This is a tricky one. On the face of it, what we
have here is an album of songs associated with either Barry White or Love
Unlimited and re-recorded by one Lee Charles. Put it like that and it seems a
straightforward enough proposition, but the question is whether this a
'songbook' type album by one singer paying homage to another, or is it a
recording of one singer passing himself off as another by imitation? I ask
because the sleevenotes suggest the latter (it says (of Barry White) 'what
better sound for Lee Charles to emulate'), but if that is the case then
we have a problem.
In terms of pure visuals, it's not hard to adopt a
Barry's persona; all you need is a few pillows strapped around your waist, some
unwise facial hair, some spray perspiration and yes, in less PC times, to black
up too and boom, you're more than halfway there. Far enough along anyway to let
those visuals shoulder the weight of any shortcomings in the vocal department, a
department in which Mr White was pretty unique. That though doesn't work on a
record where the output is 100% aural, 0% visual - there's no curtain to hide
behind and although Charles is hardly a slouch in that vocal department
himself (after all, he had a minor career of his own), he doesn't sound much
like Barry White. Or anything like him if I'm being honest.
If my former suggestion above is the case
then that needn't be a problem - to take an example from elsewhere, one of my
most played discs is Barb Jungr's 'Every Grain Of Sand', an album of Bob Dylan
cover versions. Barb doesn't sound anything like Dylan either, but that's not
the point and it doesn't matter - she neither tries nor wants to sound like him.
She doesn't have to; Dylan's songs are malleable and Jungr could bend them to
her will and interpret them in her own way because they don't come with any
excessive Dylanesque baggage that ties them to him exclusively.
Barry White's oeuvre, on the other hand,
does come with rather a lot of Barryesque baggage. It's next to
impossible to reduce it to the dimension of the songs only and so unless you're
going to give them a radical hip hop or thrash metal makeover then even stepping
one foot into Barry's arena is going to invite comparison to the source.
The problem facing Charles is that his versions
do sound like he's using White's original vocal as a click track and he
copies his style and mannerisms almost to the breath and syllable. But it's in
vain - Charles' vocal doesn't have anything like the depth and presence of
White, and in the absence of a strong vocal identity of his own it just sounds
insipid and washed out - two descriptors you could never apply to Barry White.
When played at a suitable volume, White's growl and
spoken introduction on 'I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little Bit More Baby' could
move the furniture around all by itself; Clark's copycat attempt is an
apologetic mewl in comparison. No loverman he. The same goes for the music really, the band are game enough but none of
the music swings or grooves and a truly anaemic production means any attempt
they do make to bring the funk is stuffed in a weighted sack and thrown
into the river to drown by the wishy washiness of the sound. But as I say, it's
a tricky one - I don't want to be unduly harsh or glib with Mr Charles as I
don't know what his brief was in all of this, but suffice it to say this is no
substitute for the real thing in any way, shape or form.
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