Barry White has been to the top of the charts an admirable number of times, but only one of his hits was a ballad (a studio effort for the Quincy Jones album Back on the Block that included El DeBarge, James Ingram and Al B.
Sure!).
However, as a solo artist, White has never had a ballad usurp the number one spot on the Billboard charts.
The Icon Is Love's featured release fills that void.
"Practice What You Preach," which unites the maestro with producers Gerald LeVert and Edwin Nicholas, has a simmering arrangement, evocative lyric, and White's brawn delivery.
The catchy melody and sensuous female backing vocals enhance this already stellar single.
It stayed on the Billboard R&B charts for 30 weeks and had a consecutive three-week run at number one.
White showcases his seductive, bassy baritone with romantic rap introductions on most of the selections.
There is a balance of uptempo and balladic songs.
The other two featured releases were "Come On" and "There It Is." The former is reminiscent of his days as the king of disco-swing, and the latter is a contemporary funky ballad.
Respectively, they tipped in at 12 and 54.
White, who is credited as producer and writer on every selection, embraces the savvy writing talents of industry veterans Barry Eastmond and Michael Lovesmith, and the keen production skills of Chuckii Booker (his godson), Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and Jack Perry.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Practice What You PreachBarry White | Barry White | Play | 05:58 | 13 MB | 38 MB |
| 2 | There It IsBarry White | Barry White | Play | 07:04 | 16 MB | 41 MB |
| 3 | I Only Want to Be with YouJames Harris III, Terry Lewis, Barry White | Barry White | Play | 05:01 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 4 | The Time Is RightChuckii Booker, Barry White | Barry White | Play | 05:46 | 13 MB | 40 MB |
| 5 | Baby's HomeBarry J. Eastmond | Barry White | Play | 08:19 | 19 MB | 50 MB |
| 6 | Come OnJames Harris III, Terry Lewis, Barry White, James "Big Jim" Wright | Barry White | Play | 05:50 | 13 MB | 35 MB |
| 7 | Love Is the IconJack Perry, Barry White | Barry White | Play | 04:37 | 10 MB | 27 MB |
| 8 | Sexy UndercoverJack Perry, Barry White | Barry White | Play | 04:52 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 9 | Don't You Want to KnowMichael Lovesmith, Barry White | Barry White | Play | 06:51 | 15 MB | 39 MB |
| 10 | Whatever We Had, We HadMichael Lovesmith, Barry White | Barry White | Play | 10:40 | 24 MB | 59 MB |
| 65 mins | 148 MB | |||||
| 65 mins | 396 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gerald Albright | Guest Artist, Saxophone |
| 2 | Chuckii Booker | Composer, Drums, Keyboards, Programming |
| 3 | Core Cotton | Vocals (Background) |
| 4 | Barry J. Eastmond | Composer |
| 5 | Carrie Harrington | Vocals (Background) |
| 6 | James Harris III | Composer |
| 7 | Jimmy Jam | Guest Artist |
| 8 | Terry Lewis | Composer, Guest Artist |
| 9 | Michael Lovesmith | Composer |
| 10 | Tony Nicholas | Drums, Keyboards, Programming |
| 11 | Jack Perry | Composer, Drums, Keyboards, Programming |
| 12 | Libby Turner | Vocals (Background) |
| 13 | Barry White | Composer, Keyboards, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals |
| 14 | James "Big Jim" Wright | Composer |
| 15 | Jimmy Wright | Vocals (Background) |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |