The Groove
Saturday February 8th, 2020 with ELORIOUS CAIN
BLACK HISTORY CELEBRATION OF THE SOPHISTICATED SOUL MOVEMENT PART 2 - BARRY WHITE (The Early Years)

2 Shows are dedicated to this giant of romance! BARRY WHITE brought his Californian blend of SOPHISTICATED SOUL into the homes of tens of millions around the world. In this first look at BARRY WHITE we begin by looking into his early years before his major breakthroughs in the early 1970's. From his beginnings in the early 1960's BARRY WHITE was a song writer and music arranger. His work was recorded by artists like VIOLA WILLS, GLEN CAMPBELL, SUNDAY GROUP, FELICE TAYLOR and THE APOLLAS. Under different names: LEE BARRY, GENE CARTER and GENE WEST, he sung typical R&B including some songs which became popular in NORTHERN SOUL clubs in England. Some of his early productions like "This Thing Called Love" featuring JOHNNY WYATT and "Don't Slam The Door In My Face" featuring LARRY MARKS also enjoyed that popularity. With the arrival of the 1970's, BARRY WHITE got even more focused. Between his 1970 GENE WEST cover version of "In The Ghetto" and his early SMOKE and LOVE UNLIMITED recordings of 1972 there is a major change. By 1972, BARRY WHITE's signature symphonic soul sound had been fully developed. This new sound quickly brought him a new level of international acclaim. The instrumental "Love's Theme" demonstratively established BARRY WHITE as the third major source of SOPHISTICATED SOUl. The sensual singer and composer would start dominating the DISCO scene with his distinctive baritone voice and his female vocal super-group LOVE UNLIMITED and the touring studio group the LOVE UNLIMITED ORCHESTRA. As we mentioned in the REAL HISTORY OF DISCO back in July, 2019, three SOPHISTICATED SOUL recordings caught the imaginations of millions in Europe. And how some sources suggested that three songs literally inspired dozens of future EURODISCO producers to start producing disco. ISAAC HAYES' "THEME FROM SHAFT" that was the first example. The other two came out in 1973 and they are "TSOP" by MFSB, a studio band of PHILADELPHIA INTERNATIONAL, and of course BARRY WHITE's unforgettable instrumental "LOVE'S THEME".