From: "Dik de Heer" 
Date: Fri Sep 30, 2005 1:33am
Subject: This Is My Story : Barrence Whitfield 	
  	
BARRENCE WHITFIELD

Born Barry White, 1955, East Orange, New Jersey

Barrence Whitfield has been hailed as the new Little Richard, also
as "the greatest singing voice of the past 20-plus years"**. He is
the owner of an incredible pair of lungs and limitless energy and
enthusiasm for his music, which is deeply rooted in early rock and
roll and the rhythm and blues from the 1950s and 1960s.
Barry White (his real name, no joke) spent his teenage years in New
Jersey, fronting various funk, rock and disco bands. Disappointed by
the lack of success, he closed the door on the music business and
headed for Boston to study journalism at Boston University. During
this time (the late 1970s) he supported himself by working in a used
record shop, where his inclination for singing along with records drew
crowds. It also got the attention of guitarist Peter Greenberg, former
member of the punk rock band the Lyres, who encouraged White to
return to performing. Greenberg brought along the basis of a backing
group (the Savages) in the form of disenfranchised Lyres. He also
unveiled his new moniker, Barrence Whitfield, since the world just
wasn't big enough for two Barry Whites.

Not long after, Barrence Whitfield (an Afro-American) and the Savages
(an all-white group) were the hottest act in Boston. Whitfield's vocals
and onstage antics drew on screamers like Esquerita, Screamin' Jay
Hawkins and Little Richard. The group released their spectacular debut
LP in 1984, simply called "Barrence Whitfield and the Savages". Much
acclaimed in the music press, it was a mix of originals and remakes
of early R&R screamers, like "Bip Bop Bip" (Don Covay), "Mama Get
Your Hammer" (Bobby Peterson) and "Georgia Slop" (Big Al Downing).
Almost an anachronism for 1984. "Dig Yourself" followed in 1985, more
or less in the same frenzied style, though occasionally a little more
polished. It is a short LP, with "Juicy Fruit", "Geronimo's Rock" and
"Breadbox" as the highlights.

By the time the third album was released, the Savages had been
replaced by a whole new band, and while the mania remained intact,
there was a concerted effort for smoother soul songs designed to show
off Whitfield's voice. While America was being apathetic to the Savages,
the UK was going wild for them. BBC disc jockey Andy Kershaw fell in
love with the band, taped a gig in Boston for air in Britain, and brought
the Savages over for a tour. The third LP, "Call of the Wild", with a version
of "Rockin' the Mule in Kansas" that is even wilder than Don Covay's
original, was a six-track 12-incher, released in the UK only (1987).
In the US it was retitled "Ow! Ow! Ow!" and expanded with five more
tracks recorded around the same time. "Live Emulsified" was a live LP
from 1988, a well-intentioned but unsuccessful attempt to capture the
legendary proselytic qualities of the band's concerts.

A growing European following led the French New Rose label to release
"Let's Lose It" (produced by Jim Dickinson) and "Savage Tracks" ( a mix
of live and live-in-the-studio takes and demos). Both have their moments,
but are not up to the standard of the first two incendiary LP's. New Rose
also reissued Whitfield's debut on CD.

With the Savages more or less idle, Barrence began working in a number
of other settings. He contributed tracks to Merle Haggard and Don Covay
tributes and recorded two albums with singer/songwriter Tom Russell.
This experience clearly afforded him an opportunity to work in genres
(country, for example) that had not been part of the Savages repertoire.
Further CD's were issued in 1993 ("Hillbilly Voodoo") and 1995 ("Ritual
of the Savages"). Not exactly SAO material.

In 1997, Whitfield began working with the Movers, a New Hampshire-
based blues octet. In 2005, he performed at the 4th Ponderosa Stomp
in New Orleans and at the Americana International weekend in Newark,
Nottinghamshire, UK. Of his act there, Ian Willis wrote in Now Dig This:
"You will never see anything quite like Barrence Whitfield in full flow.
The spirit of Screamin' Jay Hawkins is alive and well." (NDT 269, p. 4)

** http://www.worcesterphoenix.com/archive/music/98/11/20/ON_THE_ROCKS.html

Partly adapted from
http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=barrence_whitfield_and_the_savages
and http://www.findthefun.com/bands/lists/..%5Cb01%5Cb0012256.htm

Dik