Barry White

Walkin' In the Rain With the One I Love
Love Unlimited
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJtQbajGElk

Love's Theme
Love Unlimited Orchestra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3S6UVS2JDE&feature=related

I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xN38uI2oKkA

I've Got So Much To Give
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXur958KRAQ

Can't Get Enough
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXvHRnGe940

You're the First, the Last, My Everything
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS2Fve72AZg

Never, Never Gonna Give You Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4_M5PcJQmU

The Secret Garden
various artists
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE0WmzYjchs

All Around the World
w/Lisa Stansfield
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR_kO6gbIMo

Practice What You Preach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbIp-KO11QE


Barry Eugene White (born Barrence Eugene Carter, September 12, 1944(1944-09-12) – July 4, 2003) was an American record producer, songwriter and singer.
A multiple Grammy Award-winner known for his deep bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring hit soul and disco songs. Worldwide, White had many gold and platinum albums and singles, with combined sales of over 100 million, according to critics Ed Hogan and Wade Kergan.

White was born in Galveston, Texas and grew up in the high-crime areas of South Central Los Angeles, where he joined a gang at the age of 10. At 17, he was jailed for four months for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires.

While in prison, White listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.
After his release, he left gang life and began a musical career at the dawn of the 1960s in singing groups before going out on his own in the middle of the decade.
He was responsible in 1963 for arranging "Harlem Shuffle" for Bob & Earl, which became a hit in the UK in 1969.

In August 1969, he got his break producing a girl group called Love Unlimited. Formed in imitation of the legendary Motown girl group The Supremes, the group members honed their talents with White for the next two years until they all signed contracts with 20th Century Records.
White produced, wrote and arranged the classic soul ballad "Walking in the Rain (With The One I Love)", which hit the Top 20 of the pop charts. The group would score more hits throughout the '70s and White eventually married the lead singer of the group, Glodean James.

While working on a few demos for a male singer, the record label suggested White step out in front of the microphone, to which he reluctantly agreed.
His first solo chart hit, 1973's "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", rose to #1 R&B and #3 Pop. That same year, the Love Unlimited Orchestra's recording of White's composition "Love's Theme" reached #1 Pop in 1974, one of only two instrumental recordings ever to do so. Some regard "Love's Theme" as the first disco hit ever.

Other chart hits by White include "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up" (1973), "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" (1974) and "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" (1974).

Although White's success on the pop charts slowed down as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. In the 1990s, he mounted an effective comeback with the albums The Icon Is Love (1994), whose biggest hit, "Practice What You Preach" reached the top of the charts.
In addition, his music was often featured on the sitcom Ally McBeal and he appeared on the show twice.

Barry White had been ill with chronically high blood pressure for some time, which resulted in kidney failure in the autumn of 2002. He suffered a stroke in May 2003, after which he was forced to retire from public life.
On 4 July, 2003, he died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from renal failure. White was cremated, and his ashes were scattered by his family off the California coast.

On 20 September, 2004, he was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York.

White's recordings featured a distinctive sound that combined orchestral instrumentation (string section, woodwinds, horns, harpsichords, etc.) with a steady drumbeat and as many as five electric guitars. His arrangements were influential on the emerging sound of disco music in the early 1970s.
A distinctive feature of White's music was the steamy spoken introductions and interludes that appeared in many of his songs.

Over the course of his career White occasionally did work as a voice actor.
He was featured in several episodes of The Simpsons.
White had been offered the chance to play the voice of Chef in the cartoon series South Park (who had been modeled after White), but declined; as a devout Christian, White was uncomfortable with South Park's often irreverent humor. The part was eventually played by Isaac Hayes.

(Wikipedia)