Black Classic
5
By Reg Jones
How does one follow innovation? If you’ve already altered your choice field of art, how can you improve upon that or, at least, repeat the act?
Though he was nearly overwhelmed with a full schedule of touring and production for artists like newcomer Cheryl Lynn, as well as his sheroes Dionne Warwick and Aretha Franklin, Luther Vandross managed to meet the newly acquired label deadline for his sophomore project, Forever, For Always, For Love. One of the catchiest sounds on the radio in 1982 (and ever since for that matter) was the opening “Oh yeah!” and Luther's scatting kicking off the album on “Bad Boy/Having a Party.”
“Well alright!”
It was visual as your last house party whether you were the kid hoping to sneak out or the adults doing the bump at the party.
A blend of Luther’s brilliant original with Sam Cooke’s “Having a Party,” it was yet another testament to Luther’s gift of reworking cover tunes.
Packed with party talk and backing vocals you could hear smiles through, everyone within earshot was ‘at the party.’
It was a swing groove arrangement that would be revisited for years to come.
"She Loves Me Back" was an undeniable jam due not only to Marcus Miller's incredible bass work and Doc Powell's guitar, but Luther's adaptation and command in a funk pocket definitive to R&B 80's landscape. It was vocally rhythmic like "Never Too Much," but even more playful like nothing on Luther's debut.
“I bought her candy canes and dolls and flowers and I took her to Coney Island.
Now who could do more than that?”
Luther had found a way to engage even the younger audiences who may have suffered through their parents’ heavy rotation of the seven minute “House is Not a Home” throughout the previous year. With the lead-off and this one, now even they had some Luther to dig on.
The cover ballad this time was ambitious to say the least-a cover of the David Ruffin-led Temptations singing a Smokey Robinson penned classic, "Since I Lost My Baby." To handle the work of the Temps backgrounds however, Luther employed his entire background arsenal with the female tones pushing the harmonies.
In the hands of less capable arrangers, producers or vocalists, this would not be a recipe for success.
But Luther finds a way of making what would otherwise be a depressing lyric, light and even pleasurable. Clocking in under five minutes, it's simplistically sweet and enough to make even the most die-hard Temps fan appreciate Luther's rendition.
Unnerving to note, however, is upon its initial release Forever was panned by the critics, namely one Nelson George who in his “Too Much Luther” review wrote, “I’m disturbed by signs of creative stagnation…” and called much of the album “barely tolerable filler.” Perhaps George caught on to the fact that three of the sophomore release’s tunes were near carbons of tunes on his landmark debut. But "Bad Boy," "Once You Know How" and “She Loves Me Back” were definite upgrades from their mirrors, and if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. To use a quote of what George claimed "self-indulgent" title cut: "I'd be a fool to ever change if she says she loves the way I am."
Ignored by the less than favorable critics is the treasure found in the title cut and "Promise Me." Both starting with self-assessments that draw us more into Luther's conversational approach to balladeering, the former is a subtle, but effective marital ode caressed by sweeping string arrangements. It is patient, but not long-winded. The latter is a bit more stripped down-merely Luther, Marcus, Doc, Yogi Horton on drums and, of course, Nat Adderly Jr. on keys. No dramatic strings here and as with the title cut, no background assistance-just the confronting verse, reflective and hopeful bridges, and finally, the reeling plea of the chorus: "Promise me you'll leave me never, and that we'll be in love forever."
Luther seemed not only to deflect the sophomore slump, but to do it with ease and joy as opposed to succumbing to newly found pressure from all around. When up-tempo, it was a blast. When mellow it was serene, sanguine and adoring. Forever, For Always for Love compliments Luther's previous work like knife-to-fork and creates another staple position in the black music definitive jukebox.
