daPrettyman said:

I don't know if she could have been as big as Whitney,but she deserved much more success and recognition than she received.A brilliant song like "Old Friend" should have been a MASSIVE hit on the R&B and pop charts.That should have been a crossover smash.

I loved Whitney back in the day but I always thought Phyllis was the stonger singer. She had the emotion and realness in her voice and performances that Whitney has never possessed.

I'd prefer Phyllis over Whitney ANY DAY, sorry, Nippy.

Timmy84 said:

I agree.Whitney is an amazing pop vocalist,but Phyllis was the REAL DEAL.She could sing jazz,pop,R&B...a very versatile,talented singer! There is alot of emotion and drama in her singing,something that we don't always get from Whitney.

SoulAlive said:

For real, plus girl had a lot of range, she could go to contralto to alto to soprano (almost). As I posted "Somewhere in My Lifetime", you can see what I mean, starts off low, then goes high at the end. So emotional, with Whitney, it's more mechanical than anything.

Timmy84 said:

Exactly.During recording sessions,Clive Davis often told Whitney to "tone it down",he didn't want her sounding too R&B He wanted her vocals to be polished and mechanical,without any real soul.He didn't dare try this with Phyllis....she would have kicked his ass

SoulAlive said:

Exactly. It pains me that Whitney had to be polished to get to where she's at, which is all good and dandy, but it took a part of her. I heard Whitney was cutting it up vocally in concerts yet sounded way different on the records.

Timmy84 said:

Where you hear that? She gave a show in Michigan back in the 80's while "Whitney" was out and I was told people were walking out in the middle of the show, she sounded so bad.

kitbradley said:

For real?

^

Maybe they were walking out because she sounded to R&b for thier taste. I mean if you go to see Whitney you might be of the Barbra Streisand set... a soul-sounding Whitney may not be your cup of tea.

prodigalfan said:

But Kit said she "sounded bad".

There's an odd,yet (slightly) funny part of the book ("Strength of a Woman")...

Phyllis was doing a tour with Bill Withers and Regina Belle.Somehow,she got into a heated argument with Bill and he got really pissed with her.Phyllis was like

Come on,motherfucker...what are you gonna do,beat me the way you beat Denise Nicholas?!


Regina heard this,and ran through the auditorium,laughing her ass off.

(btw,Deniece is an actress that Bill was married to in the 70s.She had claimed that he was abusive during their brief marriage).

SoulAlive said:

Okay, you know where I am going online after this post??? to my library to request this book!

I think the BIGGEST obstacle in Ms.Hyman's career was her disease. I love what the writer said about the sickness in the book's forward, he really broke it down, how the society looks at it, then & now, and how UNPREDICTABLE and embarrassing it gets.

I agree, you should def read the book,,,,,what her sister said after her death(Sakina? Is that her name? The muslim lady) brought me to tears.

But its not a heartbreaking book, there're laugh-out-loud funny moments(Her run-ins with Naomi Campbell & Bill Withers ).

And it showed me a side of her that I wasn't aware of before, Phyllis was a LEADER eversince she walked(even in her relationships),,,she took care of herself since her mother couldn't(since she was also a bi-polar) and that stayed with her, and when Clive Davis came into her life later when she was in her 30s, he wanted to play the patriarch role, and she in result wasn't ready to play the puppet role.

SoulAlive said:

She was in a stand-offis mood(typical cancer ) and he said "Oh, must be the time of the month".

Her comeback was something like, You don't see me complaining about your lil' itty bitty dick, do you?

He was ready to punch her or something and thats what she said(the quote in your post).

She was def something else