[

These NY-cats started to collabo in 1981 on Luther's 1rst solo-debut for Epic (CBS) Records .
Besides LV's albums they delivered some fine productions for 2 diva's .
These joints are my personal faves because Marcus plays dangerously & incredible loose on those projects .

" She's A Superlady " / " You're The Sweetest One " / " Better Love " / " Busy Body " /
" I'll Let You Slide " / " Its Over Now " / " The Night I fell In Love " / " See Me " / etc ... ( Luther )

" When You Love Me Like That " / " It's Your Thing " / etc ... ( Aretha )

" Sleepwalking " / etc ... ( Cheryl Lynn )












http://youtube.com/watch?v=K6XI5dsd0u4










[Edited 9/21/06 10:52am]

GREAT THREAD!!!


MM is one of my favorite producers and performers. When I began to dig into his work, I was shocked that I'd been a fan of his work for years.

He pops up all over the place, in all kinds of genres.

One of my favorite tracks featuring his bass work is Jonatha Brook's "Room in My Heart." Brother is making a fretless FUNK!

I never was the biggest Luther fan, but I appreciated his voice and what he and MM created together.

ThreadBare said:

Thanx & Cool !
I didn't know about that Jonatha Brook track
Yeah , Marcus has really grown through the years .
Started with drummer Lenny White ... a few years after that he recorded and performed live with Miles Davis .
Eventually he became MAD indemand as studio-bassplayer .
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[Edited 9/21/06 10:48am]

100MPH said:

Deservedly so. I can't think of a bassist in modern times whose playing has inspired so many. Marcus is in the pantheon of performers whose SOUND and FEEL carry on long after they're gone.

ThreadBare said:

You play bass yourself ?

100MPH said:

What do you think of the album?
It was released on cd a few months ago...

Icicle said:

Yeah , i just discovered it by googling .
It's a solid album that has the similar sound like the Aretha albums ... worth to buy .
Cheryl's voice lifts it always up to higher regions .
Plus there's a bonus x-tra album from a previous year on that cd .
It includes the partyjammer "Shake It Up Tonight"

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EJhbtzcXJHM


[Edited 9/21/06 11:23am]

100MPH said:

Yup.



A 1990s Ibanez 5-string outfitted with EMGs (mine is blue-green transparent)

and




A 2001 Cort Curbow 5-string fretless

Stumbled on this book in the near bookstore, should I pick it up ya'll?

I'm not familar with the records they did for Aretha and Cheryl, but yeah, there was nothing sloppy about the songs they did together. From the dance floor to the bedroom, all hot, tight tracks. Never any problems with those songs.

ThreadBare said:

X-cellent ... they look great .
What you play ? ... jazz , funk , soul , rock , latin , classic ?



Ever played on this one ? ... it's my 1 of my fave sounds .

100MPH said:

No, I don't think, other than on music store visits. I always hear about its sound. Name some songs that feature MMs, if you can. I'm curious to identify its sound.

Thanks.
[Edited 9/21/06 11:50am]

100MPH said:

The beginning is so funny, notice how excited she looks at about 00:19

ThreadBare said:

I new MM mainly from his Fender Jazzbass , which he had custom-made by Mr. Sadowsky .
Can't really recall right now a track from MM playing on an MM




Louis Johnson played much on the MusicMan .

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DBFKkiju5N0

Icicle said:

YEAH ! that's what made me when i first saw that x-citing look on her face .
This track always gets me jiggy
& that dude with the popping-lights in his glasses

SHAKE IT UP !!!!!

100MPH said:

Sorry, I meant "Music Man" there. Curious about the sound.

The Cheryl Lynn turn this thread has taken has me jamming on "Encore." Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis outdid themselves on this one.
[Edited 9/21/06 13:01pm]
[Edited 9/21/06 13:02pm]

ThreadBare said:

That's cool ThreadB .
The bass-sound can be heard in the Louis-link above ... or do you mean if you play it yourself ?

ThreadBare said:

You ever heard Fidelity ? ... A sorta follow-up from Encore.
It's Gonna Be Right , the albumtitle-track is another winner .
Jam & Lewis did most of the work with Monte on that 1985 project .
They called themselves " The Secret " , as on many of their productions .

And Cheryl looks fiiine on that cover .


[Edited 9/21/06 13:27pm]

100MPH said:

I made a thread about that album because i love the cover...

Icicle said:

Cool ! ... recently or sometime ago ?
.
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.
[Edited 9/21/06 14:29pm]

100MPH said:

A week ago http://www.prince.org/msg/8/202338

Harlepolis said:

I don't know anything about this book, but the title - The Life and Longing of Luther Vandross - makes it sound a little scandalous.

100MPH said:

This album cover is one of my favorites. It's so drenched in its era - the type face, those long, red NAILS(!), the phone, Luther's Kool-Aid grin, the jewelry - if all of that doesn't take you to a certain time and place, I don't know what will. Not my favorite album of his, but I do like it, particularly the leadoff track, I Wanted Your Love. Those synths are hot. I never took to his versions of Superstar/Until You Come Back to Me.

Harlepolis said:

Definitely, a fascinating look into his musical life, especially the early years! One interesting point is his tenure as a background vocalist with David Bowie, during his Young Americans Tour. Bowie was impressed enough with Luther that he eventually had Vandross as the opening act, much to Luther's dismay. Luther was pretty shy at that point, and said, "I would keep telling David, "I don't wanna open; they'll hate me." and Bowie basically told him, "Whether they're ready for you isn't the point; Whether you think you should be up there Is the point!!"



...



...
[Edited 9/22/06 9:01am]

TommyRoss said:

I read this book a year or two ago when it first came out. It is excellent. It illustrates a lot of good history on Luther's influences. It also gives a good history of his professional work, including a lot of the hits he sang background on and how he, Marcus Miller and Fonzi Thornton became good friends and working partners. The author even discusses the sexuality aspect of Luther. They never give any details on that, but lets you know that he had secrets like everyone else. I read this book in less than a day (and that is really good for me). I highly reccommend it, even for the casual Luther fan.

U guys need to also pickup Dionne Warwick's "How Many Times Can We Say Goodbye" album. I learned about this album from the book. I knew that it existed, but had never considered listening to it. I found it at a 2nd hand record store and fell in love. It is not available on cd, but kicks major ass. Luther wrote a lot of the songs and produced the entire album. It contains a track called "What Can A Miracle Do?" that has turned out to be one of my favorite Luther songs that he didn't record. It also has the original version of "So Amazing." As most of you know, Dionne did the song first. Luther wrote it for her when he was putting this album together and remade it in 1986 when he was recording the Give Me The Reason album.


[Edited 9/22/06 9:26am]

daPrettyman said:

I've always loved that song, too! Funny, a number of people have recorded that song, Dionne Warwick , The Brecker Brothers, Cuba Gooding, Sr. (of The Main Ingredient) just to name a few, and I always wondered why Luther never got around to recording it himself....

and btw, I like Dionne's version of So Amazing even better than Luther's version...


...

paligap said:

I've read that Luther recorded demos of the material that artists like Aretha and Dionne recorded. I hope someone has those tapes and can release them on a boxed set.

TommyRoss said:

DorothyParkerWasCool said:

Sorry, but it's true...I don't much like them. I love him as a performer, but I don't dig those.
[Edited 9/22/06 21:01pm]