubblegum act The Banana Splits. He was also responsible in 1963 for arranging "Harlem Shuffle" for Bob & Earl, which became a hit in the UK in 1969.

[edit] Success
In 1969, he got his break backing up three talented singers in a girl group called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitation of the legendary Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members honed their talents with White for the next two years until they all signed contracts with 20th Century Records. White produced, wrote and arranged the classic soul ballad "Walking in the Rain (With The One I Love)", which hit the Top 20 of the pop charts. The group would score more hits throughout the '70s and White eventually married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James.

Luciano Pavarotti and Barry White performing a duet at a fundraising concert in Modena, Italy, May 29, 2001
While working on a few demos for a male singer, the record label suggested White step out in front of the microphone, to which he reluctantly agreed. His first solo chart hit, 1973's "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", rose to #1 R&B and #3 Pop. That same year, the Love Unlimited Orchestra's recording of White's composition "Love's Theme" reached #1 Pop, one of only two recordings ever to do so. Other chart hits by White included "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (1973), "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), "Let the Music Play" (1976), "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me" (1977), "Your Sweetness is My Weakness" (1978), and "Change" (1982).

[edit] Comebacks
Although White's success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. In the 1990s, he mounted an effective comeback with the albums The Icon Is Love (1994), whose biggest hit, "Practice What You Preach" reached the top of the charts, and Staying Power (1999), for which he won 2 Grammy Awards.

[edit] Death
White had been ill with chronically high blood pressure for some time, which resulted in renal failure in the autumn of 2002. He suffered a stroke in May 2003, after which he was forced to retire from public life. On July 4, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in West Hollywood, at the age of 58 from renal failure. White was cremated, and his ashes were scattered by his family, and Michael Jackson, off the California coast.
Barry White's death bed words were, "Leave me alone - I'm fine"[citation needed]. On September 20, 2004, he was inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York.

[edit] Acting
Over the course of his career White occasionally did work as a voice actor. He voiced the character Bear in the 1975 film Coonskin (and also played the character Sampson in the movie's live-action segments). He was featured in several episodes of The Simpsons including "Whacking Day", in which he used his deep bass voice played through speakers placed on the ground to attract snakes. He also did the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad dressing mix commercial, singing a song called You Can't Bottle Love.[citation needed] White had been offered the chance to play the voice of Chef in the cartoon series South Park (who had been modeled after White), but declined; as a devout Christian, White was uncomfortable with South Park's often irreverent humor. The part was eventually played by Isaac Hayes.

[edit] Cultural references
White's music was frequently showcased on the late-1990s television show Ally McBeal; the show often used esoteric references to what was going on inside characters' heads. For example, John Cage (played by Peter MacNicol) would hear "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" play inside his head, in order to increase his confidence, often accompanied with a dance routine. The use of White's music on the show revitalized his career, and he eventually made a guest appearance during the show's second season.
In the film Bruce Almighty, Bruce (played by Jim Carrey) has been given God-like powers and makes the stereo play "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" in order to seduce Jennifer Aniston's character. of Love" (a monicker not appreciated by some fans).

Chaka Khan

Chaka Khan (born Yvette Marie Stevens on March 23, 1953 in Great Lakes, Illinois) is an American singer best known for her 1984 cover of Prince's "I Feel For You", for her smash hit "I'm Every Woman" and as a member of the funk band Rufus, with whom she recorded the legendary soul record "Ain't Nobody". In her career she has earned many accolades, including eight Grammy awards. Though regarded an R&B singer, she has in fact explored numerous musical genres including funk, disco, jazz, ballads, hip hop, adult contemporary and pop standards.[edit]

Early life
Khan was raised on Chicago's South Side, and at the age of 11 formed her first group, the Crystalettes. While still in high school, she joined the Afro-Arts Theater, a group which toured with Motown great Mary Wells; a few years later, she adopted the African name "Chaka" while working as a volunteer on the Black Panthers' Free Breakfast for Children program. After quitting high school in 1969, Khan joined the group Lyfe, soon exiting to join another dance band, The Babysitters; neither was on the fast track to success, but her fortunes changed when she teamed with ex-American Breed member Kevin Murphy and Andre Fisher to form Rufus.

[edit] Life with Rufus
Debuting in 1973 with a self-titled effort on the ABC label, Rufus was among the pre-eminent funk groups of the decade; distinguished by Khan's dynamic vocals. With the help of Stevie Wonder, Rufus broke into both the pop music and R&B charts in 1974 with the hit "Tell Me Something Good". Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the band had a number of R&B hits, including "Tell Me Something Good", "Masterjam", "Sweet Thing", "Do You Love What You Feel?", and "Once You Get Started". The group earned half a dozen gold or platinum albums and two gold singles with "Tell Me Something Good" and "Sweet Thing" before she went solo in 1978.

[edit] Solo Stardom
In 1978, Khan recorded her highly-orchestrated Arif Mardin-produced disco smash hit "I'm Every Woman" (#1 R&B and #21 Pop, and a bigger Pop hit over a decade later for Whitney Houston), from the album Chaka. Chaka proved to be a significant hit on the strength of the single (which was composed by Ashford & Simpson) however, Khan's success was somewhat tempered by her public rivalry with the remaining members of Rufus, to whom she was contractually bound for two more LPs.
As a solo artist, Khan recorded backing vocals for Ry Cooder's 1979 effort "Bop Till You Drop," then cut her sophomore album, 1980's Naughty, a minor hit on the R&B charts, which featured 'Clouds' (also by Ashford & Simpson), 'Move Me No Mountain', and other songs that displayed Chaka's range as a singer. The 'Naughty' album also featured Luther Vandross, Cissy Houston, and a young Whitney Houston singing background vocals.
Her next album, What Cha' Gonna Do for Me ?, was a gold seller and included at least two hit singles on Billboard's R&B Singles chart, including the title song (which topped the R&B chart and made #53 Pop). Chaka's 'Night In Tunisia (The Melody Remains The Same)' is also a timeless classic (featuring Dizzy Gillespie & Herbie Hancock) from the album, which has Chaka hitting 'notes that aren't in the book' (according to her legendary producer Arif Mardin).
In 1982, Warner Brothers released the Arif Mardin produced 'Chaka Khan' album. This album featured the single 'Tearin It Up', as well as Chaka's reading of Michael Jackson's 'Got To Be There'. 'Slow Dancin' (a duet with the late Rick James) was also featured, but her 'Be Bop Medley' won the Diva a Grammy Award, as well as praise from jazz legend Betty Carter, who praised Chaka for her improvisational skills. 'Chaka Khan' was critically acclaimed, but it was not the huge hit that Warner Brothers wanted. The CD edition of 'Chaka Khan' is a rare collector's item because Warner Brothers refuses to release it in the United States. Fans can expect to pay almost $100.00 for mint CDs imported from Japan.

[edit] A jazz experiment
In 1982, Khan recorded Echoes Of An Era, a collection of jazz standards featuring performances from Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Stanley Clarke, Chick Corea and Lenny White. 1983 saw Khan return to Rufus to record her last contractually obligated album Stompin' At The Savoy: Live. The double album contained live versions of Rufus classics, Khan's solo hits and a handful of newly recorded tracks. One of these was the hit "Ain't Nobody," which returned Khan to the top of the urban and top 40 charts (#22 Pop). To make room for the new studio tracks, Warner Brothers omitted live versions of "Everlasting Love" (which was released on the rare 1983 soundtrack to Night Shift), "The Best Of Your Heart" and "Hollywood".

[edit] Hip hop phenomenon
Her pop career was on shaky ground when she released 1984's I Feel For You, a platinum-seller launched by its title cut, a Grammy-winning, hip hop-based rendition of a fairly obscure Prince album track with a cameo appearance by Stevie Wonder on harmonica and rap by Melle Mel, which launched her recording career back into full gear. Produced by David Foster, the popular ballad "Through The Fire" also reached the R&B top ten, setting a record (since broken) for spending the most consecutive weeks on the Billboard R&B chart, made #60 Pop during a 19-week run on the Hot 100, and crossed over to the adult contemporary chart. "Through The Fire" has since been sampled by Kanye West for his hit single "Through The Wire". Chaka also recorded 'Krush Groove (Can't Stop The Street)' for the movie Krush Groove in 1985.

[edit] 1990s to now
Still, while subsequent LPs like 1986's Destiny and 1988's C.K. kept Khan high on the R&B charts, her standing in pop's mainstream again began to wane, and by the end of the 1980s she had moved to Europe. Not forgotten back in America, in 1990, she won another Grammy for "I'll Be Good To You," a duet with Ray Charles and another #1 R&B and Top 20 Pop hit.
In 1992, Khan released her album The Woman I Am, for which she received a Grammy award for best Rhythm & Blues vocal performance. The album's hit single "Love You All My Lifetime" was penned by German songwriter duo Irmgard Klarmann and Felix Weber and was produced by David Gamson. According to the Chaka's World Website, Khan recorded a follow up album Dare You To Love Me which was to be released in 1995. Warner Brothers shelved the project (although several of the tracks appeared on a career retropsective titled Epiphany: The Very Best of Chaka Khan and soundtracks such as To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar and Waiting to Exhale (singing the standard "My Funny Valentine").
Khan soon left Warner Brothers because of a lack of promotion[citation needed] and after the label had decided to release the Epiphany compilation instead of Dare You To Love Me in its true form[citation needed]. Prince (who also feuded with the company) assisted Khan in leaving Warner Brothers. Khan eventually made a special agreement with "The Artist" (who was then only formerly known as Prince), and recorded her next album on his New Power Generation label.
The Prince-produced Come 2 My House appeared in 1998, and went gold[citation needed] despite little or no promotion. Khan also appeared on new CDs by Prince and Larry Graham for the New Power Generation Label, and toured in support for the projects. In 2001, Khan sang on De La Soul's hit song "All Good?". In 2002 she was an integral part of the documentary about Motown studio musicians The Funk Brothers, Standing In The Shadows Of Motown, which she performed the classic R&B songs "What's Going On?" (she won her 8th Grammy Award for this performance) and the last live song performed in the film, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (a duet with Montell Jordan).
In October 2004, Khan released her cover album ClassiKhan by her own label Earth Song Records and Sanctuary Records. An album of standards featuring the London Symphony Orchestra and recorded primarily at Abbey Road Studios in London. The entire album was Produced by Eve Nelson of Nelson-O'Reilly Productions who also conducted the London Symphony Orchestra.
On December 3, 2004, she received an honorary doctorate degree from Berklee College of Music. She is also active in the autism community as she has family members who have been diagnosed. Her EarthSong Entertainment and Chaka Khan Foundation operate from Beverly Hills, California. She continues to record and perform with her distinctive and powerful voice.

[edit] Recent
In early 2006, she signed with Sony BMG's new label Burgundy Records to release her upcoming studio cover album set I-Khan Divas in 2007. Also, Khan, who has recently embraced Christianity, participated in a live all-star gospel concert recording for artist Richard Smallwood's new album Journey: Live In New York. Khan is featured on the song "Oh, How Precious." [1]
On February 11, 2007 Khan headlined and performed at the NARAS 2007 Grammy Award official post party held immediately after the event at the Los Angeles convention center.

[edit] Miscellany
The name "Chaka" comes from the historical figure Chaka Bey.
On her official website, Khan credits singer Karen Clark Sheard with being "the voice that helped me find the Holy Ghost". She performed a live cover of Sheard's "A Secret Place" along with Richard Smallwood on TBN's popular show Praise The Lord in October 2006.
She was only 20 when she joined Rufus.
She showcased her vocal talents as the choir soloist in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers.
Featured on Rick Wakeman's album 1984.
Featured on Stevie Winwood's "Higher Love". Khan sang and produced the background vocals.
According to the 'Chaka's World' website, Chaka was originally scheduled to duet on Tom Browne's hit "Funkin' For Jamaica" and Dennis Edwards' hit "Don't Look Any Further" (which he went on to perform with Siedah Garrett). She also recorded the song "Addicted to Love" with Robert Palmer. Her vocals were later removed after her management refused to allow its release.
Although she sang at both the 2000 Democratic and Republican conventions, Khan says that she is more of a "Democratic-minded person." [2]
Good friends with the Bee Gees.
Recorded the newest version of the Reading Rainbow theme song. Episodes recorded from 2000 bear her version.
Favorite rapper is Busta Rhymes.
Yummy Bingham is her goddaughter.
In an episode of Shooting Stars Khan was named as an artist whose name sounded like an animal noise

[edit] Awards

[edit] Wins
2006 BET Lifetime Achievement Award
To date, she has won eight Grammy Awards:
2002 Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance - "What's Going On" by Chaka Khan & The Funk Brothers
1992 Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female - "The Woman I Am"
1990 Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal - "I'll Be Good To You" (with Ray Charles)
1984 Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female - "I Feel For You"
1983 Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female - Chaka Khan
1983 Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal "Ain't Nobody"
1983 Best Vocal Arrangement For Two Or More Voices - "Be Bop Medley"
1974 Best R&B Vocal Performance By A Duo, Group Or Chorus - "Tell Me Something Good"
She has won four American Music Awards.

[edit] Nominations
She has had 19 Grammy nominations including a recent nomination for "Everyday (Family Reunion)", her collaboration with Yolanda Adams, Gerald Levert, and Carl Thomas from the Madea's Family Reunion movie.[3]