The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite) soon to turn twenty
June 20, 2008
Posted Jun 15th 2008 9:11AM by Jawn Murray
Filed under: BV Buzz
By Jawn Murray, BlackVoices.com
“Singers Patti Austin and Siedah Garrett are gearing up for an all-female remake of the Quincy Jones-produced love anthem, ‘ Secret Garden .’
Just in time for the song’s 20-year anniversary, the two Jones protégés are hoping to put a ladylike twist on the classic originally recorded by Al B. Sure, El Debarge, James Ingram and the late Barry White. “(Source)
Click on the SOURCE link above to read the balance of the article.
Al B. Sure
James Ingram
El DeBarge
Barry White (RIP)
Composed by musical greats El Debarge, Siedah Garrett, Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton, “The Secret Garden” first appeared on the 1989 Quincy Jones CD “Back on the Block.” The original version was over six minutes of composer El DeBarge, plus Al B. Sure!, James Ingram and Barry White soulfully crooning romantic sweet-nothings over lush instrumentals.
The original single zoomed right to #1 on the R&B charts, and the landmark album won three Grammy Awards!
I wonder if four ladies can top that! What do you think?
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June 22, 2008 at 5:23 pm
You left out the rest!
The two Grammy-winning singers are hoping to find two additional women to help them complete the cover.
“We need a real diva to take over that Barry White dirty-lowdown-sexiness in the original track and that ain’t gonna be easy,” said Garrett. “Give me Jill Scott and Angie Stone and we are set to go.
The tidbit neglects to mention that Pamela Williams already did a female version a few years back with Regina Belle, Teena Marie, and Patti Labelle…should’ve been great but it just copied the original way too much (and yet dropped Barry’s verse entirely!) and didn’t give the ladies enough room to work it out.
But, this is good news I was surprised to hear. I just happened to Google today looking up some info on the song and came across this, which I guess was JUST posted…how funny. Hope this one turns out better. Patti will be perfect. Never really been impressed with Siedah as a soloist but love her background and writing work. Me, if I were doin it, I’d take Ms. Austin and get Teena back (it doesn’t GET sexier), plus Jill Scott and then Chaka for the last verse, and have Siedah doing chorus and backup again. But, we’ll see. Thanks for the heads-up!
June 22, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Oh. And it continues to be a damn shame Phyllis Hyman left us too soon, because SHE shoulda been on this.
June 23, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Hi Jazzfan,
Nah I didn’t leave out the rest. There’s a link to the rest of the article. I didn’t want to got to blogajail for copyright infringement or plagerism (SMILE).
It was surpising news! First off that the song is two decades old — sure makes me feel that old father time is moving along at a swift pace.
And secondly I was so shocked that a female version was being considered. It just seems like such a male song to me. Therefore I can’t begin to think of any suggestions of female vocalist for this new version.
The remake that you mentioned sounds interesting though. I never heard it before but would love to check it out. Where can I find that version with Patti, Teena, Regina and Pamela please? Thanks for the heads up.
I too have not been much impressed by Siedah as a soloist. Her duet with El DeBarge was the only song I ever heard El sing on that I DID NOT like. But she is a great writer — I will give her that. I guess as co-writer of the song she initiated this re-make to fatten her coffers (LOL)
Thank you for checking in with me. BTW your suggestion of vocalists for this project are pretty good now that I am reflecting on it.
I truly appreciate my visitors and hope you hang around here on the regular.
Do have a great week Jazzfan.
SonDan
June 24, 2008 at 1:07 am
Glad it’s not just me who’s not impressed with Garrett as a solist. “Don’t Look Any Further” is one of my favorite old-school jams, but her performance on it isn’t anything special…it’s everything else about the song, and Dennis Edwards’ performance. She is fun to watch in the video, though.
You can get in touch at the email address supplied with the comment posts to get the Williams version. It IS a very male song and I’m hoping that since they’ve got Garrett on board with this one, she’ll be rewriting the lyrics to fit the occasion; it doesn’t completely work done by women (and I’m guessing that’s why Barry’s verse was eliminated by Williams; that CAN’T be done without some changes). I’m hoping it’s redone from a new perspective, but man……it still just feels kinda wrong tackling this without Phyllis Hyman. They need someone REALLY commanding on that last verse.
September 10, 2008 at 2:15 pm
OMG that makes me feel old. I thought, there’s no way…20 years, really?
Well, Phyllis Hyman is gone… surely there are some stellar female singers who can hang.
September 11, 2008 at 12:16 am
Welcome ThatDeborahGirl,
I still say that the original is the best and YES life goes on dearie and we are getting older every day whether we want to or not (BIG GAP-TOOTH SMILE.
You know after revisiting this topic I am now wondering if there really *ARE* any stellar females of the younger generation that could pull this off. I haven’t heard anything more about this project since my initial post so I wonder if it is still an active project? I’m gonna have to do a little research on it.
Thanks for checking in. I am off to check out your most interesting blog now and do hope you become a regular visitor and participant here on the regular.
Regards,
SonDan