Barry White
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 | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
1973 | I've Got so Much to Give | - | - | - | - |
US16
gold
(63 weeks)US |
First published: March 1973
|
Stone Gon ' |
DE42 (1 week) DE |
- | - |
UK18th
gold
(18 weeks)UK |
US20th
gold
(37 weeks)US |
First published: October 1973
|
|
1974 | Can't get enough |
DE5 (10 weeks) DE |
AT4 (24 weeks) AT |
- |
UK4th
gold
(34 weeks)UK |
US1
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
(15 weeks)UK |
US17th
gold
(17 weeks)US |
First published: March 1975
|
1976 | Let the music play |
DE40 (2 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK22nd
silver
(14 weeks)UK |
US42 (15 weeks) US |
First published: January 1976
|
Is This Whatcha Wont? | - | - | - |
UK-
silver
UK
|
US125 (9 weeks) US |
First published: November 1976
|
|
1977 | Barry White Sings for Someone You Love | - | - | - | - |
US8th
platinum
(33 weeks)US |
First published: August 1977
|
1978 | The Man | - | - | - |
UK46 (4 weeks) UK |
US36
platinum
(28 weeks)US |
First published: September 1978
|
1979 | The Message Is Love | - | - | - | - |
US67
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 × 2
(46 weeks)US |
First published: October 4, 1994
|
1999 | Staying power |
DE60 (10 weeks) DE |
- | - | - |
US43
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:silver)
- 1981: Barry & Glodean
- 1981: Beware!
- 1983: Dedicated
- 1993: Soul Seduction (UK:gold)
Compilations
year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
1975 | Barry White's Greatest Hits | - | - | - |
UK11
gold
(36 weeks)UK |
US23
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
(10 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: 1985
|
1988 | The Collection | - | - |
CH-
gold
CH
|
UK5 × 5
(128 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: 1988
|
2000 | The Ultimate Collection |
DE35 (35 weeks) DE |
AT19 (11 weeks) AT |
CH73
gold
(18 weeks)CH |
- |
US148
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
(3 weeks)UK |
- |
First published: 2003
|
|
2005 | White Gold: The Very Best Of | - | - |
CH94 (1 week) CH |
UK37
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:gold, US: × 2Double platinum )
- 2002: The Heart and Soul of (UK:silver)
- 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 | AT | CH | UK | 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
(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
(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
(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
(14 weeks)UK |
US2
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
(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
(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
(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
(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 | AT | CH | UK | 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 |
|
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:gold)
Awards for music sales
Country / Region | silver | gold | platinum | Sales | swell |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Awards for music sales (country / region, awards, sales, sources) |
|||||
Argentina (CAPIF) | - | gold1 | - | 30,000 | capif.org.ar ( Memento from July 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) |
Australia (ARIA) | - | - | platinum1 | 70,000 | aria.com.au |
Belgium (BEA) | - | gold1 | 3 × platinum3 | 175,000 | ultratop.be |
Europe (IFPI) | - | - | 5 × platinum5 | (5,000,000) | ifpi.org ( Memento from October 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) |
France (SNEP) | - | 5 × gold5 | 2 × platinum2 | 1,100,000 | infodisc.fr snepmusique.com |
Italy (FIMI) | - | - | platinum1 | 100,000 | fimi.it |
Canada (MC) | - | 3 × gold3 | - | 150,000 | musiccanada.com |
Mexico (AMPROFON) | - | gold1 | - | 100,000 | amprofon.com.mx |
New Zealand (RMNZ) | - | - | 4 × platinum4th | 60,000 | nztop40.co.nz |
Netherlands (NVPI) | - | gold1 | - | 50,000 | nvpi.nl |
Norway (IFPI) | - | gold1 | - | 25,000 | ifpi.no ( Memento from November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) |
Sweden (IFPI) | - | - | platinum1 | 80,000 | sverigetopplistan.se |
Switzerland (IFPI) | - | 2 × gold2 | - | 50,000 | hitparade.ch |
Spain (Promusicae) | - | - | 2 × platinum2 | 200,000 | mediafire.com |
United States (RIAA) | - | 12 × gold12 | 8 × platinum8th | 16,500,000 | riaa.com |
United Kingdom (BPI) | 10 × silver10 | 7 × gold7th | 5 × platinum5 | 3,665,000 | bpi.co.uk |
All in all | 10 × silver10 | 34 × gold34 | 32 × platinum32 |
swell
- ↑ R&B Singer Barry White Dies - 2003-07-05. Voice of America, October 30, 2009; accessed May 13, 2018 .
- ↑ 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 .
- ↑ a b c d Barry White in the nndb (English)
- ↑ R&B legend Barry White dies at 58 , on tributes.com (Engl.)
- ↑ 'We Agree to Stop Killing Each Other': Gang Peace Treaties Being Negotiated , LA Times, November 5, 1986, accessed August 29, 2019
- ↑ Entertainers, Former Gang Members Issue Appeal For Peace Among Street Gangs , AP News, November 9, 1986, accessed August 29, 2019
- ↑ 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)
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Michael Pilz: Only love counts. Uhuuuuh, Baby , Die Welt , November 15, 1999, accessed May 1, 2012
- ↑ Josef Engels: Der Lebensspender , Berliner Morgenpost , July 6, 2003, accessed on May 1, 2012
- ^ Arne Willander: Barry White - The Barry White Story , German edition of Rolling Stone , issue 04/2007
- ^ Barry White , Die Zeit , July 10, 2003, accessed May 1, 2012
- ↑ Tobias Rapp : Ikone des Discohits , taz , July 10, 2003, accessed on July 10, 2003
- ↑ Cartoon Superhero , on bbc.co.uk
- ↑ Shy sharks serenaded by Barry White , at news.bbc.co.uk
- ↑ Barry White, Biography ( Memento of November 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), on musicline.de
- ↑ Bloodhound Gang - Fire Water Burn Lyrics , on lyricsfreak.com
- ^ Lisa Stansfield with Barry White - All Around the World
- ↑ a b c d Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US1 US2
- ↑ a b The Billboard album by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
Web links
- Barry White's placements on the billboards
- Barry White , biography on the Universal Music Group website
- Barry White at Discogs (English)
- Barry White at Allmusic (English)
- Barry White in Rolling Stone (English)
- Only officially recognized fans website to Barry White (English)
- Personally annotated photo Web Album Barry White (English)
- Works by and about Barry White in the catalog of the German National Library
- Barry White in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Barry White in the database of Find a Grave (English)
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | White, Barry |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | White, Barry Eugene (full name); Carter, Barry Eugene (maiden name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American soul singer and producer |
DATE OF BIRTH | September 12, 1944 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Galveston , Texas , USA |
DATE OF DEATH | 4th July 2003 |
Place of death | Los Angeles , California , USA |