djzyonseven
This song right here is in my top R&B 20 slow songs of all time.
And that’s not easy to get onto this list.
It’s just an incredible mastery of art.
Quincy was smart about how he built the song.
Barry White = deep, mature, commanding sensuality…
Al B Sure = youthful swagger and New Jack Swing smoothness…
James Ingram = emotional romance and warmth…
El Debarge = soft vulnerability and tenderness…
It starts out with that smooth Barry White intro. He could have just spoken through the whole song.
I wouldn’t have minded.
My boy Al B Sure comes in with that silky, sexy vocal after Barry.
Then James Ingram, his voice is so effortless and smooth.
Then El Debarge comes in with that easy, sensuous flow.
And finally, Barry comes back and graces us with those deep vocals. That baritone!
And vocally…
Everybody understood the assignment.
Nobody oversang.
Nobody fought for attention.
Quincy directed the song like a movie producer directing actors in a scene.
Every voice represented a different type of man, a different type of seduction, a different emotional texture.
That’s why the song feels so cinematic and intimate at the same time.
The song is a masterpiece.
A true masterclass.
What makes this record a slow-jam classic is how carefully
Quincy engineered every emotion in it.
What else would you expect from Quincy? No one can put a song together like him.
The track appeared on Quincy’s legendary 1989 album Back On The Block.
An album that blended generations of Black music together.
Jazz. Hip-Hop. Soul. R&B. New Jack Swing.
Quincy was doing “musical multiverse” work before people even talked like that.
Also… grown folks KNOW this song.
If you heard this come on after 10 PM back in the day on Quiet Storm radio.
This wasn’t music for the club.
This was music for dim lights, soft conversations, and long kisses.
Babymaking music.
And honestly…
They do not make records like this anymore.
This song lives on my QuietStorm Playlist.
It’s a Go-To for those horizontal moments.
I’ve used this song countless times over the years.
PS…
Yes, I know about The Secret Garden Remakes:
1996 – Saxtress – feat Pamela Williams, Pat Peterson, Patti LaBelle, and Teena Marie
2010 – Q: Soul Bossa Nostra- feat. Usher, Robin Thicke, Tyrese, LL Cool J, Tevin Campbell, Barry White
I wasn’t going to talk about them because I had nothing nice to say.
I choose the original!
All day!
djz7
#QuincyJones #TheSecretGarden #SweetSeductionSuite #BarryWhite #JamesIngram #ElDeBarge #AlBSure #QuietStorm #RnB #ClassicRnB #SlowJams #SoulMusic #TheSoundtrackOfWhoIBecame #WhatImListeningToRightNow
