Barry & Glodean (1981) : Black Love to the Max

When the album Barry and Glodean was released in 1981, Barry White and his wife Glodean had been married for seven years. Unfortunately, it was underpromoted, immediately shelved and relegated to the background of history, while the maestro was asked to immediately commence another project. There is a likelihood that a greater majority of R&B aficionados barely know of its existence. Few copies of the album were purportedly pressed by CBS Records. The songs were never publicized on the radio and reviews of the album were never written. I have searched to no avail.

Conversely, few years later in 1989, White collaborates in a duet “All Around the World” with English singer Lisa Stansfield, and voila, the racially stratified world of music celebrates and she even receives a Grammy nomination. The song becomes her signature sound. Let’s be clear, Lisa’s pipes are hot and somewhat akin to Motown’s Teena Marie.

In any case, the white supremacist music industry finds music made by black couples indigestible or unpalatable, and therefore underpromotes it , except you are a duo with platonic ties like Peabo Bryson paired with Regina Belle on a Disney film soundtrack or a black male singer paired with white women counterparts like Aaron Neville & Linda Ronstadt, Celine Dion & Peabo Bryson, Celine Dion & R. Kelly, etc. Again, I stand to be corrected!

But, why was this album uncelebrated and ill-fated? Firstly, before proceeding with my theory and conjectures, Barry and Glodean harbours a sentimental value to me because it was released in my born year and I had the privilege of savouring its goodness as a child. We had a Vinyl player and this album was among a plethora of vinyl records from the 60s, 70s and 80s that I had the pleasure of listening to within the domestic space.

The 10-track album underscores love, commitment, desire, joy, melancholy and unity. It juxtaposes the maestro’s rich baritone register against Ms. Glodean’s silky plush mezzo-soprano. The Intro sounds like an otherworldly concoction which only authentic music connoisseurs can truly decipher. This magically stunning prelude precipitates an out of body experience and is evidently what one would expect from a music genius like Barry White. He lives to his billing as a sonic virtuoso. Every song is uniquely composed and arranged with magnanimous instrumental richness and pristine vocal quality.

Favourite songs include cut #2 “I Want You” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3WjtDGc8Rs&list=OLAK5uy_lh4OTCTGXHEi1i6CaUw9FVXwfonejkbZ4&index=2

cut #3 “ You’re The Only One For Me” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5Spxz4qMhk&list=OLAK5uy_lh4OTCTGXHEi1i6CaUw9FVXwfonejkbZ4&index=3

cut #4 “This Love” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SJBpbWBZJw&list=OLAK5uy_lh4OTCTGXHEi1i6CaUw9FVXwfonejkbZ4&index=4

cut #8 “You Make My Life Easy Livin’” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDOEt8HwlqA&list=OLAK5uy_lh4OTCTGXHEi1i6CaUw9FVXwfonejkbZ4&index=8

cut #9 “Didn’t We Make It Happen Baby” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFHlCs9RYko&list=OLAK5uy_lh4OTCTGXHEi1i6CaUw9FVXwfonejkbZ4&index=9

It has to be the first husband and wife album (followed by Ashford & Simpson) to demonstrate the wholesomeness, sensuality and seductiveness that is black love. It was premised on the foundations of what they personally described as their theme which encompassed trust, truth, honour, understanding and love.

Secondly, its saliency lies in its socio-cultural meaning as it functions as a mirror reflecting back to a demographic its errors and lapses. In my imagination, Black love is beautiful. Black love is profound. Black love is unique. Black love is golden, but illusionary.

I grew up as a child not witnessing black love within my own family. The man of the house was dominant, abusive and negligent. In the era of social media, where skeletons are being exposed, and dirty linens are washed daily, I have come to realize that my experience was not a singularity and that black love for the woman and child is a scarce commodity. The torch bearer of black love has been the black woman for the longest time. Many across the world have shared their bitter experiences as children and romantic partners. Most neither knew a father’s love, nor did they find that love in a romantic relationship. While they gave their all, they were repaid with nothing, but emptiness, abuse, losses and even death.

Again I ask, why was this salient album on black love undermined and I argue that it evoked a historical memory that needed to be kept suppressed. One whereby the black woman and man co-existed as partners in a complementary dynamic and not the oppositional created by patriarchy. It symbolized a reality that slavery and colonalization had decimated. It reminded the status quo of an embodied masculinity which once valued, protected , honoured and defended its community of women and children, thereby threatening the hegemenony.

It stirred guilt for the black male’s disempowerment in the past and present acting as a relic of that affliction of collective helplessness and weakness which disconnected black men from true masculinity which compliments and supports the feminine to becoming the oppressors and antagonists of black women.

To subdue the indegenous or black collective of the earth, the black woman needed to be weakened and punished into submission. Consequently, an album of love songs made by a black couple was considered a virus against the programme of subjugation designed by the world’s oppressors. Because love fosters healing, togetherness and unity which could not be permitted to percolate, diffuse and flourish in the black ecosystem.

A decade later, White would pay homage and reaffirm his love for the black woman in a duet with Isaac Hayes titled “Dark and Lovely (You over there)”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB_Ne5sf7iw

Again, this sublimely enthralling song hardly gained traction, except among his hardcore fans. Again, it threatened the foundation of white terrorism which positions the white woman holds as superior to the black woman in the realm of intelligence and beauty, while the former from manifold accounts co-opts the inventions of the latter and subjects herself to surgical augmentations to mimic her aesthetics. Like Aretha would sing “Who’s foolin’ who?”.

Even though Barry and Glodean would legally seperate in 1988, Barry and Glodean remains a masterpiece and an attestation to the power of intentional love, love that is served right laced with a healthy dose of mutual respect, mutual agreement and harmony. It may be buried in the bin of history, but this fan of pure, exceptional and masterfully crafted music would never forget. It stays fresh in my memory, sho’ right!