*Soul singer Peabo Bryson has saturated the airwaves with his hit ballads for more than three decades.
He's been the male half of phenomenal duets with a veritable powerhouse hall of fame lineup of female singers including "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" with Roberta Flack, "A Whole New World" with Regina Belle, and "Beauty and the Beast" with Celine Dion - the latter two garnered him an Oscar and a Grammy each.
Of course the duets aren’t his only claim to fame. His greatest solo hits include the late 70s smashes "Feel The Fire" and “I’m So Into You”; the 1989 hit “Show and Tell,” and “Can You Stop the Rain” from 1991, among others.
The reason behind his longevity, Bryson explained, is simply just being himself. While that may sound like generic rhetoric, the singer told EUR’s Lee Bailey that staying true really is the key. And that trueness remains on his latest offering, “Missing You,” released early last month.
“I made an important decision very early in my career not to try to be anything that I’m not. I ended up living my life and being myself and not having to try to be someone I’m not or have to hold up to some perception that someone else has of me or someone else’s image or idea of me,” he said. “I think that that individuality has always been an intricate part of my music. And I’d like to think that the music represents not being alone in your thoughts or your feelings.”
Feelings are just what Bryson conveys in his music, and he’s become known as a balladeer. But the singer adds that he is still connected to uptempo beats and reminded that his very first hit was a disco anthem called “Do It With Feeling.” Still, somewhere along the way, it was his smooth sound and sincere lyrics that made him a star, but even so, he stayed grounded.
“After receiving critical success on my first album on a major label, we were sitting around in a boardroom trying to figure out what my image should be, and I just spoke up after listening to everybody for about 45 minutes and said, ‘Why don’t I just be myself?’ And some idiot at the end of the table said, ‘That’s a good idea. That would be different. When you’re sitting in Hollywood, real is not the first thing that comes to mind.”
Bryson said that he makes it a point to keep it real and stay grounded. Though he has major award statues and a musical resume that legends are made of, he explained that he still buys his own toilet paper – a practice that reminds him he is only human.
“One important thing for anybody aspiring to accomplish anything – especially if it has anything to do with success – is to never stop buying your own toilet paper. I need toilet paper. We all do, everyday. If you get it yourself, you’re dealing with the basic fundamentals of survival and humanness. It’s ok to believe in yourself and it’s ok to take yourself seriously, just not too seriously. And buying your own toilet paper keeps you from taking yourself too seriously.”
However, one thing Bryson does take seriously is his music. Hardly impressed with contemporary music stars, Bryson spoke out about the loss of musical history and the art of music itself.
“If we’re not careful – living in our disposable culture of disposable attitudes and our innate desire to be in vogue – then we’re going to obliterate our history as it’s being made. No one is fervent about preserving the history of our culture. If you took a poll in a particular age demographic, I’ll bet you couldn’t find 10 people who know who Sam Cooke is. And that’s history. In the Top 10, when there used to only be one chart, he would have three songs. Nobody’s done that since. That’s an extraordinary and tragic story that has not been told. And who is a great singer now?” he challenged. “A great singer today is really judged by the marketing plan.”
Bryson continued that there is a market for people who are actual musicians, branding the current hitmakers simply as entertainers.
“It’s not that there’s no demographic audience for people who write real songs and who are musicians who are not putting their name on songs that they did not write. You can’t compose if you can’t play,” he reminded. “Now, people will forgive bad notes even mediocre music. And if you’re a young and up-and-coming artist and you write in a real song format, then you’re unique.”
The singer/songwriter’s familiar uniqueness is apparent on his new CD, his 20th release. He describes it as a combination of the old and the new, but adds that the album is full of more of what he is famous for, and what Bryson fans have been missing during his eight year hiatus.
The title track is another poignant ballad about missing someone, whether it be from the natural transition all humans make or a move in a new direction without that other person.
“They lyrical content was very special and it was a great metaphor for any of those circumstances where it was about anybody on any level,” Bryson said of the track. “I lived with it for a while and then decided it was something I needed to communicate. There’s not a lot of accompaniment with it at all. It was an opportunity for me to have my voice to be heard in a unique way. It was a great vehicle for my voice to shine in another way and an opportunity to showcase that which God has given me.”
As soon as the single was released, it became an instant hit on the overseas military airwaves and was quickly embraced by those serving in Iraq and their families, becoming somewhat of an anthem for soldiers.
“I’d like to think that it’s a representation of the entire CD project. The CD project is not as good as it could have been or it could be and that means that I still have miles to go, but it is an exceptionally good project. I think it’s the right step,” he said.
This new project comes eight years since his last album. The obvious questions is why'd it take so long?
“It takes eight years to find someplace that is the right place. It’s got to be the right thing at the right time. And it’s only going to get better.”
For more on Peabo Bryson’s new disc, “Missing You,” go to www.Peak-Records.com.
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