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Leon Ware: Moon Ride (Mozilla users may need to press "play" to start clip) Ware There's A Will By Jeff Lorez, (c) 2008, Soul Music.com Legendary soul icon, Leon Ware has survived and flourished in over five decades of music making. He reflects on his career and life, the artists he has worked with and his philosophy for longevity on a notoriously fickle industry... Leon Ware, respected songwriter and producer of some of soul music’s most coveted recordings is in a somber, reflective mood. Three days prior to our conversation the world of black entertainment lost two of its most celebrated sons. On Friday August 9th comedian Bernie Mac passed from pneumonia and then two later Isaac Hayes passed. The latter served as a particularly poignant reminder for Ware, who himself has battled cancer and lost a daughter to the disease that life is often too short so you better make the most of it. It’s why Ware, now well into his late ’60’s and who was declared legally blind from the ages of four to seven before his sight returned, is still writing and recording, still touring and still declaring himself relevant to a major record label (Stax/Concord/Universal) over two decades after his last major label outing. His latest collection, “Moonride” is trademark, smooth, soulful, romantic Ware, the kind of music that helped Ware craft his most noted recording, Marvin Gaye’s historic “I Want You” album in 1976. However, that album alone doesn’t do Ware, who remains largely unknown outside specialist soul music circles justice. Born In Detroit, MI in 1940 it was natural that Ware would find his first home at Motown, writing for the likes of the Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, The Miracle, Kim Weston and Isley Brothers. Writing for Ike & Tina Turner’s 1971 album “‘Nuff Said” for United Artists landed Ware a solo deal at the label resulting in 1972’s self titled debut album, though his vocal career actually began 12 years earlier in 1960 with ABC Records. However, Motown would provide Ware some of his most memorable successes. In the early ’70’s he formed a collaborative partnership with Diana Ross’ younger brother Arthur “T-Boy” Ross resulting in Michael Jackson’s “I Wanna Be Where You Are” (from the "Got To Be There" album) and of course, Marvin Gaye’s historic “I Want You”. Further collaborations throughout the decade with the likes of Minnie Riperton, AWB, Donny Hathaway, Quincy Jones, the Miracles, Bobby Womack. Despite the critically acclaimed solo album in the ’70’s “Musical Massage” Ware never realised the success as an artist that he received as a writer for others. What, perhaps, though is most compelling about Ware’s story is the longevity of his songwriting career. On into the ’80’s and ’90’s he has received songwriting credits for the likes of Loose Ends, Jeffrey Osborne, Teena Marie, James Ingram, Isley’s, Chico Debarge and Maxwell (“Sumthin’ Sumthin’”). Then with the advent of hip-hop and sampling his back catalogue providing him with a cottage industry as the likes of Ice Cube, 2Pac, Montell Jordan, Tribe Called Quest and Aaliyah all used snippets of his songs. As I talk to Ware, he is reflective over his extensive five decades of work but I also gained a sense that his was acutely aware and thankful of his ability to still be doing this when so many of his musical contemporaries are not able to. Jeff Lorez: Did you know Isaac Hayes? Leon Ware: I met him once briefly many years ago. He recorded a song of mine called “Rolling Down The Mountainside”. It’s a harsh reminder of just how precious our lives are and how we really have to make the most of the time we are here. Bernie Mac, too. These people are really the messengers of life. Their art is their message. If there’s any beauty in the transition it is that they are not gone. Their spirit lives on. JL: You’ve obviously surpassed a lot of your contemporaries. Musicians from a certain era lived notoriously unhealthy lifestyles. Were you or are you now health conscious? LW: I had my years in the ’70’s - if you were around then, you know what went on, so I won’t elaborate on that. I lost a daughter 4 years ago to cancer. I had a cancer operation 2 years ago and I continue to be clear. My health according to my doctors is triple A. I say my prayers every single morning and I look forward to he challenges that are in front of me and I don’t take any moment for granted. Endurance has a lot to do with genes. Some people do everything - smoke drink whatever and are still here. I stopped all substances other than a glass of wine and a joint every now and again. Everything I do my doctor approves of. Having had some of the worst experiences of anyone’s life and my heart goes out to anyone who has experiences the transition of a sibling. There’s nothing worse. It took me a year to recover from that. JL: You’ve also seen the music industry change dramatically, especially in the last few years. LW: What the future holds is that the record label will just be the bank for the creative people. The independent artist moving is growing everyday. Now the internet has taken away the strangle hold labels had. As an artist your hands are no longer tied. You have access to immediately reach a global audience. JL: It’s ironic that in an era where you don’t really need a label any more you have gone in the reverse direction and signed with a label after many years of not being with one. LW: There was a song I did called “Loceans” a few years ago with producers Kenny Dope and his co-writer Selan and it was meant to be for a compilation. From that time to now it’s been 2 years. From that we decided we would do a totally new album when I revisited some of my older recordings that I'd been working on. I’m blessed that I’m constantly around younger people that inspire me and vice versa. The new album really came from that. JL: And it’s really a classic sounding Leon Ware album in as much as it’s very musical and melodic. LW: I come from an era when we paid homage to a word called musician and the idea of what a song was. We looked at our predecessors and people before us and appreciated the essence of what came before us. Unfortunately I think this era is missing that sense of appreciation. Even on a basic level they don’t honor their parents the way we did. JL: An art form that many people would feel is the antithesis of what you’re about, hip-hop, has embraced your music so strongly over the years. LW: I love the fact that I have been sampled all over the place from the biggest to the smallest have sampled me. It’s given my work a new life. However, myself and my publishers have had to turn many of them down when we felt they weren’t in line with where we were coming from. Hip-hop touched a nerve of the streets and the people that wanted to be in the streets or were always in the streets. In that process in became a very big money maker. From ’85 to now there was so much money being made from such a small investment and the business really took over the art form. The music lovers have been starved to death. JL: How did you first get into the music business? LW: I didn’t get into music. Music got into me. It took me until I was 21 years old. Coming from the streets and having pimps and ho’s as the people I idolized at 7 or 8 years old. I realized that if you took that same mind and gave it a different place to grow, that individual could be great in any arena. In my life I was a ghetto kid that had some talent. Had I not had a dream 19 years old, I’d still be in the streets. JL: What was the turning point: LW: Leaving Detroit! I came back in 1962 and ran into Lamont Dozier. Motown was just getting off the ground. We hadn’t seen each other in 3 or 4 years. We used to have group together called the Romeos. We actually went to school together. I quit school at 16. I didn’t see Lamont again ‘til I heard of a group called the Supremes. I wrote a song “Got To Have You Back” in 1963. It came out in 1964 and it was my first gold record on the Isley Brothers. It never stopped after that. I worked with so many different artists. My vocal career started in 1960 with United Artists. I didn’t get another break as a singer for 15 years after that because I was getting so many calls to write as opposed to sing. JL: Of course your most famous collaboration was with Marvin Gaye and his “I Want You” album. I’m sure it’s a story you’ve told many times over but can you indulge me for people who are intrigued about the collaboration? LW: Marvin and me were very much on the same page in terms of likes and dislikes first from a musical standpoint. I felt cheated because we were supposed to do at least 2 or 3 more complete projects likes we did. The way it happened was like a calling. We couldn’t have planned it. We did something that wasn’t work. The album was completed when I met Marvin. Marvin heard it through the wall of the studio and came through and had a listen for the complete evening into the sunrise. Other than “I Want You” it was 100% done as an album for me that I called “Comforts”. My voice was on there. It would have been a hit because the songs were so good but with Marvin’s voice on it, it became a classic. I just wish we would have had 2 or 3 more times to repeat that. When he heard the album for the 3rd or 4th time he turned around and said, “I’d like to do this whole album”. He was gettin’ ready to walk through the door. I said Marvin, “That’s a great idea, man but Berry would never let that happen”. He had a smirk on his face and he turned around and said to me, “We won’t tell him until it’s done”. The way it went we were in the studio for a good 5 or 6 months but no one showed up until about 6 months later, then a couple of spies came through and we didn’t hear from anybody again until another 4 or 5 months. The album took completely 15 months. JL: Why did it take so long after you’d already written and recorded most of the album? LW: Marvin would come to the studio to sing and we’d wind up spending the afternoon playing basketball. We did that, partying. Also Marvin was stickler on how he sang and he’d do different takes. That was good in one sense and bad in another. It would drive me and Art Stewart the engineer insane because he’d sing phrases and say, “Oh I can beat that” and it would sound incredible to us. Our mouths would drop open. But then he would sing it again and would beat it. He had no time limit. When we worked we worked when he felt like it. There’s nothing like having the freedom to work when the spirit calls. When I worked with Quincy, Marvin and Minne - those 3 times in my life were artists where the company said ‘do what you guys do. We got your back’. JL: How did you working with Quincy Jones come about? LW: He’s one of my mentors. He’s one of the most learned men you’ll ever meet. He’s a walking encyclopedia. He looks like an average Joe. He reads everything. He had a person on his staff whose job it was to find new books and new information about music. He has an air about him that makes you feel right at home. It was a song called “If I Ever Lose This Heaven” that Quincy had heard and wanted to do the song. After 2 or 3 months went by I heard he wasn’t going to cut it and I was very let down. A guy I knew who worked at A&M was getting ready to go over to Quincy’s house. I ran into him on the lot and he asked me if I wanted to come along. I got to house and got out of the car. Q says, “Is that Leon Ware? Oh man I was just thinkin’ about you and that song that you wrote.” He took me into his music room and locked the door. He didn’t let me leave for almost 2 weeks. We worked on that song. Then there was another movie he was doing. He left the room and was talkin’ to his wife Peggy Lipton. I started playing the piano. He said, “what’s that”, It was the opening chords to “Body Heat”. The rest is history. Ironically later in life I became best friends with another artist of Quincy’s, James Ingram. We’re like brothers. I’m like his older brother and I talk to James more than I talk to anyone else in the world. We’re like kindred spirits. We’re not only born on the same day. To put it simply, he is my bother. JL: I could continue asking you questions for hours but in wrapping things up, I’m curious if you have embarked on any other careers outside of the music business, out of a hobby or an interest or for financial security? LW: Most musicians tell you - we give that up early (laughs)! What you have to do is you have to pray a lot (laughs)! In all seriousness you have to say, “I believe in myself enough to know I’m not gonna starve!” This is business where you have to say, what you’re doing today, the best you can hope is an advance because whatever is gonna happen with that music, you’re not going to see any return for at least a year. You’ve heard the phrase, “Hurry up and wait”. There are no tricks, only knowing how to juggle (laughs)! I make enough money in a year from my royalties to take care of me and my wife. I was reminded by an IRA agent maybe 20 years ago having been audited. He said, “We don’t have to worry about you ‘cos we get out money from you whether you’re dead or alive” - from the royalties. My smartest move was loving the art of music. Click here for all Leon Ware CDs at The Soul Music Store |
Leon Ware 2008 Interview | |