Bobby Caldwell
(Read all about Bobby Caldwell after the video)
Robert Hunter Caldwell (born August 15, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter who recorded the hit single "What You Won't Do for Love".
Early life
Bobby Caldwell was born in Manhattan to Bob and Carolyn Caldwell, the hosts of Suppertime,
a television variety show. When he was twelve, he started playing piano
and guitar. Although he liked rock and roll, he could play jazz and
rhythm and blues. He played with his band in Las Vegas when he was
seventeen, then moved to Los Angeles, where he recorded the album Kathmandu.[1]
Recording career
Bobby Caldwell (What You Won't Do for Love)
Bobby Caldwell was signed to Miami label TK Records, home to many different kinds of musical acts: the pop-disco of KC & The Sunshine Band, the Latin-flavoured funk of Foxy, the down-home soul of George McCrae and his wife Gwen McCrae, and the futuristic, jazzy disco of Peter Brown.
For this label, Bobby recorded his self-titled solo album, scoring hits with the singles "What You Won't Do for Love",
"My Flame", "Can't Say Goodbye" and, in Britain, "Down for the Third
Time." In order to ensure significant airplay on the African
American-dominated R&B radio format of the time, Caldwell's management took certain steps – such as portraying the artist only in silhouette on the cover and in advertisements – to hide the fact that he was white. The secret was, for obvious reasons, shattered by his first live appearances.
After the tracks were first recorded and the record was considered "complete," TK owner Henry Stone said that he enjoyed the album but couldn't hear a hit.
Attempting to address this issue, Caldwell and his band re-entered the
studio, laying down the song's now-familiar rhythm tracks. After he
quickly penned a set of lyrics, "What You Won't Do for Love" was born.
Reaching the top ten on both the pop (#9) R&B (#6) AC (#10)
charts, the song proved to be a success, though a bit of a surprise one
due both to the haste with which it was written and the fact that
Caldwell assumed "My Flame", the LP's second track ("What You Won't Do
for Love" is the sixth), would wind up as the standout single. The album
which contained it was later re-released under the song's title. The
single was also marketed in the form of a distinctive red heart-shaped
45-RPM vinyl record for Valentine's Day (advertised as "the single that
gets to the heart of the matter"), now a collector's item frequently
seen on eBay.
Although the record is heart-shaped, the grooves on the vinyl, of
course, are round, even though the sleeve would lead one to think
otherwise. (The What You Won't Do for Love album also received a novelty release on yellow vinyl.)
While the original song still receives frequent airplay today, it has
been covered, re-made (once, in 1998, by Caldwell himself) and sampled
many times since 1978. Phyllis Hyman for her Living All Alone album, Go West's version rose high in the adult contemporary charts, and Boyz II Men's version in 2004, 2Pac's "Do for Love," which samples the lyric, also attained a good deal of popularity. Goldie covered it on his 1998 EP Ring of Saturn (the lyrics were sung by Diane Charlemagne). In 2007 it was given a funky house makeover by Central Avenue featuring Simon Green. In addition, "My Flame" was covered by actress/singer Vanessa Williams for her 1999 Greatest Hits CD and also sampled by Bad-Boy recording artist The Notorious B.I.G. and integrated into the song "Sky's the Limit"; which was also another major Rap/Hip-Hop
hit. Another version is to notice from Ricky Peterson in the 1990s. The
song was also heavily sampled on Oakland rap group The Luniz "Playa
Hata" single. Also sampled by Kool G Rap, in the song "Blowin Up in the
World". More recently John Legend's "Open Your Eyes" contains an interplotation of Caldwell's song. Renowned hip-hop producer Jay Dilla sampled Open Your Eyes for the popular Common song The Light released in 2000.
Cat in the Hat through August Moon
Caldwell's sophomore period involved the considerable task of following up such a staggering success as What You Won't Do for Love; during this time, his Japanese audience steadily eclipsed his American one. Cat in the Hat (1980) and Carry On
(1982), were artistic improvements upon the first album, but did not
match its commercial success. They were, however, bestsellers in Japan –
The Cat went platinum and Carry On gold—and sealed Bobby's reputation as a superstar in that country.
1983 saw Bobby Caldwell put out August Moon, a project bearing
a much more rock- than soul-oriented sound, in Japan only; it was
released in the United States in the 1990s.
Heart of Mine through Where Is Love
Though August Moon
went gold, Caldwell subsequently took a hiatus from recording, instead
directing his efforts toward composing songs for other performers, most
notably "Heart of Mine" for Boz Scaggs, "The Next Time I Fall" for Amy Grant and Peter Cetera, "Janet" for the Commodores, "Niagara Falls" and "What Kind Of Man Would I Be?" for Chicago, "The Real Thing" for Kalapana and "All or Nothing at All" for Al Jarreau.
In 1989 he contributed lead vocals to and co-produced "In the Name of
Love," a track on saxophonist Richard Elliot's album "Take to the
Skies."
Caldwell sold albums at a steady pace throughout the 1990s, producing 1991's Stuck on You, recorded with a 60-piece orchestra, and 1993's Where Is Love,
the latter having been recorded with musicians who had previously
played with Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett along with a 24-piece
orchestra.
During this period, the airplay of his music shifted from the declining R&B radio format to the then-nascent Smooth Jazz
stations. Caldwell is frequently cited as a staple of the genre, with
"What You Won't Do for Love" as well as lesser-known singles such as
"Real Thing," "All or Nothing at All" (both from Heart of Mine) still featuring prominently on programmers' playlists.
Soul Survivor through Come Rain or Come Shine
1995 saw the release of Soul Survivor,
marking a turn toward coverage of others' songs. Though a handful of
originals were present, the album was for the most part focused on,
appropriately, soul standards such as "Walk on By" and "Your Precious
Love".
He later turned to singing nothing but big band standards and original, yet big band standard-like songs (such as the much-promoted "Tomorrow") on 1996's Blue Condition and 1999's Come Rain or Come Shine. Blue Condition
was recorded in real-time, live with a sixty-piece string section and
twenty-piece jazz band in the same Capitol Records studios used by such
icons as Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and Bobby Darin. At this time, his
"I Get a Kick Out of You" was played on adult contemporary radio
stations, across the country, and was heard on national TV commercials.
Perfect Island Nights
In 2005, Caldwell released Perfect Island Nights,
his first album of mostly original studio material since 1993. The
record features a new version of "Rain", a track which made its debut on
his second anthology release, Time and Again, as well as versions of Phil Perry's "Perfect Island Night", "Where Is the Love" (rendered as a duet with Deniece Williams) and "Our Day Will Come". Guest players include saxophonist George Shelby and percussionist Russ Miller.
Bobby Caldwell Live at The Blue Note Tokyo
Caldwell's 2007 release of live standards on his own label, Starmine Records.
House of Cards
Released
on August 23, 2012 House of Cards, on Caldwell's Starmine Records label
is an eclectic mix of all new Caldwell originals. The first single,
"What About Me" features classic Bobby Caldwell vocals. Tracks on House
of Cards feature Dave Koz, Andrew Neu and David Horgan. Caldwell also
played a lot of guitar and bass on this album. It shows the many musical
facets of this long-time singer/songwriter.
After Dark
Released
in 2014 - Bobby Caldwell is back with a brand new album of big band
standards, which includes a new rendition of his own classic "What You
Won't Do For Love." "After Dark" features a 17 piece big band. With a
roster of notable sax band members over the years, namely Dave Koz,
Richard Elliot and Boney James, Bobby’s current sax sensation, Andrew
Neu, delivers an incredible arrangement of "The Most Beautiful Girl in
the World". Sinatra has no bigger fan than Bobby Caldwell. After Dark
includes some of the lesser known songs from The Chairman of the Board,
along with some notable hits like, "I Only Have Eyes For You" and "Come
Fly With Me." The album also includes "In The Wee Small Hours of the
Morning."
Film soundtracks
Caldwell has contributed music to a number of movies. He has both written and performed original songs for 1986's Back to School ("Educated Girl"), 1988's Mac & Me ("Take Me, I'll Follow You"), 1988's Salsa ("Puerto Rico") and its sequel ("Every Teardrop").
Songs penned by Caldwell but performed by others have appeared in films such as 1989's Ghostbusters II ("The Promised Land," performed by James "J.T." Taylor, the lead singer of Kool & the Gang) and 1987's Princess from the Moon ("Stay With Me," performed by Peter Cetera).
Due to what Caldwell has cited in interviews as a lower cost of use than the original recordings, his versions of big band standards have appeared in several films. Examples include 2002's LakeBoat and 2001's S1m0ne.
Caldwell also composed and performed "Don't Quit," the theme song for Body by Jake's workout video
of the same name. He also appears in the associated music video,
musically urging an actor portraying a weak young man to engage in weight training in order to defeat the bully of a local beach.
A clip from "What You Won't Do For Love" is heard in the movie Donnie Brasco, playing from the car radio.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments Are Moderated And Saved