Love Unlimited Orchestra - My Musical Bouquet (1978)

In 1978, Barry White was basically at the end of his run of greatest popularity. He was near the end of his rope with 20th Century Records. He also had a solo album out in 1978, and between his solo career, Love Unlimited, and the Love Unlimited Orchestra, he'd already had so many records out since 1972 that you practically needed a Barry White 101 course just to keep track of them all.

Having said all that, it would be easy to suspect that his artistic well was running dry by now. I'm pretty sure that this 1978 album from Love Unlimited Orchestra, entitled "My Musical Bouquet", has never seen any kind of official CD release, as a whole, anywhere in the world, and even an authentic VINYL copy is damn hard to come by (a couple of the tracks on here do appear on the CD "The Best Of Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra", and "Whisper Softy" is in the track listing of a 2009 box set from Hip-O Records). Even if Barry's well HADN'T run dry, he probably knew this would receive basically zero promotion from the label and fall largely on deaf ears, which could have undestandably sapped his enthusiasm. But leave it to Barry White to defy all expectations--apart from one throwaway track (the shortest track on the album, conveniently enough!), this is an absolutely fantastic album--if you're looking for something that's soothing, melodic, funky, and chills you out all at once, I can hardly think of another album that would do the trick in such an uncanny fashion. Seriously wonderful stuff here.

One of Barry White's savvy techniques was his keen sense of how to make each album have a certain special 'gimmick' (for lack of a better term) to set it apart. On this one, he talks at or near the beginning of every track, usually very briefly, with words that basically fit in with the album's title (notice the flower theme)--very laidback, nothing along the tormented lines of his famous "Love Serenade Pt. 1". This device complements the music perfectly, and the musical arrangements on this record are a wonder to behold. But it isn't all just sheer atmosphere, as the record is brimming with memorable riffs, gorgeous melodies, and complementary background vocal parts courtesy of the Love Unlimited vocalists, typically serving up a memorable chorus to go with what are otherwise basically instrumental compositions, another great technique.

The opening "Don't You Know How Much I Love You" has a percussive, railroad-style intro section, and after about half a minute, it suddenly gives way to the 'main melody' which is gently stated on mellow electric guitar, with a crisp, stuttering drum pattern behind it. Tension is built masterfully through a gorgeous series of chord changes and a deftly executed bass line, and the little variations 'between the lines' add just the right amount of additional interest without becoming disconcerting.

"Stay Please and Make Love To Me" is an absolute tour-de-force, with its alternation of intoxicatingly lush 'makeout' sections and the playfully mischievous funky parts which are methodically drawn out for tension-building effect, and featuring the girls with their gentle spoken intonations.

"Hey Look At Me, I'm In Love" is, again, a tour-de-force--uptempo, but with a curiously hushed and moody minor-keyed feel, with a mesmerizing wordless vocal section and a great riff that appears fairly close to the end when you're least expecting it. Even the slightly out-of-tune rhythm guitar only seems to add to its pensive feel.

Side 2 starts off with another masterful uptempo track, the feel-good, yet still sweetly romantic "Love You, Ooh It's True I Do". The exquisite "Whisper Softly" is every bit as tender and warm-'n-fuzzy as you could possibly hope for, and it also works as a cautiously-yearning, yet optimistic mood piece. The closing "Can't You See" is in a similar, although slightly more relaxed vein, with a memorably echoing piano part that periodically jumps out and grabs your attention.

The one track that really doesn't do anything is "Enter Love's Interlude", which is basically 2 and a half minutes of a typical Barry White chord sequence and nothing of note happening on top of it, and it just happens to have Barry's one notably cringeworthy spoken bit on the whole album. Still, being positioned where it is in the album, after the first five virtually flawless tracks, and really being quite short in its own right, it could be viewed as a 'break' intended to set you up for the splendid last track (I suppose it doesn't have the world 'Interlude' in its title for nothing).

In today's modern world, you can most likely listen to most or all of the tracks from this album online without a great deal of effort (although perhaps not with the greatest sound quality...). If you're a fan of Barry's MUSIC itself (aside from his vocals) and haven't heard this yet, you're in for a huge treat. This is definitely a can't-miss album, and a further demonstration to the moving dedication Mr. White had in regards to offering up the best of the best in music, knowing how to surprise and hook a listener, while always remaining distinctly and inimitably Barry White.


Tracklist

A1. Don't You Know How Much I Love You - 5:21 
A2. Stay Please And Make Love To Me - 6:59 
A3. Hey Look At Me, I'm In Love - 7:28 

B1. Love You, Ooh It's True I Do - 4:00 
B2. Whisper Softly - 7:32 
B3. Enter Love's Interlude - 2:20 
B4. Can't You See - 6:59 

http://uploaded.net/file/df8h500k

Leon Ware - Musical Massage (1976)

Arguably Leon Ware’s greatest record – and one of the greatest Motown records of the 70’s!
The record is a beautiful set of interwoven mellow soul tracks, recorded right on the heels of Marvin Gaye‘s I Want You album, which was written and conceived by Ware, then taken at the last minute by Marvin! For this set, Ware creates a very similar sound – mixing together smooth keyboards with subtle bits of funk and electronics, all wrapped up in his own sweet warm vocals, which sound better here than on any other album.
Leon Ware’s classic Motown offering from 1976 came about as the result of another classic recording done by Marvin Gaye. Ware had written the single “I Want You” for a demo recording to score T-Boy Ross a recording contract with Motown. Berry Gordy heard it and told Ware he had to have the song for Marvin Gaye’s next single.

He took it to Gaye, who also loved it. Later, as Ware finished the tracks and orchestrations for his own album, he was playing it back for friends at Gaye’s home when Marvin came out of a bedroom to inquire about what it was. He asked for — and received — all the tracks from Ware for the legendary I Want You album. This left Ware no choice but to compose an entirely new set of songs for his own record; the result is Musical Massage. (It should be noted that, according to Ware, Gordy, Gaye, and others felt he should also give this album away as a follow-up to I Want You, but Ware refused.) Musical Massage is the perfect mix of soul, light funk, jazz, and what was about to become the rhythmic foundation for disco. Picture the Motown song orchestrations with arrangements by Barry White for the Salsoul Orchestra and you get a bit of the picture. The disc opens with two smooth soul wonders in “Learning How to Love You” and “Instant Love“. Strings dominate the melodic arrangement and Ware croons directly to them as Ray Parker, Jr. fills the lines with a silky but chunky guitar. Ware’s mellifluous tenor is deep in the swell of strings and guitars as the rest of the band provides a shimmering backbeat for his soul crooning.
On a re-recording of the track “Body Heat” — which Ware had recorded as a duet with Minnie Riperton for Quincy Jones‘ album of the same name a year earlier — Parker and bassist Chuck Rainey set a groove for Bongo Brown, Gary Coleman, and Bobbye Hall’s percussion orgy. Ware’s vocals, augmented by a three-piece female choir, cover the tune with dripping, seductive, sexual energy.
Bobby Womack guests on the title track and “Holiday“, while Gaye also lends a hand on the latter. Both tracks are spurious soul-funk workouts with fat, smooth grooves underlying Ware’s gorgeous voice that melts the heart strings like butter, sounding like the whispering of satin sheets. Produced by Ware with Hal Davis and engineer Cal Harris, the disc has the same sweet, swaying feel as Gaye’s I Want You but is a bit tougher, a little funkier in the breaks.
The string arrangements by Dave Blumbery and Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson are among the best the Motown studios issued to date. Ultimately, Musical Massage is a little-known classic from the supposedly twilight years of Motown. This record reveals Ware as a talented but undercelebrated visionary; he envisioned the evolution of soul and went about to bring it to fruition. Musical Massage is a watermark not only for Ware, but for Motown as well.

If the name Leon Ware sounds familiar, it’s because his name was attached to various hits by a lot of well-known artists. A few of the notable hits he’s helped pen were “I Wanna Be Where You Are” for Michael Jackson, “If I Ever Lose This Heaven” for Quincy Jones, “Inside My Love” for Minnie Riperton and “Sumthin’ Sumthin‘” for Maxwell. As his song for Michael Jackson became a hit, he was signed to United Artists Records to record his 1972 self-titled debut. The album was given good reviews, but went nowhere.
As a result, Ware went back behind the scenes penning hits for other people. He worked on trying to secure a deal for his songwriting partner Arthur Ross, the brother of singer Diana Ross. However, one of the songs on the demo was heard by Motown Records founder Berry Gordy- who insisted the song should be given to Marvin Gaye. Marvin heard the rest of the demos and wanted most of the songs that Ware played for him. Ironically, those very songs ended up on Gaye’s 1976 album “I Want You“- an album that Leon wanted to keep for himself.
He went to work on another set of songs to be for his album. Gordy also wanted those songs for Marvin as well- to which Ware outright refused. As a result, Motown retaliated by releasing Ware’s album around the same time as Gaye’s “I Want You”. Further complicating matters, they didn’t do any promotion for the project and no singles were even released. So it’s kind of ironic that the same company that wanted to bury the album ended up reissuing it almost 30 years later in 2003.

Ware produced most of the recording by himself with additional production from Motown’s staff producer Hal Davis. From beginning to end, the album’s sole focus is sex- however, it’s done in a rather sensual and subdued manner. There are a few choice cuts, such as his own version of another song penned for Quincy Jones- the title track to his 1974 recording “Body Heat“. There’s also his duet with Minnie Riperton “Instant Love” which was sampled on Brandy’s 2004 Timbaland produced single “Who Is She 2 U“. Other songs on her are the brief instrumental “French Waltz“, the title track “Musical Massage” and the best track “Phantom Lover” (The latter, which was sampled on the title track to Eric Roberson’s 2011 album “Mister Nice Guy”). On the 2003 reissue, there are his versions of songs he penned for other people- which remained unreleased until this reissue. He has his version of Michael Jackson’s “I Wanna Be Where You Are”, but the other remaining bonus tracks are culled from the sessions of Marvin Gaye’s “I Want You”. For the first time, the audience gets to hear Ware’s original demos for the songs “After The Dance“, “Since I Had You” and “Come Live With Me, Angel“.
However, as great as he is at songwriting and producing, vocally he’s very limited and lacks the presence that Marvin captured on those songs. In the end “Musical Massage” is a good listen from Leon Ware.

The problem that he has- like every other songwriter to emerge as an artist- is that his material sounds much better coming from someone else. One could only imagine what this album would have sounded like under the execution of another artist. Despite his faults as a vocalist, Ware is still a great but underrated talent.

Tracklist
A1.  Learning How to Love You  – 3:31
A2.  Instant Love  – 3:27  (with Minnie Riperton) (performer)
A3.  Body Heat  – 4:50
A4.  Share Your Love  – 3:30
A5.  Holiday  – 3:25   (with Marvin Gaye (vocals) & Bobby Womack) (performer)
B1.  Phantom Lover  – 3:52
B2.  Journey Into You  – 4:04
B3.  Musical Massage  – 3:47   (with Bobby Womack) (performer)
B4.  French Waltz  – 2:02
B5.  Turn out the Light  – 4:01

http://ul.to/ae0sndxv

Judy Cheeks - Please Give Me This Night (1978)

Judy Cheeks’ Ariola album was sadly overlooked in 1978 despite including the hit single Mellow Lovin’ from the year before. Yet the album is full of beautiful, melodic tunes, Judy’s singing is not far from that of Randy Crawford.
Judy Cheeks is a singer and actress who has worked with other musical artists as well having her own solo career in the 1970s and 1980s as a soul and R&B singer, before returning in the 1990s when she released more dance-orientated music.

Born in Miami, Florida, Cheeks is the daughter of gospel legend Rev. Julius Cheeks. Her first recording was a blues album entitled Judy Cheeks produced by Ike Turner in 1973. A tour with Ike & Tina Turner followed. Cheeks moved to Germany in 1977 and recorded a duet with Austrian singer Udo Jürgens.
Their performance on The Rudi Carrell Show made Cheeks an overnight success in Europe. In 1978 she recorded “Mellow Lovin’” which became an international hit and reached #10 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart. Her 1978 album Mellow Lovin’ was produced by Anthony Monn (best known for his work with gay icon Amanda Lear) in Giorgio Moroder’s Musicland Studios in Munich.
Cheeks appears as a backing vocalist for Stevie Wonder’s The Woman In

Red 1984 soundtrack album, Donna Summer’s Once upon a Time and Rumor Has It albums, Thelma Houston and Jerry Butler’s Just Thelma & Jerry 1977 album, on Amanda Lear’s 1979 album Never Trust a Pretty Face and on Boney M.’s Ten Thousand Lightyears. In 1986, Cheeks worked as a studio musician (providing backing vocals) on Alphaville’s album Afternoons in Utopia.
Cheeks wrote for Jobette Music – Motown.
The Jackson 5 recorded one of her songs on their last Motown LP. She did a lot of session work for several major artist while sharpening her song writing skills.

Tracklist

A1. The Little Girl in Me – 4:28
A2. Why Don’t You Kiss Me Baby – 5:58
A3. Suspicious Minds – 4:16
A4. Please Give Me This Night – 3:43

B1. Mellow Lovin’ – 4:10
B2. Darling That’s Me – 4:35
B3. It’s Just a Love Affair Gone – 4:05
B4. Livin’ Easy in the City – 5:20

http://ul.to/1y7oemck