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Luther Vandross
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| New York, NY -- It's Luther Vandross' fifteenth album in a star-studded career filled with accomplishment and achievement and the much-anticipated follow up to his 2001's platinum-plus self-titled J Records debut. Self-penned and produced, his new album DANCE WITH MY FATHER finds the international superstar examining aspects of life, love and relationships "from different perspectives. The songs don't just have the 'I love you baby' theme."
The subject matter on the ten Luther-penned tunes on DANCE WITH MY FATHER (which features special guests Queen Latifah, Beyoncé Knowles, Foxy Brown, Busta Rhymes and Stevie Wonder) is distinctly personal, perhaps more than on any previous collection of Vandross songs. Luther notes, "I have been re-examining the way I write: I didn't want to say anything that was just nifty. I put down some thoughts that I've been having for a while in the songs on this album…"
The poignant, reflective title cut is a prime example. "Yes, recording that song was very emotional for me and yes, it is based on my own experience. I called my mother when I first started writing "Dance With My Father" to let her know about it and as soon as we had a first draft of it, I got it to her and she has played it literally every day since. It captures a particular place and suspends you in mid-air…it's my mother and my father dancing to some Baby Washington songs with me right there…and the memory of that moment has hovered around me throughout my life ever since."
After writing the song, Luther called Clive Davis: "I said I've written my 'career song,' my Grammy 'Song Of The Year' song! I want to make sure that everyone around me knows that I feel that way. If Sting or James Taylor wrote it, the people around them would understand how those artists would feel that way. I want the people around me to have that same enthusiasm and foresight; in other words, to recognize the song's worthiness, uniqueness, universal appeal and capability to touch ALL audiences."
The more tender, intimate side of love is evident in Luther's choice to update the 1978 Roberta Flack/Donny Hathaway classic, "The Closer I Get To You." Given the kind of Vandross reading that has turned other songs he's covered - like Dionne Warwick's "A House Is Not A Home" and The Carpenters' "Superstar" - into mandatory pieces in his 'live' performance repertoire, Luther's heartfelt version of the song with Destiny's Child's Beyoncé Knowles is pure magic. "I chose the song with Beyoncé in mind and she said 'yes,' when I asked her to record it with me," he recalls. "We flipped it - I'm singing Roberta's part and Beyoncé is singing the Donny Hathaway part - and working with her was one of the most pleasant experiences I've had. She worked real hard and I was impressed with her musicality: singing with her was like singing with one of the women I grew up listening to!"
Another call brought Oscar nominee Queen Latifah into the studio for "Hit It Again," a straight-ahead groove with a no-nonsense lyric: "I wanted somebody who tells it like it is, someone who could bring it on home. Latifah is so natural and even though I had only met her once before, we really hit off. It was like being in the studio with your cousin! And the lyric? Yes, it's explicit…and I'm grown!" Luther laughs.
Label mate Busta Rhymes added his own special touch to a re-working of Bill Withers 1977 "Lovely Day" which evolved during sessions for the album: "Marcus Miller was working on this track and I started singing pieces of "Lovely Day" and we made it into a new groove. I sent the track to Busta the day before he was due in the studio. The session was for 5:00pm. He walked through the door at 4:54pm and laid it on down. It was great working with him." Working with rap and hip-hop star Foxy Brown on the upbeat "If It Ain't One Thing," was "a downright party!" says Luther. "She creates an atmosphere that's so festive in the studio and she's so sassy! I love her, she's such a good spirit and we had a ball working on the song."
Tunes like "Right In The Middle" - with an all-star backup vocal unit that includes Cissy Houston, Tawatha Agee, Cindy Mizelle and Brenda White-King - is the kind of soulful tune the legion of die-hard Vandross fans have come to expect from this peerless vocalist. The album also includes "Buy Me A Rose," a revival of a Kenny Rogers tune, produced by Shep Crawford, "Once Were Lovers," which features Stevie Wonder's distinctive harmonica part and potential first single "Think About You," written and produced by Luther Vandross.
EMI publishes some of Luther's greatest hits of yesteryear... Here's a selection: ANY LOVE (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1988) US #1 R&B, #44 Pop, #12 AC,
UK #31
COME BACK (Vandross/Gamson)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1989) UK #53
DO YOU REALLY LOVE YOUR BABY (Vandross/Miller)
by The Temptations (Gordy/UME: 1986) US #14 R&B
DON'T WANT TO BE A FOOL (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1991) US #4 R&B, #9 Pop, #5 AC
DON'T YOU KNOW THAT*(Vandross)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1982) US #10 R&B
EVERY GIRL (WANTS MY GUY) (Vandross/Miller)
by Aretha Franklin (Arista: 1983) US #7 R&B
EVERY YEAR, EVERY CHRISTMAS (Vandross/Marx)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1995) US #32 R&B
FOR YOU TO LOVE (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1989) US #3 R&B
GET IT RIGHT (Vandross/Miller)
by Aretha Franklin (Arista: 1983) US #1 R&B, #61 Pop, UK #73
GIVE ME THE REASON (Vandross/Adderley)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1986) US #3 R&B, #57 Pop, UK #60
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1988 re-issue) UK #26
GOT A DATE (Vandross/Miller)
by Dionne Warwick (Arista: 1984) US #45 R&B
HEAVEN KNOWS (Vandross/Vertelney)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1993) US #24 R&B, #94 Pop
I CAN MAKE IT BETTER (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1997) US #15 R&B, #80 Pop
I GAVE IT UP (WHEN I FELL IN LOVE) (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1988) UK #28
I REALLY DIDN'T MEAN IT (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1987) US #6 R&B, , UK #16
I'LL LET YOU SLIDE (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1984) US #9 R&B
IT'S OVER NOW (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1985) US #4 R&B
JUMP TO IT (Vandross/Miller)
by Aretha Franklin (Arista: 1982) US #1 R&B, #24 Pop
LITTLE MIRACLES (HAPPEN EVERY DAY) (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1993) US #24 R&B, #62 Pop, #30 AC
LOVE ME RIGHT (Vandross)
by Aretha Franklin (Arista: 1982) US #22 R&B
MAKE ME A BELIEVER (Vandross/Adderley)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1984) US #48 R&B
NEVER TOO MUCH (Vandross)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1981) US #1 R&B, #33 Pop, UK #44
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1989 re-mix) UK #13
POWER OF LOVE (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1991) US #1 R&B, #4 Pop, #3 AC,
UK #46
PROMISE ME (Vandross)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1983) US #72 R&B
THE RUSH (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1992) US #6 R&B, #73 Pop, UK #53
SEE ME (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1987) UK #60
SHE WON'T TALK TO ME (Vandross/Evans)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1989) US #3 R&B, #30 Pop, #17 AC,
UK #34
SO AMAZING (Vandross)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1987) US #94 R&B, UK #33
by Gerald Albright (Atlantic: 1988) US #12 R&B, #42 AC
SOMETIMES IT'S ONLY LOVE (Vandross/Anderson)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1992) US #9 R&B, #9 AC
STOP TO LOVE (Andross/Adderley)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1987) US #1 R&B, #15 Pop, #7 AC,
UK #24
SUGAR AND SPICE (I FOUND ME A GIRL) (Vandross)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1982) US #72 R&B
THERE'S NOTHING BETTER THAN LOVE (Vandross/Anderson)
by Luther Vandross with Gregory Hines (Epic: 1987) US #1 R&B,
#50 Pop, #20 AC, UK #72
THIS IS FOR REAL (Vandross)
by Aretha Franklin (Arista: 1983) US #63 R&B
'TIL MY BABY COMES HOME (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1985) US #4 R&B, #29 Pop
TREAT YOU RIGHT (Vandross/Miller)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1990) US #5 R&B
WAIT FOR LOVE (Vandross/Adderley)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1985) US #11 R&B
YOU'RE MY CHOICE TONIGHT (CHOOSE ME) (Vandross/Miller)
by Teddy Pendergrass (Asylum/WSM: 1984) US #15 R&B
YOUR SECRET LOVE (Vandross/Vertelney)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1996) US #5 R&B, #52 Pop
*Heavy D & The Boyz sampled Luther's DON'T YOU KNOW THAT in their 1994 hit GOT ME WAITING.
Other EMI-pubished songs which were hits for Luther include:
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE (Harris III/Lewis/Devoe/Bivins)
by Luther Vandross & Janet Jackson with BBD & Ralph Tresvant (Perspective: 1992) US #1 R&B, #10 Pop, UK #2
HERE AND NOW (Steele/Elliott)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1989) US #1 R&B, #3 AC, #6 Pop (in 1990), UK #43 (in 1990)
IF THIS WORLD WERE MINE (Gaye)
by Cheryl Lynn with Luther Vandross (Columbia/Sony: 1982)
US #4 R&B
UNTIL YOU COME BACK TO ME (THAT'S WHAT I'M GONNA DO) (Wonder/Paul/Broadnax)
by Luther Vandross (Epic: 1984) US #5 R&B, #87 Pop
Biography courtesy of Alan Warner |
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| Dance With My Father |
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| Here And Now |
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| Don't Be A Fool |
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| Power Of Love |
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| Grammy in 1990 for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male for the Single "Here And Now" | | Grammy in 1991 for Best R&B Song for "Power Of Love/Love Power" Single | | Grammy in 1991 for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male for 'Power of Love' album | | Grammy in 1996 for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Your Secret Love" Track | | In 2000 Luther was honored with a special BET Walk Of Fame tribute. |
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