The beginning of
this month has seen the loss of another one of our long time heroes – Luther
Vandross at the age of 54 – almost two years after Barry White…
Africans tend to
say that the passing away of a grandma is synonymous to the disappearance of a
library. And, although Luther didn’t have that status, it’s a great part of our
common history that has gone with him…
I remember,
although I didn’t know that was him, the first time I listened to Luther
Vandross’s specific voice. It was some time in 1978-79 while in charge of
the the lead singing duties on ‘The Glow Of Love’ and ‘Searching’ for Fred
Jacques Petrus & Mauro Malavasi’s most famous Italo American
Change outfit. Two disco funk classics that would lead him to break 2
years later, after many appearances as a background vocalist for artists such as
Quincy Jones on his Best Album in 1969 (his first experience of
the likes), Carly Simon, Chaka Khan, Bette Midler, Chic
and David Bowie amongst others. Not to mention Roberta Flack who
would push him to go under his own banner, meanwhile dropping his 2 first albums
as a solo artist for Cotillion in 1976 and 1977.
Released in 1981 on Epic Records the ‘Never Too Much’ LP incl. the title track
which would reach the #1 status on the R&B charts, has been the start of
million-selling albums in the 80’s, seing him working with long tme friend and
bassist phenomenon Marcus Miller and subsequently developping a sound
that would stand as a trademark. A
sound which would make him quite an in demand producer, working for Cheryl
Lynn and Aretha Franklin respectively on the Instant Love +
Jump To It and Get It Right albums. But it wasn’t before 1989 that
Vandross got into the Billboard Pop Chart Top 10 with ‘Here And Now’ taken
from The Best Of Luther Vandross… The Best Of Love Greatest Hits
compilation. The Power Of Love album, released in 1991, including the
famous ‘Power of Love/Love
Power’ which would receive the remix treatment of Frankie Knuckles,
giving me the pleasure to have what would remain as my first and only (phone)
conv with him…
Pretend that the uptempo is necessarily that kind of 120bpm thing to be found on
the disco and dance production is to me totally inadmissible and I can
understand that you don’t find anything of the likes on my album,
he started, as if he’d felt offensed by my remarks. I mean, I love disco, as
shown by my works with Change on ‘The Glow Of Love’ and ‘Searching’ but I’m not
in search for security while sticking to a certain rhythmic standard or any form
of diktats…
After
all, isn’t that that our man had serious reasons to be sure of his affair after
5 platinum and 2 double platinum albums under his belt, dropping some 16 songs
in the charts to this precise date ? Not to mention the Grammy Award that would
be given to him as the Best Singer in 1991 and his awesome live
performances both at Madison Square Garden and Wembley Arena a few months before
!!! I do not write with the intention to fulfill the expectations of the
crowd, nor am I trying to take risks. I’m simply doing the things the way I
feel, even though they may seem linear to you from an album to another. As a
matter of fact, who am I supposed to be to you and what kind of risks am I
supposed to take ???
I
then happened to mention Will Downing’s latest album at the time… Will
Downing and I ain’t got anything to do with each other, he reacts. And
that’s the same as far as Freddie Jackson, Alexander o’ Neal or anyone else… I’m
not following a certain path as you seem seing me doing. I hate the comparisons.
Why try to find common points between an artist and another or locate him in
regards to another one like say Miles Davis and Herb Alpert ? You can’t compare
me with Alexander O’ Neal, Freddie Jackson or Keith Washington, simply because
they’ve appeared after me. Compare them to me if you wish, but not the contrary.
They’ve been influenced by my music. I do nothing else but what sounds good to
me and I do not listen to their music before recording. It’s quite strange seing
you putting us in the same basket. Simply because we’re all Black and sing
ballads… That’s a bit easy, isn’t it ? After all, we’re all different, aren’t we
?
We
would end up talking about this already 8th album of his (Power Of
Love)… I’ve worked on it with a lot of serenity, with the feeling of
being considered as a multi format artist. I need to feel touched by melodies.
I’m not like those X-mas New Year preconceived formulas and I’m not gonna
release an album to keep my name alive on the market. There’s no particular
thema and I neither don’t think about my previous albums when I come to record a
new project. Each song title is the reflect of what I like at the time of its
recording. A unique signature that Luther would make his along the years
with the help of long time contributors such as Marcus Miller and Nat
Adderley Jr, avoiding those collaborations
with the rappers which would end
up becoming the usual… standard on the R&B field along the following years. I
respect rap the way it is, he said but it’s not because Picasso may have like
Walt Disney that you would end up seing cartoon characters on his paintings… Rap
is an expression form on its own and if some people incorporate it on their
works, that’s their business. Seing some rappers on my music would seem to me
like a sort of demagogy and I’m not to sure about the fact it would please my
crowd. At least, if one thing is for sure, and Luther agrees, had he be
living everything he’s written along the last 10 years, he’d probably be
standing somewhere by the window of a lunatic asylum, waiting for someone to
give him a visit.
I
therefore wish I would have, and although I saw him performing a couple of times
in London and Paris with a real emotion, I’ve never been given the opportunity
to be physically introduced to him. He then would get another Grammy Award for
the Best R&B song the same year before scoring a hit with Janet (Jackson)
by the likes of ‘The Best Things In Life Are Free’, taken from the Mo’Money
OST. Two years after, he would cover Lionel Richie & Diana Ross’s classic
‘Endless Love’ alongside Mariah Carey, then do another duet on Frank
Sinatra’s Duets album. 1997 saw him receiving his third Grammy
Award as Best Male R&B vocal for ‘Your Secret Love’ and also the end of his
liaison with Epic Records with the release of a second Greatest Hits
album.
He
then made a cameo appearance on Virgin Records with the release of the I Know
album including ‘Are You Using Me’ which would receive the remix treatment of
Masters At Work and ‘Nights In Harlem’ as revamped by Darkchild with
a featuring by Gangstarr’s one half… Guru ! He soon after would
sign with J Records, releasing the Dance With My Father album as a
tribute to his late dad in 2003 ; the title track which he co-wrote with singer
Richard Marx receiving the 2004 Grammy Award for the Song Of The Year
but also allowing Vandross to score his 4th and final Award
for the Best Male R&B Vocal Perfomance. Meanwhile it would be his first
LP to reach the #1 position on the Billboard album chart.
Luther Vandross has left
us at the age of 54 on
Jul. 1,
2005 at 1:47pm EDT, at John F.
Kennedy Medical Center in
Edison, NJ. He’s said to have gone
peacefully, surrounded by family and friends. And although the cause of his
death hasn’t been officially revealed, it is said that it has been because of
diabetes, a disease than ran in his family, and hypertension.
Never
(had) too much of you Sir. Rest in Peace…
Frederic ‘MFSB’ Messent, editor
LUTHER VANDROSS
‘Never Too Much’ (Epic)
INTERVIEW
