Teena Marie, RIP

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by BradOlson, Dec 26, 2010.

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  1. butch

    butch Senior Member

    Location:
    ny
    For the previously uninitiated or those who want to revel in her music once again,some old skool Lady T joints:

    I'm just a Sucker For Your Love With Slick Rick James:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqqTThwDqJE

    I Need Your Lovin' The 12 inch mix:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8RLxJ2Q8Pk&feature=related

    Behind The Groove:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i11R3mfTafQ

    Portuguese Love Live At The Beacon NYC in 2009 :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrfHg9VTA94

    The studio version of PL:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igcU_LBjX4I&feature=related

    Teena was partially of Portuguese descent BUT the tune was actually originally called Pittsburgh Love named thusly after an affair she had with someone from Pittsburgh...or at least I remember that's how the story goes. The tune shows off her jazzy and passionate side.
     
  2. butch

    butch Senior Member

    Location:
    ny
    Teena was Gail Gotti's godmother, she really was like a spiritual mother to her. Ali was her only biological child.
     
  3. labjr

    labjr Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA
    What voice she had. I loved her slow songs like "Out on a Limb" and "My Dear Mr Gaye".
     
  4. Kevin W

    Kevin W Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Cincinnati,Oh
    According to Rick James, the song was about him. They consummated their relationship during a tour stop in Pittsburgh, hence the original title of the song. I believe she changed the title because it sounded kind of silly.
     
  5. stuwee

    stuwee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson AZ
    I couldn't agree more sir! 'My Dear Mr. Gaye' was acheingly gorgeous, heartfelt and true to her spirit. That musical transition when she and the girls sing "you will always be around, around" into the saxaphone solo was just brilliant!

    To write, produce and do the string/horn arrangements so masterfully, whew! What a goddess!!

    Her liner notes on her Lps were inspired, some of the best I've ever read, I couldn't wait to get the cellophane off to read what she had to say :love:
     

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  6. tommy-thewho

    tommy-thewho Senior Member

    Location:
    detroit, mi
    Very sad news... Loved her 80's music... Great voice also..

    R.I.P. Teena
     
  7. NIKE SQ 460

    NIKE SQ 460 Just Do It...Daily!

    Location:
    westCOAST

    i saw her twice. the first time opening for prince in greensboro, NC in 1980. she had the audience in the palm of her hands from her first note and did two encores.

    her voice was truly powerful.
     
  8. butch

    butch Senior Member

    Location:
    ny
    She was trying to mask what had gone on so to speak... When Teena told the story it was a bit different and as I recall she didn't mention any names.....hence the mystery. Slick Rick mentioned that he admired her loyalty during his legal crisis time for lack of a better term. They weren't together anymore but still remained friends.
     
  9. NIKE SQ 460

    NIKE SQ 460 Just Do It...Daily!

    Location:
    westCOAST
    from ap:

    Teena Marie, known as 'Ivory Queen of Soul,' diesDec. 26, 2010, 11:29 PM EST


    LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Teena Marie's last album, "Congo Square," was titled after a historical meeting place for slaves in New Orleans, featured a tribute to Martin Luther King's widow and also song "Black Cool," written for President Barack Obama.

    No matter that Marie, 54, was white. The R&B legend revered and fully immersed herself in black culture — and in turn was respected and adored by black audiences, not only for her immense soulful talents, but for her inner soul as well.

    Bing: Teena Marie videos and photos

    "Overall my race hasn't been a problem. I'm a black artist with white skin. At the end of the day you have to sing what's in your own soul," she told Essence.com in an interview last year while promoting "Congo Square." That album would turn out to be her last.

    The self-proclaimed "Ivory Queen of Soul," whose many classic hits included "Lovergirl," Square Biz" and the scorching duet "Fire and Desire" with mentor Rick James, was found dead in her Pasadena home on Sunday at the age of 54. Authorities said her death appeared to be of natural causes.

    In an interview with The Associated Press last year, Teena Marie said she had successfully battled an addiction to prescription drugs; she had been performing over the last year.

    Also: In Memoriam: Remembering the stars we lost in 2010

    "The enduring influence of Teena's inspirational, trailblazing career, could only have been made possible through her brilliant song-writing, showmanship and high energy passion which laid the ground work for the future generations of R&B, hip-hop, and soul," said Concord Music Group chief label officer, Gene Rumsey. Concord's Stax Records released her last album.

    "We feel extremely fortunate to have worked with a visionary who changed music in indelible ways. Our deepest sympathies go out to her family, friends and of course, millions of fans around the world."

    Marie certainly wasn't the first white act to sing soul music, but she was arguably among the most gifted and respected, and was thoroughly embraced by black audiences, and beyond.

    Even before she started her musical career, she had a strong bond with the black community, which she credited to her godmother. She gravitated to soul music and in her youth decided to make it her career.

    Marie made her debut on the legendary Motown label back in 1979, becoming one of the very few white acts to break the race barrier of the groundbreaking black-owned record label that had been a haven for black artists like Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, the Supremes and Marvin Gaye.

    The cover of her debut album, "Wild and Peaceful," did not feature her image, with Motown apparently fearing black audiences might not buy it if they found out the songstress with the dynamic, gospel-inflected voice was white.

    "(Motown founder Berry) Gordy said that is was so soulful that he wanted to give the music an opportunity to stand on its own merit. Instead of my face, they put a seascape, so by the time my second album came out people were like, Lady T is white?" she told Essence.com.

    Marie was the protege of the masterful funk wizard James, with whom she would have long, turbulent but musically magical relationship.

    Marie notched her first hit, "I'm A Sucker for Your Love," with the help of James on that album. But the time her second album was released, her face was known — and on the cover of the record. But there was not a backlash — she would only get more popular on her way to becoming one of R&B's most revered queens. During her tenure with Motown, the singer-songwriter and musician produced passionate love songs and funk jam songs like "Need Your Lovin'," "Behind the Groove."

    Marie's voice was the main draw of her music: Pitch-perfect, piercing in its clarity and wrought with emotion, whether it was drawing from the highs of romance or the mournful moments of a love lost. But her songs, most of which she had a hand in writing, were the other major component of her success.

    Tunes like "Cassanova Brown" "Portuguese Love" and "Deja Vu (I've Been Here Before)" featured more than typical platitudes on love and life, but complex thoughts with rich lyricism. "Deja vu" was a song about reincarnation.

    And "Fire and Desire," a duet with James about a former couple musing about their past love, was considered a musical masterpiece and a staple of the romance block on radio stations across the country.

    Marie left Motown in 1982 and her split became historic: She sued the label and the legal battle led to a law preventing record labels from holding an artist without releasing any of their music.

    She went to Epic in the 1980s and had hits like "Lovergirl" and "Ooo La La La," but her lasting musical legacy would be her Motown years.

    Still, she continued to record music and perform. In 2004 and 2006 she put out two well-received albums on the traditional rap label Cash Money Records, "La Dona" and "Sapphire."

    James, who had a romantic relationship with Marie and also a long friendship, died in 2004. His death shook her so she said she became addicted to Vicodin, which she had been taking for pain, for about a year.

    But Marie said she successfully battled that addiction. In 2008, she talked about her excitement of being honored by the R&B Foundation.

    Marie was the mother of a teenage daughter who was budding singer; she would sometimes bring her daughter onstage to sing during her shows.

    In 2009, she celebrated 30 years in the recording industry, and planned for many more.

    "All in all, it's been a wonderful, wonderful ride," she told The Associated Press in 2008. "I don't plan on stopping anytime soon."
     
  10. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    Shocking news! RIP.
    :cry:
     
  11. ringosshed

    ringosshed Forum Resident

    Location:
    san diego
    She gave disco a good name. A tragedy she was never inducted into the RRHOF.
     
  12. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Not disco! She did not do disco! She did FUNK! She did R&B! She even did some jazz, but no disco!
     
  13. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Here is a sample of what I think is some of her best work. Here is a sample of the title track from her third Motown/Gordy album: http://db.tt/4K82w1M
     
  14. zebop

    zebop Well Known Stranger

    That's my favorite song of hers. What a great production and arrangement--and the sound.
     
  15. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    Let's not forget that she not only was a singer but she's a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and record producer. She produced all of her recordings from day one. She did many styles of music, all of which she included in her 12+ albums.

    As an artist, she is in an elite class with Prince, Stevie Wonder, Ray Parker, Jr., Rick James, and Paul McCartney. They did it all too!
     
  16. RIP, Teena
    :shake:
     
  17. carledwards

    carledwards Forum Resident

    She was a real talent and I enjoyed her music very much in the early eighties. Too bad she only had 54 years.
     
  18. Izozeles

    Izozeles Pushing my limits

    She was great, but you are going too far with your last paragraph. Anyway, it´s very, very sad news. Any idea of the cause of her death?
     
  19. Steve G

    Steve G Senior Member

    Location:
    los angeles
  20. Jeff H.

    Jeff H. Senior Member

    Location:
    Northern, OR
    "Irons In The Fire" is one of my faves too! Great album and her first entirely self produced work. A real tour de force. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
     
  21. butch

    butch Senior Member

    Location:
    ny
    Before that she worked with Richard Rudolph(Minnie Ripperton's husband and Maya Rudolph's dad) on Lady T. She co-wrote Behind The Groove with him! She looked both elegant and hot on the cover too:
     

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  22. butch

    butch Senior Member

    Location:
    ny
    Ummm growing up listening to so-called urban radio in the NYC area , Lady T is iconic. That's how she got the Cash Money people involved in releasing her music. She's not exactly an international superstar BUT she was beloved here in America with listeners of R &B,funk and Disco stations.... make no bones about it. I'm a musician who was extremely inspired in what she did along with the rest of the folks who played with her,especially Allen McGrier. She always referred to her "God given talent" and that was no rueful boast . She definitely had the goods.....

    Not to come across as being acerbic but all we know is that she died of a heart attack. Otherwise it's too early to tell without the benefit of a coroner's report.
     
  23. darkmatter

    darkmatter Gort Astronomer Staff

  24. dbmay75

    dbmay75 Funk & Guitar Junkie

    Very sad (shocked is a better word actually) to hear this, especially knowing that Aretha could be leaving us at anytime as well. In tribute I am adding my favorite cuts of hers to my iPhone - "Portuguese Love", "Fire And Desire" and "Square Biz". I'm sure she and Rick are singing up a storm right now.

    RIP Lady T

    Dan
     
  25. Elton

    Elton I Hope Being Helpful, Will Make Me Look Cool

    Location:
    Carson Ca.
    This is very sad. I saw Teena Marie at the L.A. County Fair this September. It was a great performance, most of the time the was on there feet, dancing.

    She seem to be playing with a renewed joy, that was a truly great, solid performance. It's sad that we don't get to see her Third Act.

    My prayers go out to her Family and her daughter.
     
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