Gold: Barry White

Barry White is the Chivas Regal of Soul: his work is high-class, velvet-smooth and deliciously intoxicating from the plush rumble of his baritone vocals to the tingling elegance of his orchestrations. White’s mastery of aural seduction is thoroughly documented on Gold, an extra-generous helping of his best-known songs along with key second-tier tunes. During his ‘70s prime, this singer/composer/arranger surrounded his erotic entreaties with immaculately-tailored strings, underscored by rippling grooves and swooping keyboard flourishes. The titles tell it all — from 1973’s “I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little Bit More Baby” through 1978’s “Your Sweetness is My Weakness,” White never strayed far from the bedroom. As leader of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, he let his music carry the message on hits like “Love’s Theme” and “My Sweet Summer Suite.” White did change with the times, slimming down his arrangements and turning up the funk content in “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me,” “Sho’ You Right,” and similar later hits. By the ‘80s, White had taken on mythic proportions as the embodiment of disco-era excess, but this collection makes the case that Barry’s artistry was more than mere sweet talk.