Released: December 1973
After the superlative success of I’ve Got So Much to Give, Barry White came along just eight months later with another album. Given the short turnaround on his own material plus producing Love Unlimited’s Under the Influence of… (released in the summer of 1973), White just coasted on replication here.
So, just like his debut, this album has five long songs topped off with a top-notch raunchy banger.
That bang-a-thon, “Never, Never Gonna Give You Up”, is livelier than it’s predecessor (“I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby”). Don’t get me wrong, they’re both full of energy, but “Never, Never Gonna Give You Up” overflows with pep. Freaky, freaky pep. There’s also a fantastic saxophone solo and White actually cackles and let’s out a whoop as the song fades out like he had tremendous fun making this eight-minute song.
Released in the fall of 1973 as the lead-up single to Stone Gon’, it reached #2 R&B, #7 pop, and #14 UK.
The other single was “Honey Please, Can’t Ya See”, which was the only song here to feature Love Unlimited on backing vocals. It did respectably (#6 R&B, #44 pop, #51 UK), but it’s definitely the weakest White solo single yet. Still good though! White’s admiration for Motown style production was still evident with the drum rolls and rumbling bass inspired by the Funk Brothers.
And that’s where the creativity, derivative as it is, kind of stops on this album.
The other three songs are really long ballads and a couple have really long titles; a Barry White staple. “Girl It's True, Yes I'll Always Love You” last 8:40. It’s a nice song but didn’t need to be nearly nine minutes.
“You’re My Baby” is the most basic Barry White song imaginable and easily the weakest thing here as it breaks the nine-minute barrier (9:12).
“Hard to Believe That I found You” is the best of these Other Songs. White takes his time with a three-minute spoken intro accompanied by a swooning sax. After singing for a mere 90 seconds, he goes back to rapping to his lady. I guess he was tired from the production work? Anyways, the outro is replete with some dreamy flute and more swooning sax. At 7:03 it’s economical for Barry White.
ALBUM GRADE: C+
The worst song on the album is also the longest. Bad juju since it just sits in the middle of this thing like a millstone. Nonetheless, another #1 R&B album for White that also hit pop top 20 and was certified gold. Still looking for those improvements, though, Barry.
Song Scores
Girl It's True, Yes I'll Always Love You: 6/10
Honey Please, Can’t Ya See: 7.5/10
You’re My Baby: 4/10
Hard to Believe That I Found You: 7/10
Never, Never Gonna Give You Up: 9/10