Episode 3 - Soul Unlimited - Barry's Theme Is Love

Barry White had a successful career and was known for his unique music style. He formed the Love Unlimited Orchestra and released instrumental albums. He had a close relationship with Larry Noon, who helped him with his finances. Barry's music was innovative and gained international recognition. His song "Love's Theme" became popular and was used in movies and commercials. Barry was dedicated to his music and released multiple albums in a short period of time. His artistic freedom was supported by Larry Noon. I was on the phone with Russ Regan, I said, I got the girls, do you want them or not? And MCA hadn't heard the second album. I was in today's second album, which was under the influence of Love, the first female black album artist to go in the top five pop charts in the history of our industry. It started hitting them charts, Russ said, Barry, I don't know what's happening, but Papa, you got some formula going, people, everybody's talking about your music. I said, well, Russ, get ready for this one, I want to do an instrumental album. Russ said, you insane, he said, you crazy. I said, Russ, I want to take Love theme from the girls' album, I want to release it as a single, while it's out there taking care of business, I want to go in the studio and cut an instrumental album and entitle the orchestra, the Love Unlimited Orchestra. He said, that's the first thing that's wrong with it, it should be called the Barry White Orchestra. You're wrong, Russ, it should be called the Love Unlimited Orchestra. They turned gold. Now it's getting interesting. Hello, we're on to episode three of Soul Unlimited, and I'm still Stuart March. Being switched on people, my listeners are, I figured you would make the leap for yourself. But Barry White wasn't suffering any falls. He was incandescent on learning that Uni Records was deliberating over Love Unlimited's follow-up album after achieving a million seller on their first. So much so, he demanded they be released from contract and duly carried his all-girl protégé over to 20th Century Records to make the final piece of his newly created triumvirate. All this inside 12 months. Now that's impressive by anyone's record. Now what is going on in your head at this time? Music. From the scuffler, the slapping shoes. I know. You've got a career of your own as an international smash. You've got these girls who are top five, and now you've got an instrumental thing. What's happening for you? More music, no. I couldn't get crazy, Joe, I had Larry. Didn't affect you? Not at all. If he was living here, I'll tell you, very white. It was like he never had nothing. I didn't know how much money I had until Larry asked me to buy his house down there. We were sitting at dinner, he and I, and he asked me to buy his house, and I just spit up everything, because I thought he was out of his fucking mind. He was looking after your money. Larry was. Did he take good care of it? Very good care of it, Joe. That's why we were like we were. How did you get publishing back from Bob King? Was that later on that you did that? Larry owned the publishing company, Dr. Deal, when he closed down everything. And when I told him I wanted to try to get 16 of my songs out of this publishing company, he said, you got a dollar? I gave him a dollar. He handed me five publishing companies. Led Zeppelin. It was all kind of songs in it. You wouldn't believe the relationship we had, Frank. You would not believe the relationship of Barry White and Larry Nunes. You will never believe it. You will never believe it. And how long did that relationship last? Till he died. Which was? 78. If you bring an A&R executive, most A&R executives, a record that sounds like something they've heard, you got a shot. When you bring them innovative shit, things that's approached differently, it's not happening. It wasn't until five months later that Russ and Zay realized what they were really dealing with, with my music. And it wasn't until 1974, when the international world busted wide open, that they really knew that we had a big commodity. So why did we all fall hook, line and sinker for White's music? Let's hear from someone with clout from the orchestral world, Conductor Charles Hazelwood. Yeah, I mean, I think in a way, Barry White's achievements still remain fairly unique. I mean, there isn't anyone else who has been able to create a kind of a worldwide following for this particularly rich, complex and probably, let's face it, expensive version of R&B, of disco, of soul music. You know, he set a new standard, and I don't think anyone really thinks he's come close to it. We want to do something for you. An instrumental song that I had the pleasure of writing and recording that has become world-renowned. I thank you. This one's for you. Thank you! Feel like you want to dance tonight, it's all right. You know, the Love Unlimited theme is particularly... I remember at the local cinema, that was the only CD they played back-to-back. When I used to get in there to watch the early Kung Fu films when I was about 14, pretend I was 18, with the tag on and all that, the only thing that they played back-to-back was that love theme, and they played the Love Unlimited orchestra over and over and over again. I love thee. Let's also consider the masterstroke that was pulled off here. The song was originally accompanied with the lyrics, and released as the album finale for Love Unlimited's In Heat album. It holds up as an easy-on-the-ear album-closer, for sure, but by stripping out the vocal track, Barry turned it into an instrumental thunderbolt. It's very complex. It's guitar-based dance. There's so many different voices and colours within the orchestral spectrum, all of which he's utilising, with sort of sublime sophistication. See, the track never gets overcrowded, even though there's always, at any one time, a hell of a lot going on. To date, it's been used in five feature films, and also the theme tunes for the ABC sports show and commercial advertising. Even mainstaying crooner Andy Williams didn't want to miss the party. He had a top-20 Billboard hit by reinstating the vocals onto it. Next, we'll hear from Stephen Ivory, former L.A. Times journalist and writer. So you had a lot of these orchestras that were basically like Love Unlimited Orchestra was, which was just some guys that would come together under that logo. The Love Unlimited Orchestra was basically just session guys, freelance orchestra people. But whenever they recorded for Barry White, they were the Love Unlimited Orchestra. And he had some people that he used constantly, like Gene Page, who was the arranger. I became an engineer because I was forced to. Engineers couldn't mix my music the way I heard it. I became an arranger because I was forced to. I couldn't give my songs to an arranger and expect him to hear it the way I hear it. It never came out right. I became a multi-musician because playing a piano wasn't enough. I had to learn how to play drummers to tell a drummer. I had to learn how to blow bass to tell a bass man. Everything that I do now, I was forced into doing it, not knowing that one day this would be my life, not knowing that one day this would be my life, and I had to be that equipped to live in this industry this way. Without vocal, without strings, the rhythm is what captures you. And you bring in a classical harpsichord, strings. In the period of time we've just covered, which is 1973-74, Barry White was like a man possessed. Under the guise of his three different acts, the artist released eight studio albums, which amounts to nearly five hours of orchestrated R&B soul music. That's a run rate of, what, one every three months. That's a run rate of, what, one every three months. Actually, there's one other thing. Over his lunch break, he produced and arranged Gloria Scott's impressive debut LP, What Am I Gonna Do? Besides from one audacious cover of Standing in the Shadows of Love and a smattering of co-written tracks, these were all original compositions. I suppose that in itself is enough to explain why that relationship between him and Larry Noon was pivotal and gave him the artistic freedom to fully immerse himself in the music. This is Soul Unlimited. See, every album to me is my first chance and my last. See, I'm the boy with the flapping shoes. I'm the one who was not embarrassed to walk up in front of you with his flapping shoes and ask you, did you have anything for me to do? This episode featured Barry White, Joe Smith, under Creative Commons or Fair Use policy, with all music used under the same licence. Background Music by Stuart Zettelberg.