Barry White - R.I.P.

[Dennis Gonzalez]

Requiescat in pacem

[hornplayer]

Amen.

What joy and beauty he brought to our lives.

[Lois Gilbert]

Truly he was a gentle soul.

[Squaredancecalling Steve]

Great voice, great groove. Still give him a spin sometimes.

°°°°°

Soul Singer Barry White Dies in L.A. at 58
Fri July 4, 2003 06:16 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Soul singer Barry White, known for his rich bass vocals, died on Friday in a Los Angeles hospital at the age of 58, his manager Ned Shankman said.

Shankman told reporters White, a two-time Grammy winner, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles where he had been battling kidney failure brought on by high blood pressure. He suffered a stroke May.

Born in Galveston, Texas, White had been hoping to regain enough strength to undergo a kidney transplant, his daughter Shaheara White said in May.

With smoky ballads like "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" and "You're the First, The Last, My Everything," White provided the soundtrack to countless candlelight dinners and late-night trysts.

He also found success as a composer, a conductor of instrumental recordings and as the producer of the female vocal trio Love Unlimited.

"The Doctor of Love" achieved pop icon status as a romantic mentor in the hit TV series "Ally McBeal" and on the animated TV series "The Simpsons."

White won two Grammys in 2000 for best male and traditional R&B vocal performance for the song "Staying Power."

[cookie]

What a voice he had! Sad news to hear.
RIP

[Underhound]

This has been a funky couple of weeks for celebrity deaths eh?

David Brinkley
Greggary Peccary
The Strom/Lester Beast
Katharine Hepburn
Buddy Hackett
Herbie Mann
Denis Thatcher
Barry White

Oy !

[Jim Sangrey]

R.I.P., Walrus Of Love (to use Franklin Ajaye's classic sobriquet). Barry was good up until the end, and "Practice What You Preach" was the kind of "comeback" hit that proved that it was the audience who had gone away, not Barry's talent.

Say what you will about disco, but the very best of it moved with a groove that was absurdly human in its irresistability. Barry White's best work had this groove to spare. And those raps on top - my God, you COULDN'T do that any better than Barry White did it (and only Issac Hayes did it AS good). You think it's simple? Try writing one yourself, one that's not a parody, and see how simple it is!

So long, and thanks.

Barry White was extremely musical. He composed music is his head all the time, along with complete orchestrations. His sound was unique in every respect, and it penetrated very deeply into a lot of heats.

RIP


That Franklin Ajaye routine sticks out in my mind too:

"My baby asked me why I don't beg like Barry White."

"A: Because I don't look like Barry White."

[Gary Delligatti]

God that man had a voice! What a chick magnet when he sang.
He will be sadly missed by all

[Angie]

What sad news! Barry White's music moved my soul! I was thrilled by his voice. He was very effective at what he did and he worked it.

I heard a report from one of the talking heads on tv that he had a message on his answering machine that said, 'This is the White house, Barry speaking!'

RIP Barry White

[GoodSpeak]

I came home from the mountains and the first thing that hit me on the news was Barry White's passing.

Wow. I wasn't even aware he was sick.

RIP, Barry.

[Ron Thorne]

Barry White was one of those cats whose music transcended genres and pigeonholing. He was the "real deal", with enough soul dripping from his pores to collect and supply to those far less fortunate.

I'll never forget the first time I heard him, and I'm very sad that he's been silenced at such a young age. Love Unlimited, indeed.

RIP, Barry White~

[Gentle Giant]

I just found out this morning on CBS Sunday Morning that Barry White died. I've been away from the Corner during the holiday, so I was shocked not to be able to find a thread about this amazing legend, who died of kidney failure.

Profundo
Gigundo
In all the mundo
There will be another
deep-voiced brother
Who could make you feel all right
Like the inimitable Barry White

RIP

[Gentle Giant]

Suffice to say, he was the first, the last, the everything of sexy 70s soul music. An enormous talent, an enormous loss.

Listening to him now. I wonder how many people on earth owe their conception to his music?

[Dr Dave]

Barry White with the Three Degrees cooing behind him with the disco beat thump-thump-thumping away underneath was a sort of sonic touchstone for the pre-punk '70s, in the same way as the yowling Robert Plant and the anemic James Taylor.

[patricia]

Barry White. His molasses-smooth voice. Even "hello" sounded sexy if Barry was saying it.
So sad.
RIP Mr White.

[HLJ]

Rueben of American Idol made it cool to be Large in the 21st century but Barry was the Original "Big Love".He had an album called 'Stone Gone' in the 70's got my Groove on many nights while that played.Singing bass now in God's choir.RIP Barry.Peace and all that.

[Cem]

What a natural, what a monster with that killer voice!

In the late 70's, my uncle brought back to Istanbul a taped radio show from Texas called 'Dallas Soul'. Some of his tunes, including 'It's Ecstasy', knocked me and my cousin out completely. We sang that stuff non-stop for months. Very moving, truly soulful loin music!

Proud to say, in the past I've been nicknamed 'The White Barry White'. He will be sorely missed.

Originally posted by Cem

Proud to say, in the past I've been nicknamed 'The White Barry White'. He will be sorely missed.

That reminds me that I once sang a Barry White song at a soul karioke joint in Oakland where I was the only white person there.
They introduced me as "John White."

[RainyDay]

RIP. Terrible loss to music.

[RainyDay]

Originally posted by John L
That reminds me that I once sang a Barry White song at a soul karioke joint in Oakland where I was the only white person there.
They introduced me as "John White."

(Laughing and wiping eyes.)