It was no real surprise when
Barry White's 1973 debut LP, I've Got So Much to Give, rocketed to the top of the
r&b charts in April. The sound of whispered voices, half-empty champagne bottles, and rumpled satin sheets, its seamless blend of lush instrumentals and rich, deep vocal numbers was delivered with a suave coolness that shook up the mores of traditional '60s-style
soul and turned it into something so sexy that blush and groove vied for the same space. The album is built around the massive "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby," which scored
White both his first charting single and his first ever number one -- and remains, for many, the song to which
White's style is indelibly inked. With just a little
funk behind the strings and keys, it's
White's quietly-spoken declaration of love-without-innuendo that completes the mood, long before he turns to verse and chorus. Silly, perhaps; thrilling, definitely; and titillating -- it depended on who you spoke to. "I've Got So Much to Give," the follow-up hit, follows that format -- of course it does. But the novelty of
White's approach, coupled with the universality of his subject matter, ensured that there was no sense of having heard it all before. Indeed, even with two such groundbreaking songs to lead the way, the three remaining tracks only maintain the mood and prolong the pleasure, completing a concerto that spans the full gamut of romantic emotion -- an astonishing "Standing in the Shadows of Love," the yearning "Bring Back My Yesterday," and the absolutely joyful "I Found Someone." Together, too, they amount to some of the purest, easiest material
White ever recorded. ~ Amy Hanson, All Music Guide
