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Gwen McCrae
Interview Pt. 1 | Interview Pt. 2

By 1976, things were going well for Gwen career-wise, but on a personal level, her life was a living hell. In March that same year, George and Gwen recorded together for the first time since the late sixties. In retrospect, the title "Winners Together, Losers Apart" seems tragically ill-fitting. The single climbed to #44 R&B and later that same year, a whole album of duets, "Together" was issued on Cat. It's an exquisite LP, with backing by some of T.K's top musicians; Benny Latimore, Timmy Thomas, George "Chocolate" Perry, Robert Johnson, Mike Lewis and Jerome Smith, among others. Most of the songs stem from Clarence Reid's pen and he and Steve Alaimo handled the production.
"There was this record, 'George and Gwen Together'. And the reason for that is that Henry Stone tried to salvage the little that we had. Henry thought that by him putting out an album together on George and me, that they would maybe bring us back together, but it didn't work. You can tell how unhappy I was by looking at the picture on the album. I was hurting, girl. You know when you're hurting, when someone's hurting you, you just can't do nothing . You feel helpless and you really feel like you look bad. I mean, I looked real bad. Down."

Gwen's sophomore LP "Something So Right" came out towards the end of 1976. The single, lifted from the album, was the funky "Damn Right It's Good" which was backed with "Love Without Sex". Both tracks carry that unmistakable "Clarence Reid trademark". Reid had a knack for composing songs that were full of sexual double entendres, yet they were never vulgar or blunt. "Damn Right It's Good" sounds like it had been written with a humorous twinkle in the eye. "I had the worst time singing 'Damn Right It's Good', Gwen recalled with a laughter. "I sang like 'darn right it's good, you better knock on wood', I could not sing 'damn right it's good'. And I still can hardly say it. It ain't me! And I told Clarence: 'don't ever write anything like that for me ever again because I can not, I refuse, to sing words like that. They didn't make me sing stuff like that no more. Now, songs like "Love Without Sex" and stuff like that, I didn't like singing it too much. See, that's for someone who's desperate to sing and I'm not that desperate or hungry that I would take something just to make the producer or record company happy. I can't do that. I have to be true within my own self. I 'd rather do songs like "Love Insurance", "Let's Straighten It Out", "Three Hearts In A Tangle" and "Winners Together, Losers Apart". Those songs has true meaning. I don't know nothing about love without sex. I'm not a writer, you know? I'm a deliverer. I sing it. I wanna deliver it in a message. And if I like it, that means I can relate. It touches me, because I've been there. But If I've never been there, then I can't sing that shit, I'm sorry."

"Damn Right Is Good" would be the last record Gwen cut for T.K. that charted, something which is a mystery, especially considering the fact that her fourth album, "Let's Straighten It Out", issued in 1978, today is considered one of Gwen's best and a Deep Soul classic. The title track was an answer to label mate Benny Latimore's original, which had been a #1 hit for him in 1974. In the usual T.K. fashion, Latimore supplied the keys on Gwen's splendid rendition. Included on the album were also Gwen's 1976 singles "Love Insurance" and "Cradle Of Love". Besides Clarence Reid and Steve Alaimo, another Southern Soul maestro had been brought in to vary the sound, namely songwriter and producer Frederick Knight, renowned for his excellent work with acts including The Controllers and Major Lance. (Incidentally, Knight would later go on to write the enormous "Ring My Bell" for Anita Ward). Knight was an artist in his own right too and had enjoyed a massive hit on Stax with "I've Been Lonely For So Long" in 1972. The entire side A of Gwen's LP was a Knight production and it's a record that encompass such outstanding cuts as "Starting All Over Again" -which Knight had originally penned for the Stax duo Mel & Tim in 1972- and Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered".

Gwen's final recording for T.K., "Melody Of Life", reached the record stores in 1979 and was produced by Betty Wright. The greater part of the songs were written by Betty in conjunction with her live band, Eternity, which also supplied the musical backing. Although "All This Love That I'm Giving" didn't raise any eyebrows, it would years later become a huge favorite in the U.K. and earn Gwen the "Queen of Rare Groove" title. Just before T.K. ran into the financial troubles that led to the company's bankruptcy, a poverty-stricken Gwen left the label and what's even more upsetting, was forced to sell her Florida home. "The house we had, I had to give it up, because George skipped the country to keep from paying child support and I had to raise the kids on my own. We got divorced in '76 or '77. That's when I had to move away, when I had to sell the house and everything. I moved to New York. I was out there, doing nothing, just chilling out, raising my kids and moving here and there. I was trying to get a record deal and I was doing work in different clubs on the strength of my material that I had out. 'Rockin' Chair' always worked."

Gwen was spotted at a showcase and was signed personally by Ahmet Ertegün, the chairman of the board at Atlantic Records. The debut single was written and produced by Kenton Nix, who also wrote the massive 1981 floor filler "Heartbeat" for Tanaa Gardner. "Funky Sensation", became an instant club favorite and raced to R&B #22 in September 1981. It was Gwen's biggest hit since "Love Insurance" from six years earlier. Gwen's eponymously titled LP was filled with high-quality, dance-Soul, such as "Poyson", a track co-written by Gwen."I hated 'Poyson' because my vocals wasn't right. I didn't sing it right. But people still like it. I'm just the singer and you know, sometimes the artists themselves don't know. Me and the producer, Kenton Nix, wrote that together and he gave me part of 'Poyson'." Gwen laughed and added; "I was like 'why couldn't he give me part of 'Funky Sensation' instead?"

The unabashedly funky 45 "Keep The Fire Burning", written by Willie Hutch, was launched in January 1982 and even though it charted, it didn't quite match "Funky Sensation" in terms of sales and airplay. A happy and healthy-looking Gwen smiled from ear to ear on the sleeve of "On My Way. Regrettably, it was overlooked, despite the fact that Gwen had never sounded better and that the material was much stronger than on her previous Atlantic LP. "On My Way" was produced by Webster Lewis who also played keyboards and synthesizer. A host of well-known musicians and writers contributed, such as Michael Wycoff, Nathan Watts, James Gadson, Fred Wesley, David T. Walker, Paulinho Da Costa and Leo Nocentelli. Willie Hutch also wrote the second single "Doin' It", yet another seriously funky song that never made it to the U.S. charts. Other stand-out cuts were Gwen's cover version of Ann Peebles' "I Didn't Take Your Man" and "Hang In". Gwen wrote the lyrics, which says a lot about what her feelings were.

"I love that album!" Gwen said. "I wrote "Hang In" on my air trip to California where I was going to cut that album. But I had to share the credits with somebody, because they helped me put it in perspective, you know?"

Gwen's stint with Atlantic was short-lived. After two, moderately successful albums, Gwen had enough of feeling neglected by the company and returned to her home state of Florida. She recorded one more single on a local label, which in May 1984 charted at R&B #83. "'Do You Know What I Mean' was a single I did on Black Jack Records. Then I went to another label over in England and did a song called 'Eighties' Lady', but it never did came out." Gwen paused and sang the chorus: "'I'm an eighties lady and I got my eye on you'. It was a bad song, though. It shoulda came out. After that, I got off the road and went to school for nursing. And I graduated and I was on the A student honor roll and all that good stuff."

In the mid-eighties, the phenomena known as "Rare Groove" -which is the equivalent of the U.S. "Old School Revival"- happened in the U.K. A growing number of British Soul fans rediscovered Gwen McCrae and the interest led her to re-record "Funky Sensation" on the Rhythm King label in 1987. That year, Gwen traveled to Britain for some club dates, only to learn that she was more loved in the U.K. than in her native America. The British even dubbed her "The Queen of Rare Groove." "When I went overseas, I didn't know people loved me so much. They really loved my old stuff and I had to go up there and sing 'All This Love That I'm Givin', which is a classic in Europe. And then "Funky Sensation" and "Keep The Fire's Burning" are also classics over there. Yeah, I was shocked! "

Gwen kept busy with shows in the U.K. and her 1996 single "Girlfriend's Boyfriend" was an underground success. The album of the same name, a collection of contemporary Soul, was recorded in Britain, initially as part of a deal with WEA Europe. That didn't work out, but eventually the CD was released on the U.K. indie Homegrown (distributed by Jet Star Records). Produced by Homegrown label boss Billy Osborne and Stevie "V" Vincent, the CD contained fresh versions of "All This Love That I'm Giving", "Funky Sensation" and "Keep The Fire Burning", plus several, stunning new tracks, such as "Pass It On" and "Anything You Want", written by Stevie Vincent, Billy Osborne and his wife Gee Morris. Incidentally, Billy is the son of Billy Osborne Sr. from the legendary funk group L.T.D.  On Homegrown, Billy Jr. also  issued Full Force's "Sugar On Top" album in 1995 and worked with Alexander O'Neal on his 1996, Europe-only CD "Lover's Again". Other highlights on "Girlfriend's Boyfriend" include the almost Solar-sounding "We've Got The Power", the jazz-flavored "Does It Matter" and Gwen's interpretation of Aretha Franklin's "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman"."After that, I started working at a radio station down here in Pensacola with retail sales for merchandise. I met a guy who was a DJ there, Robert "Funny D" Hill, and he knew of me because of my singing and he told Elliot Clark, the CEO of GoldWax records, about me."

Gwen signed with the Nashville, Tennessee-based GoldWax record label (distributed by Ichiban) and the result; "Psychic Hot Line", landed on the shelves in October 1996. The U.S. radio embraced the funky title track, which was picked as the first single. The album can only be described as superb and marks a welcome return to Gwen's deep Soul roots, with a touch of down-home Blues thrown in the mix, as well. Playing behind Gwen is something as rare as a live band and the material is made up of three new cuts; "The Snake That Hisses" (co-written by Gwen), "Your Kinda Loving Ain't Good Enough" and "Psychic Hot Line", plus several wonderful renditions of R&B classics, Solomon Burke's "Cry To Me" being one. "That's the Memphis sound," Gwen commented when I pointed out of well the songs suited her. "We had so much fun cutting that album. Just like I pick my dress out of the closet and put it on, that's how it was."

To the delight of Gwen's fans in the U.S. -who have faced obstacles in getting a copy of "Girlfriend's Boyfriend"- Ichiban, the label that distributed "Psychic Hot Line" and which Gwen signed directly to last year- re-packaged and released the album, which hit the streets in April of 1998.

Although Gwen McCrae's career hasn't been lined with Top Ten Hits, she's definitely proved to be one of the most consistent -and finest- exponents of the Southern "deep Soul" style of singing. The high quality we have come expect has continued through a run of brilliant singles and albums and Gwen will without a doubt make many new friends in the future, as well as please her old ones.
"The only time I'm really happy is when I'm on that stage. In front of my audience. Then I'm the happiest woman in the world. And there is nothing that nobody can say or do to make me unhappy, because I'm doing just what the Lord wants me to do; satisfy the people. Not the people that you recorded for and all of that. Satisfy that audience, 'cause they're the ones that love you, they're the ones that buy your records."
     
 

Recommended CD listening

© Maria Granditsky January 1997.
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