Album Review: Barry White — Can’t Get Enough

James Brown might have been Soul Brother Number One, but it was Isaac Hayes who brought soul into the mainstream with his lush, romantic workouts such as his cover of “By the Time I Get to Phoenix.” And while Hayes would remain the master of that style, he had other things on his mind as well, such as the driving soundtracks to Shaft, Truck Turner and other flicks of the era.

But in the 1970s we had Barry White to carry the torch of that particular sub-style. Rock fans might even think of White as a sort of ELO to Isaac Hayes’ Beatles: he took one specific part of a great act’s musical approach and ran with it.

Some say he ran it into the ground. But with the benefit of hindsight, and if approaching it while attempting to keep irony at a safe distance, it’s actually a lot of fun. Can’t Get Enough was White’s third album, but he had been successful right out the gate with his first two solo LPs: I’ve Got So Much to Give and Stone Gon’ (both 1973) hit #1 on the US R&B charts, and top-twentied on the pop charts. Still, Can’t Get Enough was the crowning achievement: number one on both charts, and certified Gold in both the USA and UK.

The album is characterized by a mix of lush songs – often including his lugubrious Isaac Hayes-inspired raps – that were in turns heavily orchestrated and filled with propulsive, proto-disco beats. “Mellow Mood (Pt. 1)” is such an orchestrated number that segues quickly into the #1 dancefloor hit “You’re the First, The Last, My Everything.” But most of Side One is consumed by the slow jam “I Can’t Believe You Love Me,” a prototype of 70s makeout music that features equal parts low-register rapping (the old kind, kids) and equally-low-register romantic crooning. A studio full of strings, harpsichords, Rhodes, female choruses and a slowed-to-the-breaking-point drum part all come together to make this signature track.

The sort-of title track, “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Baby” topped the pop and R&B charts, and deservedly so. With the drums mixed way out front (right up there with the orchestra and ol’ Barry’s multi-tracked voice), it was made for dancing. And the production and arrangement are impressive and crystalline. “Oh Love, Well We Finally Made It” has a memorable sax riff, but otherwise it tends – at least when compared to the other tracks on Can’t Get Enough – to come off a bit faceless.

“I Love You More Than Anything (In This World Girl)” features a stronger melody, and strikes a balance between slow jam and disco territories; it probably works best as a slow dance number, conjuring as it does visions of glittery disco balls. The brief “”Mellow Mood (Pt. II)” wraps up the disco with a repeating riff of strings and wah-wah guitar while imaginary credits roll.

When White was ruling the charts, this ten-year-old Billy had no use for his romantic notions and discofied beats. When I was a teen and bought my first of several copies of The Rolling Stone Record Guide, I laughed aloud when I read part of Dave Marsh‘s review of White’s side-project Love Unlimited Orchestra: “And Barry White is (you know, baby) pretty (uh-huh) goddamn lame.” But hearing Can’t Get Enough some forty years after its original release – on 180-gram Audio Fidelity vinyl, I must hasten to add), it’s some pretty fine music, well worth reconsideration. This 2014 reissue comes in numbered editions housed in a sturdy gatefold sleeve; like the ’74 original, it includes all of the (yeah, baby) lyrics so you can (uh-huh) sing along.

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