Black Music Month '08: Perfect Combination--The Soul Duets
This is the third in a series Black Music Month Playlists that will explore common themes explored in the Soul Music Tradition.
***
In 1984, Stacy Lattisaw recorded "Perfect Combination" with Johnny Gill. Lattisaw was a teen sensation recordings hits like a remake of The Moments' "Love on a Two Way Street" and "Let Me Be Your Angel." Atlantic hoped to capitalize on her success in order to break a teen-aged Boston vocalist by the name of Johnny Gill. It would still be years before Gill's body would catch up to his grown man vocals and eventually an audience that appreciated his talents. But "Perfect Combination" was an earnest attempt to capture that Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell magic. When Lattisaw was on the downside of her career and Gill's star was finally on the rise (courtesy of his spin with New Edition) the two collaborated again on "Where Do We Go from Here?" The songs with Lattisaw and Gill are a reminder of other great Soul and R&B duets, like those below.
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough"--Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
"Ain't No Mountain High Enough" borders on being cliché, as it is so often referenced as the quintessential Soul duet. True there's an innocence and sexiness that's palpable in this classic pairing of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell and Motown milked it for all they could releasing three album's worth of material by the duo including classics like "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing," "You're All I Need to Get By" and "Your Precious Love", the song that Terrell was signing when she collapsed in Gaye's arms at a concert in Virginia in 1967. Ironically, Gaye and Terrell weren't even in the studio together--Gaye added his vocals long after Terrell laid down hers. Yet the energy is real and for that we can thank the writers, Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, who gave Marvin and Tammi songs drawn from their own romance. Terrell died tragically in 1970 of a brain tumor.
"Ain't Understanding Mellow"--Jerry Butler & Brenda Lee Eager
Jerry Butler had been in the music business for nearly 15 years and was on the third stage of a career that began as the lead vocalist of The Impressions (with Curtis Mayfield). Butler was on the downside of the most popular point of a career that was largely resuscitated courtesy of Leon Huff and Kenny Gamble (a few years before PIR) when he teamed with Brenda Lee Eager for the ultimate breakup song "Ain't Understanding Mellow." This was serious grown folk music about a man showing appreciation for a partner, who was honest enough to admit to her love for another man. In turn she shows appreciation for him understanding her situation. This ultimately a song about a couple who were grounded in friendship, even as the romantic relationship starts to sour. And yeah, what's the deal with that title?
"At the Concert"--Roberta Flack & Michael Henderson
Roberta Flack recorded a series of legendary duets with the late Donny Hathaway, much if it drawn from their 1972 recording Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway which included the lovely "Where is the Love?" and the nationalist era staple "Be Real Black." Hathaway was in a deep depression when Flack again found him with 1978's "The Closer I Get to You." The two had just finished two tracks when Hathaway fell to his death in January 1979. For her part, Flack found another willing partner in Peabo Bryson with "Tonight I Celebrate" in 1983. Less known is Flack's appearance on Michael Henderson's 1977 recording Going Places. Henderson, who at one time played with Miles Davis in his fusion band, possessed a vocal quality every much the peer of fellow bassist Larry Graham and other such as James Ingram. Though he lacked the promotional push that his talents deserved, "At the Concert" is a sprawling piece of jazzy Soul that very much represents a novel collaboration on the part Henderson and Flack.
"Two Hearts"--Teddy Pendergrass & Stephanie Mills
Teddy Pendergrass was at the top of his game and Stephanie Mills had finally delivered on the promise of all those nights on stage performing in The Wiz. For Mills, there was no better choice than Pendergrass to help maintain some of the momentum that would bring her greater popularity in the late 1980s. Pendergrass and Mills had collaborated the year before with a version of Peabo Bryson's "Feel the Fire." "Two Hearts" had a lighter touch perfectly pitched for the stepper-set.
"Happy"--Teena Marie & Rick James
Everyone remembers "Fire & Desire" the Teena Marie and Rick James classic that practically defines the slow burning R&B ballad. Rick James was living off of the brilliance of 1980's Street Songs and Marie was having her break through moment with It Must Be Magic when Quiet Strom programmers picked up on "Fire and Desire." And of course when Marie finally weighs in with "love them or leave them" midway through, the song took R&B to new heights making us all forget about the significance of their interracial desire as recorded on wax. When James went back in the studio for 1982's Throwin' Down, he again collaborated with Marie on the largely forgotten "Happy", though this time, he matches Marie note for note, marking one of his singularly great performances.
de.licio.us
digg
Furl
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Comments
There are no comments on this entry. Be the first!