THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.
560-Barry White-You See the Trouble with Me.
1976-Number 2 single.
Best Bit-At 2.28. Barry White was affectionately nicknamed ‘The Walrus of Love,’ I would imagine that he had at least 20 master bedrooms, and 10 refrigerators in his love nest.
Barry White (see also best songs 560 and 476) was born Barry Eugene Carter, on September 12th, 1944, in Galveston, Texas, United States, he died at ‘Cedars-Sinai Medical Center,’ in Los Angeles, on July 4th, 2003, at the age of 58. Barry White had been overweight for all of his adult life, and suffered from related health problems. While undergoing dialysis, and waiting for a kidney transplant, he suffered a severe stroke, which he never recovered from.
Barry White had one of the most distinctive singing voices in ‘Pop Music,’ he has recalled how it suddenly deepened when he was around the age of 13 or 14. ‘As a child, I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man.’ He has also said, ‘I woke up one morning when I was 14. I spoke to my mother, and I scared both of us.’ Having a career as a singer was not Barry White’s intention when he started out in music. His first ventures were in songwriting, and producing, with his first major success being his co-write with the American songwriter Paul Politi of the the song ‘I Feel Love Comin’ On,’ which reached Number 11 in the UK in 1967, when recorded by Felice Taylor (1944-2017.) In 1972 he took over the handling of the female vocal trio ‘Love Unlimited,’ and in 1973 he created the 40 piece orchestra group ‘The Love Unlimited Orchestra.’ His next task was to find a male singer, but after recording demos, he was persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was reluctant at that time to perform on stage.
The discography of Barry White, who with record sales in excess of 100 million, is one of the best selling recording artists of all time, includes, 20 studio Albums released between 1973-1999, and 60 singles released between 1963-2000, there are also 19 official compilation Albums available, that have been released between 1974-2010. In America on the Billboard Hot 100, 11 of his singles have reached the top 40, with ‘Can’t Get Enough of Your Love Babe,’ making the Number 1 spot in 1974, he has also had a further chart entry as one of the featured artists on the 1990 track ‘The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite’) by Quincy Jones (1990-Number 31.) In the UK, Barry White has had 16 top 40 hits, with ‘You’re the First, the Last, My Everything,’ reaching Number 1 in 1974.
‘You See the Trouble with Me’ was the second of three singles released from Barry White’s fifth studio Album ‘Let the Music Play,’ from January 1976, in America on Billboard the song failed to chart, but it did reach Number 2 in the UK. ‘You See the Trouble with Me’ was co-written by Barry White and Ray Parker Jr., with the production being by White. Ray Erskine Parker Jr. who was born on May 1st, 1954, in Detroit, Michigan, United States, first gained recognition during the late 1960’s as a member of Hamilton Bohannon’s (1942-2020) (see also best songs 626 and 46) house band at the ’20 Grand’ nightclub in Detroit. The venue often featured ‘Motown’ acts, one of which was the (Detroit) Spinners, (see also best songs 834) who were impressed by the young guitarist’s skills, and added him to their touring group. Parker would then go on to be employed as a studio musician as a teenager for ‘Holland-Dozier-Holland’s,’ ‘Invictus,’ and ‘Hot Wax’ record labels. It was in 1973 that he became a hired musician in Barry White’s ‘Love Unlimited Orchestra.’ Ray Parker Jr. has gone on to release six solo studio Albums between 1982-2006, and 20 solo singles between 1982-1999. In 1991 he formed the group ‘Raydio,’ releasing four studio Albums between 1978-1981, and 12 singles within the same time period. But of course Ray Parker Jr. will always be best remembered for writing and performing the 1984 American Number 1, and UK Number 2 single ‘Ghostbusters.’
‘You See the Trouble with Me’ is one of three songs on this ‘Best 1000 Songs’ list that appear twice in recordings by different artists (see also best songs 931-863-214-145 and 112.) In the year 2000, the ‘Dance Music’ producer ‘Black Legend,’ took his version of ‘You See the Trouble with Me’ to Number 1 in the UK, and like the Barry White original it too sold around 200,000 copies in the UK (see also best songs 931.)
‘I’m like a blind man who lost his way, I can’t see nothin.’ I’m like a deaf man who can’t relay, yeah, I can’t hear nothin.’ You see the trouble with me, I can’t do nothin’ without my baby, and as plain as can be, It’s gonna drive me crazy.