Barry White

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Barry White (1974)

Barry Eugene White (born September 12, 1944 in Galveston , Texas , as Barrence Eugene Carter , † July 4, 2003 in Los Angeles ) was an American soul singer and music producer . Only later did he take White's father's name. His best-known songs include You're the First, the Last, My Everything , a world hit, number 1 in England, number 2 in the US, and Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe , number 1 in the US American Billboard charts, both from 1974.

Barry White had an unmistakable voice in an outstanding bass range, which can be recognized for example in the intro to Just the Way You Are ( PolyGram 1978). With such a profound voice he was one of the exceptions among internationally successful artists, like Lou Rawls before him .

According to the sources, he has sold more than 100 million records in his career, making him one of the most successful individual interpreters of all time . The most successful release by Barry White is the album The Ultimate Collection with around 6.2 million units sold.

Life

His career began when he accompanied Jesse Belvin on the piano at the age of eleven . The result was the song Goodnight My Love . He owed this in part to his mother, who was an active piano teacher by his side.

According to his autobiography, Barry White had his voice broken twice in a row at the age of fourteen - once to tenor and then to deep bass. In 1959, Barry White left high school prematurely without graduating.

When he was seventeen, he was arrested for stealing tires from a gang and was serving a five-month sentence. In an interview, White said that while he was in custody he heard the Elvis song It's Now or Never on the radio, which prompted him to change his life and start a career as a musician. His younger brother Darryl was shot dead in an altercation on December 5, 1983. In 1986 White campaigned publicly against gang violence between the Bloods and Crips in his hometown of Los Angeles.

In the early 1960s he became known under the name "Berry Lee", including as a member of the bands "The Upfronts", "The Majestics" and "The Atlantics". He was able to record greater success with his self-founded female singing group "Love Unlimited". White wrote the songs and arrangements, and single-handedly produced all of the pieces. He married one of the singers, Glodean James , in October 1975. The group's greatest success was Walkin 'in the Rain with the One I Love . The next title, From a Girl's Point of View , was also a success, selling over a million copies and bringing the breakthrough for White and "Love Unlimited". White released albums with instrumental titles under the name "Love Unlimited Orchestra". The greatest success of these easy-listening pieces recorded in Phillysound was Love's Theme in 1973 .

In 1973, I've Got So Much to Give was the first album to be released under the name Barry White.

White sold more than 100 million records worldwide. In 2000 he was awarded two Grammys for his album Staying Power .

The overweight singer struggled with the consequences of his high blood pressure and diabetes all his life. He was on dialysis and suffered a stroke in early May 2003 which, according to his daughter, affected the singer's speech and right half of his body. He died of kidney failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on July 4, 2003 at around 9:30 a.m. (local time) after waiting for months in vain for a donor kidney. His ashes were buried in the sea off Santa Monica on the California coast.

In 2004 White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame . On September 12, 2013, he received the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Blvd. in the Recording category.

Reviews

Barry White is an excellent and highly professional musician who has learned his profession from the bottom up, works exclusively on his own songs and arranges the complex string and rhythm accompaniment himself. Let the critics talk of pissing, Barry White produces (...) goosebumps for his fans. Welt am Sonntag from March 15, 1992

His songs always follow the same blueprint - slowed soul rhythms of hypnotic force, triumphant violins and the short of breath, humming pebble voice of the bearded man, who sings of what women want to hear: eternal love. Daily mirror from July 6, 2003

(...) White established the typical Barry White sound, which sounded like candlelight, love whispers, half-full champagne bottles and passionately rumpled satin sheets. While a sluggish beat, strings, guitar and bass set the mood with gentle emphasis, White usually played selected slippages for minutes. Only then did he start the actual song with chorus and verse. White's sonorous, humming baritone lay over the music like a fine body lotion on the skin. Berliner Zeitung of July 7, 2003

According to the strict rules of political correctness, his fervent ballads were verbal rape. The world of November 15, 1999

One can say that African American pop culture revolves around the poles “Body and Soul”. Barry White deserves the credit of having brought both antipodes into harmony in an idiosyncratic way. By making soul music. And always sang only physical things. (...) To dismiss the singer as Viagra that has become vocal, however, is unfair. Barry White was an important organ of the sexual revolution. Berliner Morgenpost from July 6, 2003

Barry White cooed, flattered and sweated, and the audience (not all women!) Touched him like the messiah. He was the ombudsman of libidinal, old-fashioned, good-natured soul, a voice like a cosmic vibrator. German edition of Rolling Stone , issue 04/2007

The first, the last, the one and only - Barry White's life theme was of such monumental size that it could only be made tangible by radical reduction to the essentials. A disco beat, a little synthetic sultriness, two, at most three chords were enough to formally hold hits like You're the first, the last, my everything or Let the music play together. The art was in the lecture, in the demeanor and of course in the voice, which combined the pathos of a black preacher with the worldly knowledge of a hardened sugar daddy. The time of July 10, 2003

When he sang “Playing Your Game, Baby” it was about a willful loss of control as well as knowing that love is a game that you can play if you know the rules. When he sang “Your Sweetness Is My Weakness” then this admission of weakness was of course also a sign of strength. When it said “Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe” or “You're the First, the Last, My Everything”, it wasn't just hymns with which he laid himself at a woman's feet, it was exactly the same the post-coital pillow talk of a sugar daddy who knows which licorice to grate into a woman's ear. taz of July 10, 2003

various

  • From 1997, Barry White's titles experienced a revival when they were increasingly used as a supporting element of game scenes in the cult series Ally McBeal . The singer even appeared as a guest in three episodes (episodes 2.18, 3.01 and 5.19).
  • The title Love Unlimited by the band Fun Lovin 'Criminals from 1998 with the refrain "Barry White, saved my life ... and if Barry White, saved your life ... or got you back with your ex-wife ... sing Barry White, Barry White "It's alright" is a homage to Barry White.
  • Barry White had many nicknames like "The Walrus of Love", "Mr. Love "or" The Dove of Love ".
  • He appeared several times at the Simpsons , but he did not make himself available as a model for the South Park figure "Chef", but his contemporary Isaac Hayes did .
  • The National Sea Life Center in Birmingham used, not to be taken seriously, songs by Barry White to encourage sharks to mate.
  • White was under discussion as a producer for an album by Marvin Gaye , but it was never realized due to Gaye's sudden death.
  • Barry White also served as a template for a character in the animated series The Beaver Brothers , in which he can be recognized as the "swinging" and "grooving" bear "Barry", especially in the episode Beaver Fever , as "Barry" at the end of the episode a much more mundane version of White's song Can't Get Enough of Your Love becomes the new star of the music industry.
  • The American band Bloodhound Gang mentions Barry White in their song Fire Water Burn .
  • In 1992, White sang her hit All Around the World in a duet with Lisa Stansfield , who admired him very much .

Discography

Studio albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1973 I've Got so Much to Give - - - - US16
gold
gold

(63 weeks)US
First published: March 1973
Stone Gon ' DE42 (1 week)
DE
- - UK18th
gold
gold

(18 weeks)UK
US20th
gold
gold

(37 weeks)US
First published: October 1973
1974 Can't get enough DE5 (10 weeks)
DE
AT4 (24 weeks)
AT
- UK4th
gold
gold

(34 weeks)UK
US1
gold
gold

(38 weeks)US
281st place in the Rolling Stone 500
First published: August 1974
1975 Just Another Way to Say I Love You DE17 (5 weeks)
DE
- - UK12
silver
silver

(15 weeks)UK
US17th
gold
gold

(17 weeks)US
First published: March 1975
1976 Let the music play DE40 (2 weeks)
DE
- - UK22nd
silver
silver

(14 weeks)UK
US42 (15 weeks)
US
First published: January 1976
Is This Whatcha Wont? - - - UK-
silver
silver
UK
US125 (9 weeks)
US
First published: November 1976
1977 Barry White Sings for Someone You Love - - - - US8th
platinum
platinum

(33 weeks)US
First published: August 1977
1978 The Man - - - UK46 (4 weeks)
UK
US36
platinum
platinum

(28 weeks)US
First published: September 1978
1979 The Message Is Love - - - - US67
gold
gold

(9 weeks)US
First published: 1979
I Love to Sing the Songs I Sing - - - - US132 (6 weeks)
US
First published: 1979
1980 Sheet Music - - - - US85 (11 weeks)
US
First published: 1980
1982 Change - - - - US148 (6 weeks)
US
First published: 1982
1987 The Right Night & Barry White - - - UK74 (6 weeks)
UK
US159 (17 weeks)
US
First published: September 24, 1987
1990 The Man Is Back! - - - - US143 (12 weeks)
US
First published: August 24, 1989
1991 Put Me in Your Mix - - - - US96 (10 weeks)
US
First published: October 8, 1991
1994 The Icon Is Love DE91 (3 weeks)
DE
- - UK44 (3 weeks)
UK
US20th
Double platinum
× 2
Double platinum

(46 weeks)US
First published: October 4, 1994
1999 Staying power DE60 (10 weeks)
DE
- - - US43
gold
gold

(19 weeks)US
First published: July 27, 1999

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

more publishments

  • 1974: Rhapsody in White (UK:silversilver)
  • 1981: Barry & Glodean
  • 1981: Beware!
  • 1983: Dedicated
  • 1993: Soul Seduction (UK:goldgold)

Compilations

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1975 Barry White's Greatest Hits - - - UK11
gold
gold

(36 weeks)UK
US23
platinum
platinum

(25 weeks)US
First published: 1975
1977 Barry White's Greatest Hits Vol. 2 - - - UK17 (7 weeks)
UK
-
First published: 1977
1985 Heart and Soul - - - UK34
silver
silver

(10 weeks)UK
-
First published: 1985
1988 The Collection - - CH-
gold
gold
CH
UK5
Quintuple platinum
× 5
Quintuple platinum

(128 weeks)UK
-
First published: 1988
2000 The Ultimate Collection DE35 (35 weeks)
DE
AT19 (11 weeks)
AT
CH73
gold
gold

(18 weeks)CH
- US148
platinum
platinum

(4 weeks)US
First published: January 25, 2000
2003 The Best Of: The Millennium Collection - - - - US78 (55 weeks)
US
First published: August 19, 2003
Love songs - AT59 (3 weeks)
AT
CH92 (1 week)
CH
UK21st
gold
gold

(3 weeks)UK
-
First published: 2003
2005 White Gold: The Very Best Of - - CH94 (1 week)
CH
UK37
silver
silver

(7 weeks)UK
-
First published: November 7, 2005

gray hatching : no chart data available for this year

more publishments

  • 1994: All-Time Greatest Hits (UK:goldgold, US: Double platinum× 2Double platinum )
  • 2002: The Heart and Soul of (UK:silversilver)
  • 2008: Triple Best Of
  • 2010: Icon

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1973 I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby
I've Got so Much to Give
- - - UK23 (7 weeks)
UK
US3
gold
gold

(18 weeks)US
First published: 1973
I've Got so Much to Give
I've Got so Much to Give
- - - - US32 (11 weeks)
US
First published: 1973
Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up
Stone Gon '
- - - UK14 (11 weeks)
UK
US7th
gold
gold

(18 weeks)US
First published: 1973
1974 Honey Please, Can't Ya See
Stone Gon '
- - - - US44 (7 weeks)
US
First published: 1974
Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe
Can't Get Enough
DE25 (8 weeks)
DE
- - UK8 (12 weeks)
UK
US1
gold
gold

(12 weeks)US
First published: 1974
You're the First, the Last, My Everything
Can't Get Enough
DE9 (21 weeks)
DE
AT7 (16 weeks)
AT
CH7 (7 weeks)
CH
UK1
silver
silver

(14 weeks)UK
US2
gold
gold

(15 weeks)US
First published: 1974
1975 What Am I Gonna Do with You
Just Another Way to Say I Love You
DE17 (12 weeks)
DE
AT11 (8 weeks)
AT
- UK5 (8 weeks)
UK
US8 (11 weeks)
US
First published: 1975
I'll Do for You Anything You Want Me To
Just Another Way to Say I Love You
DE36 (2 weeks)
DE
AT19 (4 weeks)
AT
- UK20 (6 weeks)
UK
US40 (7 weeks)
US
First published: 1975
Let the Music Play
Let the Music Play
DE30 (5 weeks)
DE
- - UK9 (8 weeks)
UK
US32 (9 weeks)
US
First published: 1975
1976 You See the Trouble with Me
Let the Music Play
DE14 (12 weeks)
DE
- - UK2
silver
silver

(10 weeks)UK
-
First published: 1976
Baby, We Better Try to Get It Together
Let the Music Play
- - - UK15 (7 weeks)
UK
US92 (2 weeks)
US
First published: 1976
Don't Make Me Wait Too Long
Is This Whatcha Wont?
- - - UK17 (8 weeks)
UK
-
First published: 1976
1977 I'm Qualified to Satisfy You
Is This Whatcha Wont?
- - - UK37 (5 weeks)
UK
-
First published: 1977
It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love
- - - UK40 (3 weeks)
UK
US4th
gold
gold

(22 weeks)US
First published: 1977
1978 Oh What a Night for Dancing
Barry White Sings for Someone You Love
- - - - US24 (11 weeks)
US
First published: 1978
Your Sweetness Is My Weakness
The Man
- - - - US60 (9 weeks)
US
First published: 1978
Just the Way You Are
The Man
- - - UK12
silver
silver

(12 weeks)UK
-
First published: 1978
1979 Sha La La Means I Love You
The Man
- - - UK55 (6 weeks)
UK
-
First published: 1979
1987 Sho 'You Right
The Right Night & Barry White
- - - UK14 (8 weeks)
UK
-
First published: 1987
For Your Love (I'll Do Most Anything)
The Right Night & Barry White
- - - UK94 (1 week)
UK
-
First published: 1987
1988 Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up ( Paul Hardcastle Remix) - - - UK63 (3 weeks)
UK
-
First published: 1988
1995 Practice What You Preach
The Icon Is Love
- - - UK20 (4 weeks)
UK
US18th
gold
gold

(21 weeks)US
First published: 1995
I Only Want to Be with You
The Icon Is Love
- - - UK36 (2 weeks)
UK
-
First published: 1995
Come On
The Icon Is Love
- - - - US87 (2 weeks)
US
First published: 1995
2000 Let the Music Play ( Funkstar De Luxe Remixes) - - CH92 (6 weeks)
CH
UK45 (2 weeks)
UK
-
First published: October 3, 2000

As a guest musician

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1990 The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)
Back on the Block
- - - UK67 (2 weeks)
UK
-
First published: March 1990
Quincy Jones feat. Barry White,
Al B. Sure !, El DeBarge, and James Ingram
1996 Slow Jams
Q’s Jook Joint
- - - - US68 (9 weeks)
US
First published: April 1996
Quincy Jones feat. Barry White,
Babyface and Tamia
In Your Wildest Dreams
Wildest Dreams
DE32 (13 weeks)
DE
AT2 (13 weeks)
AT
- UK32 (3 weeks)
UK
-
First published: December 21, 1996
Tina Turner feat. Barry White

Video albums

  • 2005: Legends in Concert - Larger Than Life (UK:goldgold)

Awards for music sales

Country / Region Silver record icon.svg silver Gold record icon.svg gold Platinum record icon.svg platinum Sales swell
Awards for music sales
(country / region, awards, sales, sources)
Argentina (CAPIF) Argentina (CAPIF) 0! S.- Gold record icon.svg gold1 0! P- 30,000 capif.org.ar ( Memento from July 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
Australia (ARIA) Australia (ARIA) 0! S.- 0! G- Platinum record icon.svg platinum1 70,000 aria.com.au
Belgium (BEA) Belgium (BEA) 0! S.- Gold record icon.svg gold1 Platinum record icon.svg 3 × platinum3 175,000 ultratop.be
Europe (IFPI) Europe (IFPI) 0! S.- 0! G- Platinum record icon.svg 5 × platinum5 (5,000,000) ifpi.org ( Memento from October 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
France (SNEP) France (SNEP) 0! S.- Gold record icon.svg 5 × gold5 Platinum record icon.svg 2 × platinum2 1,100,000 infodisc.fr snepmusique.com
Italy (FIMI) Italy (FIMI) 0! S.- 0! G- Platinum record icon.svg platinum1 100,000 fimi.it
Canada (MC) Canada (MC) 0! S.- Gold record icon.svg 3 × gold3 0! P- 150,000 musiccanada.com
Mexico (AMPROFON) Mexico (AMPROFON) 0! S.- Gold record icon.svg gold1 0! P- 100,000 amprofon.com.mx
New Zealand (RMNZ) New Zealand (RMNZ) 0! S.- 0! G- Platinum record icon.svg 4 × platinum4th 60,000 nztop40.co.nz
Netherlands (NVPI) Netherlands (NVPI) 0! S.- Gold record icon.svg gold1 0! P- 50,000 nvpi.nl
Norway (IFPI) Norway (IFPI) 0! S.- Gold record icon.svg gold1 0! P- 25,000 ifpi.no ( Memento from November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
Sweden (IFPI) Sweden (IFPI) 0! S.- 0! G- Platinum record icon.svg platinum1 80,000 sverigetopplistan.se
Switzerland (IFPI) Switzerland (IFPI) 0! S.- Gold record icon.svg 2 × gold2 0! P- 50,000 hitparade.ch
Spain (Promusicae) Spain (Promusicae) 0! S.- 0! G- Platinum record icon.svg 2 × platinum2 200,000 mediafire.com
United States (RIAA) United States (RIAA) 0! S.- Gold record icon.svg 12 × gold12 Platinum record icon.svg 8 × platinum8th 16,500,000 riaa.com
United Kingdom (BPI) United Kingdom (BPI) Silver record icon.svg 10 × silver10 Gold record icon.svg 7 × gold7th Platinum record icon.svg 5 × platinum5 3,665,000 bpi.co.uk
All in all Silver record icon.svg 10 × silver10 Gold record icon.svg 34 × gold34 Platinum record icon.svg 32 × platinum32

swell

  1. R&B Singer Barry White Dies - 2003-07-05. Voice of America, October 30, 2009; accessed May 13, 2018 .
  2. a b Excerpts from his autobiography: Marc Eliot, Barry White: Love Unlimited: Insights on Life and Love. Broadway Books, New York NY, 1999, ISBN 978-0-7679-0364-6 .
  3. a b c d Barry White in the nndb (English)
  4. R&B legend Barry White dies at 58 , on tributes.com (Engl.)
  5. 'We Agree to Stop Killing Each Other': Gang Peace Treaties Being Negotiated , LA Times, November 5, 1986, accessed August 29, 2019
  6. Entertainers, Former Gang Members Issue Appeal For Peace Among Street Gangs , AP News, November 9, 1986, accessed August 29, 2019
  7. Barry White , Pop-Archiv International 02/2004 of February 15, 2004, in the Munzinger Archive , accessed on May 2, 2012 ( beginning of the article freely accessible)
  8. Christian Schröder: More love, please - seducer with a pebble voice: Soul star Barry White is dead , Tagesspiegel , July 6, 2003, accessed on May 1, 2012
  9. Harald Peters: Like a fine body lotion Barry White, the master of the bedroom shriveled, is dead , Berliner Zeitung , July 7, 2003, accessed on May 1, 2012
  10. Michael Pilz: Only love counts. Uhuuuuh, Baby , Die Welt , November 15, 1999, accessed May 1, 2012
  11. Josef Engels: Der Lebensspender , Berliner Morgenpost , July 6, 2003, accessed on May 1, 2012
  12. ^ Arne Willander: Barry White - The Barry White Story , German edition of Rolling Stone , issue 04/2007
  13. ^ Barry White , Die Zeit , July 10, 2003, accessed May 1, 2012
  14. Tobias Rapp : Ikone des Discohits , taz , July 10, 2003, accessed on July 10, 2003
  15. Cartoon Superhero , on bbc.co.uk
  16. Shy sharks serenaded by Barry White , at news.bbc.co.uk
  17. Barry White, Biography ( Memento of November 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), on musicline.de
  18. Bloodhound Gang - Fire Water Burn Lyrics , on lyricsfreak.com
  19. ^ Lisa Stansfield with Barry White - All Around the World
  20. a b c d Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US1 US2
  21. a b The Billboard album by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .

Web links

Commons : Barry White  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files