All-Time Greatest Hits

by Barry White

Overview

It took quite a while for a definitive Barry White compilation to hit the market, but All-Time Greatest Hits -- part of Mercury's Funk Essentials series -- finally filled the bill in 1995. Boasting a full 20 tracks from White's heyday of 1973-1978, more than half of which made the R&B Top Ten, All-Time Greatest Hits is easily the most generous single-disc White collection on the market. It includes the edited single versions, not the full-length album tracks, which actually makes for a more digestible introduction to White's achievements. Like his forebear Isaac Hayes, White was not just a deep-voiced crooner, but a talented producer and arranger who'd spent years honing his craft behind the scenes in the industry. And like Hayes, White spent a great deal of time setting up moods on his albums, using lush, sweeping orchestrations to build very gradually to climaxes. (Actually, that probably explains a good deal of his effectiveness.) But White was not simply a Hayes disciple; his swirling productions were less complex than Hayes', but more in tune with the emerging disco sound, which certainly boosted his popularity. Plus, he took full advantage of R&B's new lyrical permissiveness in the wake of Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On. If his voice was limited, it was also a tremendous asset for the kind of music he recorded -- deep, resonant, caressing, but always suggestively masculine. The total package made White an R&B love-man icon not just for the disco era, but all time. For all but the most dedicated fans, All-Time Greatest Hits is one-stop shopping. ~ Steve Huey

Product Details

Release Date:	06/07/1994
Label:	Mercury / Island/Def Jam / Universal Music
UPC:	0731452245922
Rank:	2168

Tracks

1. Love's Theme
2. I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Baby
3. I've Got So Much to Give
4. Never, Never Gonna Give You Up
5. Honey Please, Can't Ya See
6. Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe
7. You're the First, the Last, My Everything
8. What Am I Gonna Do With You
9. I'll Do for You Anything You Want Me To
10. Let the Music Play
11. You See the Trouble With Me
12. Baby, We Better Try to Get It Together
13. Don't Make Me Wait Too Long
14. I'm Qualified to Satisfy You
15. It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me
16. Playing Your Game, Baby
17. Oh, What a Night for Dancing
18. Your Sweetness Is My Weakness
19. Just the Way You Are
20. Satin Soul

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Barry White   Primary Artist,Vocals,Conductor
The Love Unlimited Orchestra   Primary Artist
Gene Page   Conductor

Technical Credits

Peter Sterling Radcliffe   Composer
Vance Wilson   Composer
Peter Radcliffe   Composer
Tony Sepe   Composer
Sterling Radcliffe   Composer
Austin Croom Johnson   Composer
Austin Burnett Johnson   Composer
Smead Gaughan Hudman   Composer
Billy Joel   Composer
Barry White   Composer,Producer
Ekundayo Paris   Composer
Nelson Pigford   Composer
Ray Parker, Jr.   Composer
Burt Bacharach   Composer
Harry Weinger   Producer
Frank Kejmar   Engineer
Gene Page   Composer
David Ritz   Liner Notes