Barry White's final album, released in 1999, was fittingly titled Staying Power--and with a career that stretched across three decades and produced some of the most enduring pop-soul of the disco era and beyond, it's as good as any a description for the late, great White's discography. Just in time for Valentine's Day, UMe puts fans in the mood for love with an assortment of new compilations devoted to his tenure on 20th Century Records
Born Barry Eugene Carter in Galveston, Texas, the impossibly deep-voiced singer-songwriter-arranger was a teenage gang member jailed at 16 for theft; upon hearing Elvis Presley's "It's Now or Never" while incarcerated, he took the music and message to heart, focusing on honing his musical skills once freed. Finally, in the 1970s, he hit pay dirt several times over: first as a writer, producer and arranger for both female trio Love Unlimited, then the backing band he fronted, The Love Unlimited Orchestra (who topped the pop charts in 1973 with the dizzying disco instrumental "Love's Theme"); then as a velvety-smooth frontman on his own. Debut single "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby" was a Top 5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the R&B chart.
White achieved similar heights through the '70s with his unique brand of luscious, celebratory soul, perfect for club play as well as more intimate settings. By the time White left the 20th Century Records label to create his own Unlimited Gold imprint, he'd notched six No. 1 R&B albums and logged one of the definitive tracks of the decade: "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" - a No. 1 hit on pop and R&B single and album charts (for its parent album, 1974's Can't Get Enough). White remained a pop culture staple for the rest of his days, serving as a notable early guest star on The Simpsons and notching a surprise pop and R&B hit with 1994's "Practice What You Preach." Though he passed away in 2003 at the too-young age of 58, his influence is still palpable for anyone in the mood for love music.
The prolific output of Barry White has been celebrated on countless compilations and not one but two box sets: 1993's Just For You and 2009's rarities-packed Unlimited. A cadre of compilations is planned for April 13 in celebration of that first fantastic phase of his career. Love's Theme: The Best of The 20th Century Records Singles offers nearly a dozen of White's most popular A-sides, including "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby," "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe," "You're The First, The Last, My Everything," "Let The Music Play," "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me" and more. True to its title, the disc kicks off with the Love Unlimited Orchestra's "Love's Theme"; the accompanying double vinyl version adds "Satin Soul," another bonus cut from the orchestra, to its lineup.
For the collector, the triple-disc The Complete 20th Century Records Singles (1973-1979) features not only every complete solo A-side from Barry White's tenure with the label (including six Top 10 pop hits and a dozen Top 10 R&B singles, all in their original edits or mixes) but a host of sides that never made it past their original vinyl release. This includes both instrumental B-sides featuring the unforgettable Love Unlimited Orchestra arrangements (11 in total), rare U.K.-only single versions, and a handful of disco mixes available on promo 12" releases.
A week later, on April 20, UMe will issue The 20th Century Records Singles (1973-1975), a box set featuring 10 recreated 45 RPM singles from White's early tenure on the label, with replica labels and sleeves and a four-page book of liner notes.
These sets will infuse new life into Barry White's hit-filled catalogue, thanks to the team of producer Bill Levenson, mastering engineer Kevin Reeves and master tape researcher Andy Skurow (whose impeccable work has aided several Second Disc Records releases), who painstakingly tracked down original tapes and recreated original single edits where necessary. Richard Havers contributes liner notes to the deluxe set, while detailed discographical information is included in both packages.
Fall under the influence of love with either collection, with full track lists and Amazon links below!
Love's Theme: The Best of The 20th Century Records Singles (20th Century/Mercury/UMe, 2018)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. (TBD) / Amazon Canada
- Love's Theme - The Love Unlimited Orchestra
- I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby
- I've Got So Much To Give
- Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up
- Honey Please, Can't You See
- Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe
- You're The First, The Last, My Everything
- What Am I Gonna Do With You
- I'll Do For You Anything You Want Me To
- Let the Music Play
- Satin Soul - The Love Unlimited Orchestra (vinyl bonus track)
- You See The Trouble With Me
- Baby, We Better Try to Get It Together
- Don't Make Me Wait Too Long
- I'm Qualified to Satisfy You
- It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me
- Playing Your Game, Baby
- Oh, What a Night for Dancin'
- Your Sweetness is My Weakness
- Just The Way You Are
- September When I First Met You
- I Love to Sing The Songs I Sing
The Complete 20th Century Records Singles (1973-1979) (20th Century/Mercury/UMe, 2018)
Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Disc 1
- I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby
- Just a Little More, Baby (Instrumental)
- I've Got So Much to Give
- I've Got So Much to Give (Instrumental)
- Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up (Short Version)
- Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up (Long Version)
- No, I'm Never Gonna Give Ya Up (Instrumental)
- Honey Please, Can't You See
- Honey Please, Can't You See (Instrumental)
- Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe
- Just Not Enough (Instrumental)
- You're The First, The Last, My Everything
- More Than Anything, You're My Everything (Instrumental)
- What Am I Gonna Do With You
- What Am I Gonna Do With You, Baby (Instrumental)
Disc 2
- I'll Do For You Anything You Want Me To
- Anything You Want Me To (Instrumental)
- Let The Music Play
- Let The Music Play (Instrumental)
- You See The Trouble With Me
- I'm So Blue and You Are Too
- Baby, We Better Try to Get It Together
- If You Know, Won't You Tell Me
- Don't Make Me Wait Too Long
- Can't You See It's Only You I Want (Instrumental)
- I'm Qualified to Satisfy You
- I'm Qualified to Satisfy You (Instrumental)
- It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me
- I Never Thought I'd Fall In Love With You
- It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me (Disco Version)
Disc 3
- Playing Your Game, Baby
- Of All the Guys In The World
- Oh What a Night For Dancing
- You're So Good, You're Bad
- Your Sweetness Is My Weakness
- It's Only Love Doing Its Thing
- Just The Way You Are
- Now I'm Gonna Make Love to You
- Sha La La Means I Love You
- September When I First Met You
- Early Years
- I Love to Sing The Songs I Sing
- Oh Me, Oh My (I'm Such a Lucky Guy)
- How Did You Know It Was Me?
- Oh Me, Oh My (I'm Such a Lucky Guy) (Disco Version)
- I Love to Sing The Songs I Sing (Disco Version)
The 20th Century Records Singles (1973-1975) (20th Century/Mercury/UMe, 2018)
Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. (TBD) / Amazon Canada (TBD)
Single 1: The Love Unlimited Orchestra, Love's Theme b/w Sweet Moments (20th Century TC-2069, 1973)
Single 2: I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby b/w Just a Little More Baby (Instrumental) (20th Century TC-2018, 1973)
Single 3: I've Got So Much to Give b/w I've Got So Much to Give (Instrumental) (20th Century TC-2042, 1973)
Single 4: Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up (Short Version) b/w/ No, I'm Never Gonna Give Ya Up (Instrumental) (20th Century TC-2058, 1973)
Single 5: Honey Please, Can't Ya See b/w Honey Please, Can't Ya See (Instrumental) (20th Century TC-2077, 1974)
Single 6: Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe b/w Just Not Enough (Instrumental) (20th Century TC-2120, 1974)
Single 7: You're The First, The Last, My Everything b/w More Than Anything, You're My Everything (Instrumental) (20th Century TC-2133, 1974)
Single 8: What Am I Gonna Do with You b/w What Am I Gonna Do with You, Baby (Instrumental) (20th Century TC-2177, 1975)
Single 9: I'll Do for You Anything You Want Me To b/w Anything You Want Me To (Instrumental) (20th Century TC-2208, 1975)
Single 10: Let the Music Play b/w Let the Music Play (Instrumental) (20th Century TC-2265, 1975)
LeVan says
Wow! This is great finally a complete set of his singles, but where are the albums I think real fans have been waiting for those but Iām happy to get this set.
Glenn Hoskins says
I want his albums not more compilations. His unlimited gold albums need to be released with their original artwork. Plus all of the Love Unlumited & Love Unlimited Orchestra albums too. His best material was, in my view, contained as album tracks not the singles. Less comps, more albums released pkease!
LeVan says
I agree his best tracks are in the albums. Hopefully we'll get those.
alex stassi says
According to this, and several other articles... we will see complete album box sets of Barry White, Love Unlimited and the Love Unlimited Orchestra sometime this year.
Alex Stassi says
According to this and several other articles, complete album box sets from Barry White, Love Unlimited & Love Unlimited Orchestra have planned releases sometime this year
http://www.noise11.com/news/the-complete-20th-century-singles-by-barry-white-to-be-released-20180216
Stefano says
Thanks Alex for this link. Very excited about that!
Alex Stassi says
Yep. Its definitely been a long time coming š
kurt says
Don't most of his comps feature the album versions? This set seems to be geared towards single mixes and edits, so it seems a valid release.
Zubb says
$70 for the vinyl 7 inch set. Yikes.
Stefano says
W-o-w, finally it's there: all the single A and B-sides. This announcement made my day, thanks Mike!
I cannot wait to re-listen to these instrumentals. What a superb release.
Hope Universal will soon do something similar for the Love Unlimited catalogue on 20th Century Records.
Vince says
If you would like to see a template of how not to recompile an artist, this is it. Does anyone really want all of the same music they already have, all over again ? That were on his box set ?
This is right out of the Nat King Cole re-issue school where you get the same music over and over again. Unforgettable this is not.
This is incompetent laziness. They can't find ONE unreleased track ? Nobody needs this.
The Welcome Aboard CD, which now goes for over $ 1000.00 because of a singular release on Meldac in Japan, has never been reissued. No Mustang singles ? Unreleased Love Unlimited tracks ?
A CD of rare singles entitled "Produced by Barry White" makes a lot more sense than this.
Stefano says
Vince, I don't agree with your statement that nobody needs this release. The instrumental B-sides never saw a digital release, so "all the same music they already have, all over again" does not apply to this box set. Furthermore the complete single A-side versions weren't remastered yet.
Glenn Hoskins says
Sorry but i'm with Vince on this one. It is ok to have instrumental versons i guess but it just shows a lack of imagination and a commitment by UMC to treat their rich vein of black music with the respect and availability it deserves. One hopes that we return to a time when the record business is run by knowedgable enthusiastic people with a genuine commitment to providing its back catalogue to a hungry market and not by accountants!
Ben Ward says
I imagine that more copies will be sold to those with no Barry White records; people come to collect an artist at many different points and so newcomers may have nothing by an artist and need something to 'start them off'.
Alex Stassi says
I received my box set today and just wanted to put this out there to anyone else who has purchased this. My booklet has a blank page... I'm assuming it's an error because it jumps from talking about Love Unlimited and then talks about his second album completely omitting details about his debut album "I've got some much to give".
LeVan says
I received my copy yesterday great remastering job on this. Great to have the B sides the booklet does have a blank page...