Just For You [Box]

Performer: Barry White
Artist: Quincy Jones; Al B. Sure!; James Ingram; El DeBarge; Big Daddy Kane; Lisa Stansfield; Isaac Hayes; Gerald Albright
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: This 3-CD box set contains a 32-page booklet with a biographical essay by David Ritz, track-by-track annotations, complete personnel listings, a discography and rare photos. Personnel includes: Barry White (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, bass, drums); David T. Walker, Dean Parks, Lee Ritenour (guitar); Stella Castalucci (harp); Ernie Watts, Bill Green (flute, saxophone); Gerald Albright (saxophone); Jerry Hey, Gary Grant (trumpet); George Bohanon (trombone); Vince DaRosa (French horn); Gene Page, Jack Perry, Chuckii Booker (piano, keyboards); Wilton Felder, Nathan East, Willie Sistrunk (bass); Ed Greene, Delacy White (drums); Paulinho Da Costa, Bobby Hall (percussion); Vella Cameron, Sheila Chambers, Cindy Davis, Stephanie Fletcher, Jermaine Jackson (background vocals); Quincy Jones, Al B. Sure, James Ingram, El DeBarge, Big Daddy Kane, Lisa Stansfield, Isaac Hayes. The Love Unlimited Orchestra includes: Glodean James, Linda James, Diane Taylor. Producers include: Barry White, Ian Devaney, Andy Morris, Quincy Jones, Andre Booth. Compilation producers: Barry White, Harry Weinger. Engineers include: Frank Kejmar. Principally recorded at Whitney Recording Studios, Glendale, California. Includes liner notes by Barry White and David Ritz. Digitally remastered by Ted Jensen (Sterling Sound, New York, New York). With '70s nostalgia being quite the rage in the early '90s, Mercury set out to cash in on the trend with this three-CD box set by one of the top soul/disco men of that decade. Though three CDs is a bit much for novices (who would be better off with the 1995 single-CD anthology All Time Greatest Hits), more seasoned White devotees will find that there's a lot to admire about this comprehensive package. Essential '70s hits like "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Baby," "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" and "It's Ecstasy" are included, along with gems he produced for the female group Love Unlimited Orchestra (including the sexy "Walking in the Rain with the One I Love" and his instrumental-oriented Love Unlimited Orchestra ("Love's Theme" and "Satin Soul," among other hits). And the set also contains some of White's more recent work, such as 1989's "L.A. My Kinda Place" and a remake of Lisa Stansfield's "All Around the World" that finds him forming a memorable duo with the British singer. Despite the fact that some of the newer selections aren't essential, Just for You does a fine job of summarizing White's many post-1971 accomplishments. ~ Alex Henderson

Q (5/93, p.109) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...the definitive Barry White..." NME (Magazine) (3/13/93, p.32) - 8 - Excellent - "...chock to brim with chunky, happy, sunshine riffs and grooves--evidence enough that the man is a legend on the dancefloor as well as the bedroom..."

A giant both artistically and physically, Barry White had a basso profundo voice and lusty, soulful songs that are probably responsible for more procreation than a thousand fertility clinics. Songs like "Never Never Gonna Give You Up" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" brought an epic, orchestral sensibility to R&B, and White was one of the musical bridges between soul and disco in the 1970s. While he had considerable chart success, White was not much of a critics' favorite. In subsequent decades, however, he came to be taken more seriously, and respected as a soul music giant. He even managed a comeback in the '90s before his death in 2003.

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