Original subtitles

who's this handsome lad who got on his

bike and

pedaled his way to the top

i think music is probably his life like

it is most

of the people who are involved in joe

business this big brother made it big in

his neighborhood then he made it

even bigger he's not a celebrity he's a

superstar

so who is this beautiful baby in arms

you find out on stars on their lives the

show that tells the real stories in the

life of a star

please welcome your host carol vorderman

hello hello and welcome to stars and

their lives tonight the living legend

whose story begins in the bad back

streets of los angeles

and ends in global superstardom let's

meet the people in the life of our star

if you wasn't tough in that neighborhood

you was going down

but what saved him was the music

the music super saved him my pet name

for him was pumpkin

it's like a big teddy bear

[Music]

it's just one of those voices where when

you hear it you know it's him

[Music]

so a tough nut who's also a teddy bear

our man is very big with stars of soul

he spent time in prison

became inspired by elvis and then cast

aside the bars of a jail cell

for those of music

[Music]

he was tall dark and handsome

and he wanted everyone to feel what he

felt he wanted the music to come alive

[Music]

you know if it was there was like the

singing olympics or something like that

i i you know i'd give him a tear and i

think

he had this aura around him like a

pharaoh or a king

my god you might say

[Music]

he's the one time gang member who

escaped the ghetto

the original icon of love please welcome

mr

barry white

thank you

well barry i think i like you just a

little bit

ah that's nice of you

well we obviously are filming this in

britain but we have brought

some of your friends and family over

from the states we've got with us in the

audience your

lady catherine where's rooney catherine

and sitting next to her

your son one of your many sons kevin hi

kevin

you must be very proud of him oh very

proud i'm sure i'm not surprised

i'm not surprised at all we're going to

find out your story tonight

well of course you first came to fame

over here in the late 60s early 70s

didn't you

but you're big again here now thanks in

part to television

been on the simpsons guest appearance

there and of course

ally mcbeal here's a clip i suppose we

should dance

oh it gets better

[Music]

it does you only turn 35 once

great

[Music]

[Applause]

baby

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

is

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

i think he likes his presence

my legs

it's this fantastic reputation you have

of being you know the love

icon just say love for me go on please

oh i felt that go through your sofa

through this so it's marvelous

now i want to take you back right to the

very beginning you're born in texas

and then eventually when you were young

you moved with your mum

to los angeles to watts that was the

regional

neighborhood there but times were very

hard for you

weren't there your father melvin uh

wasn't around very much

that's true it was rough you know we

didn't have anything you know

but i did have my mother and i had her

love

and my brother had her love we had her

knowledge her

wisdom the way she raised us

i still live with those things today i

still live by her rules

i still play by her game

she was a very honest woman very direct

woman she was the first

teacher of my life she is uh

she's dead and gone now but her memory

her memory lives on in my life through

my children

things i've taught them my thing she

taught me

and i was a very very fortunate young

man to have a mother like

sadie marie carter oh yeah

and she got you to join the choir

the baptist church quiet who we saw

actually did you see true

but there was a time as you got into

your teenage years that you got into a

gang

yeah we got in a few gangs yeah got in a

whole lot of trouble

yeah and uh 1960

i got put in jail and that was the best

moment of my life

because it was in jail that i came to

the realization

of my power my

individual power the power to

change my thoughts to change the way i

was living

i had to change some of my friends which

i hated but i had to do it

because the majority of my friends were

either going to jail in jail

alcoholics dope addicts uh

murderers or something you know it was

crazy

even at the age of 16. oh yeah yeah yeah

it was very serious

now we're talking about the early days

and you have kept in contact with some

of the friends from the very early days

well a bit of a surprise for you now

because we've brought over from america

one of your oldest friends

from the neighborhood please welcome

everyone frank wilson

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

uh

[Music]

how i love you frank i really do now

you've known each other since you were

six

my oldest friend in the world i know i

know in fact that's

amazing can you believe was there

when barry white's voice broke how

amazing

tell us about it right he came over his

house one day

he knocks on the door i see barry barry

mary comes up to the door which i didn't

know it was him

and he'd say yeah i'm coming

i'm coming i said come on quit playing

come on barry come on out of there

so when i finally opened the door he

said frank wilson

i mean it really shocked me

[Laughter]

they got you over here

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

now you said that you were in the gangs

and you got in with a bad lot but you

frank were

bore witness to this really he was the

negotiator really wasn't he the people

yeah

very very always even when he was little

kids he never left

nobody get in trouble or fight or

anything he would take and and uh make

sure

that everybody got alone can't you tell

he can talk he always could

and he stopped he stopped a lot of

things from going on and it was at that

time talking about talking was when you

learn to talk to women

wasn't it this kind of counselling yeah

attitude yeah

i went through uh

about 12 couples that used to come over

to our house

and it started off as just a

friend of mine that wanted me to talk to

him and his girlfriend

and uh how old were you at this time i

was

14 14 okay they were so impressed with

it they went back and told another two

people

and so he called me that evening and

asked me could he bring his two friends

over

another guy and a girl that needed to

talk to me

and he brought him over and i talked and

then after that about two days later

he called again he had four couples this

time

it was make a long story short when i

looked around i had 12 couples that i

was counseling

every day that went on for eight months

until i had to just stop it you know i

mean it was getting crazy

it really was has he changed frank no

same same as he was when he was little

boys yeah

same same heart but even bigger now

yeah you know his heart is tremendously

big everybody know him for his music i

know him for his heart

has a heck of a heart yeah

thank you very much

uh we've got some more surprises for you

mr barry white

as we all know you went to the top of

the tree the top of the business you've

sold over 100 million

records but it was tough wasn't it

getting into the music business

i had no money i had no clothes i had no

car i had no connections

i was just a young boy

who was in search of his dream leaving

the ghetto

of los angeles and going to hollywood

that's what was

killing my mother when i told her the

day i was gonna quit school

and i was going to hollywood and she

cried

uh very deeply she was very afraid for

me because she knew i didn't have

anything you know

but really it was those first few steps

over there that was the

very beginning of the sound that we have

all come

to love don't go

trying some new fashion

don't change the color of your head

hey there you always have

my unspoken passion

although i might not seem to care

i don't want clever

conversation

don't want to work that hard

no love i just want

some someone to talk to

i want you just the way you are

well barry it's time to say hello to the

man without whom

none of that would have happened he was

the first person to sign you as a solo

artist

please welcome russ regan

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

i know it's a long story

believe me 1971 to be exact

he and i was vice president of uni

records at the time

and he and larry nunes came by to see me

good larry yes sir and uh they brought a

record with them

um put it on and four minutes later

i said i'm taking it it was called

walking in the rain with the one i loved

[Applause]

it was a huge hit all over the world and

uh that was the beginning of our

relationship

and of course he went in and recorded

i'm going to love you and standing in

the shadows of love and all the

great records and uh first album

and uh we put it out and it took off

like a rocket ship

and he's never looked back and it was a

great thing

three years later of course the birth

rate of america

and i think the world went up five

percent

because of his music and you know his

biggest fan was elton john

elton john loved barry white and one day

i

he said what do you got lately from

barry i i put the record on

and he says oh my god he said that's

going to be

huge it was just incred he says that is

mind boggling

elton just went crazy in my office it

was called love theme by the love

unlimited orchestra

which he now had graduated to so

that was number one all over the world

and uh

never looked back i mean it's just been

a great experience and

i you know i just i just love the man as

you can see

and you love him too believe it

sweetheart that's right

thank you very much indeed russ regan

join us after the break when we give

barry white some more surprises and we

hear more of his story

he's like a human aphrodisiac you simply

put barry

on the radio and things happen

when i think of barry i think of love

love and more love

welcome back to stars and their lives

tonight the story of barry white the man

the music the legend

[Music]

very defined in age if the beach boys

defined the 60s barry white was

certainly

up there with his own definition for the

70s and i think he's still going strong

past the 2000 mark

he is a big lovable teddy bear

he's my daddy i love him

he's everything in the world to me and

um

he's just dead he

is very giving

he's great he's great i couldn't ask for

a better father i really couldn't

how many children have you got eight

yeah and how many grandchildren

uh they keep they keep coming so i'm

joking

i've got uh 11 grandchildren

and one great grandchild and one great

great

now you've been have a lot of friends

who already have said how much they love

you too

and it's time now to give you another

shock because

because we brought over from los angeles

someone you've been very close to for 30

years ladies and gentlemen please

welcome jack perry

[Applause]

[Music]

i asked him before i left to come here

i said uh have anybody called you about

this

thing jack no man i mean they told me

we're gonna do something but i don't

know what we're gonna

now you two first worked together um uh

producing on uh love unlimited

records that's right everybody barry

white

love unlimited yeah girls everybody now

i want you to tell us jack about his

music because barry you can't read or

write music can you

no traditional sense so how does he do

it he does it

verbally yeah if he needs something

arranged first of all he's plays he's an

excellent keyboard player

and he pounds out and stops out what he

wants but when it comes to string

arrangements

he sings them into a tape recorder and

direct to the conductor

and then the conductor orchestrates them

that's true

and of course the lyrics just write them

out

and sing them because it was a great

thing you know for for a boy from the

ghetto

to to want to have this huge orchestra

this huge sound it

was unusual wasn't it jack to say the

least definitely

i would ask him all the time how did you

just come up for that

sound in your head but he hears it it's

like uh

european string lines on r b

rhythms with music up with lyrics of

love

see that's natural to me r b rhythms

strings put them together you come up

with a different

bouquet of flowers yeah

it's easy to me to do a record

with only four pieces a bass a drum a

guitar piano keyboard whatever it is

but it's extra special when i can color

that picture for you

with all those instruments violins

violas

cellos french horns flugo horns oh

i mean everything together that's

my that's my madness and that's my sound

that's

very wise thing

[Applause]

[Music]

it was in the 70s barry that all this

huge sand came to aries

and then in the 80s the sound kind of

fell out of fashion a little bit

and you fell on harder times let's say

uh but it was really in the mid-90s when

you had health problems and jack was

there for you wasn't he

he was right there for me 1995 yes it

was

and uh all of my people that's with me

my son kevin uh katherine

all of my people that i hold dear to me

was there with me uh jack

would fly in from los angeles to see

about me to make sure i was okay

he was a real dear friend he was living

in vegas at that time yeah and you've

collapsed you're in a coma yeah i was uh

i was in trouble for a minute

and just having my best friend

care about me that much to come to las

vegas

on his own i didn't ask him to come i

looked up one day and he was holding my

hand

yeah that's uh yeah i will never forget

that that was a very

uh it's a tragic scene that you get a

call that your best friend is in the

hospital

unconscious and to sit there and stand

there and look at him like that is

real sad you know and as he was coming

through i had his hand

and uh he woke up and he says that's you

jack jack don't let go of my hand i

wouldn't let go and

he came through and here he is

and now he's getting strong again

stronger than ever oh no he's wonderful

thank you very much for coming all the

way from l.a jack perry

[Music]

but barry it is love that keeps cut we

keep coming back to

you know the love of your friends and

your family but it's also the love that

you've created

in other people's relationships around

the world as you know i mean people

often come up to you and say

very often i know what you're fixing to

say

they're very nice people have always

been

very nice to me in my career it's always

positive compliments

the ladies and how i make the men do

this and the guys they you know they

oh yeah they're gonna be guys and they

they're using barry white's music for

for love

i have a lot of friends i often told my

children i'm not a star

i'm not a singer i am the friend of men

and women

and uh i am very very very

proud of that yeah well we've evidence

of it even over here in england you know

because we have in our audience

a young man called jeff stains just tell

us your story jeff you're a big fan of

barry's

yes carol yeah jeffrey

about 18 years ago my girlfriend and i

had a very big row

very serious and i went home that night

listened to a barry white track don't

tell me about heartaches

oh that's a good one yeah put it

together the direct result of that

was that my girlfriend became my wife

we're celebrating 16 years of marriage

and the continued presence of these

three guys

[Music]

you know just looking at those three

children

you know i i always wanted to do

something that would help people nothing

that would hurt him

nothing that would uh take him off in a

deep end the wrong end

and when i i sit here and i look at his

children

and their children and just think those

are three lives

that i am very

small responsible for you know

uh listening to my music making love to

his wife here comes the baby

[Applause]

my life was amazing i am very blessed to

be here

right here with you guys here tonight uh

it could have went the other way i could

have went i'm telling you

it was crazy it was crazy and i could

end it up just like my brother dale

he died didn't he yeah he was uh he was

shot in the heart

and uh i would have ended up there with

him because if

i hadn't been in the music business i

would have probably been two blocks from

where he was when the guy shot him

i went over there and killed the guy

that shot my brother

because me and daryl was very very

very close and

i just didn't go that way i went the

other way i made a right when

some people wanted me to go left so i

i'm very thankful for being here today

so it was music that saved your life

really

in a sense he called it yeah frank

wasn't called it

jack perry called it yeah that music

is my life saver that's why i dedicated

my

life to that lady to this day

to the day i die i will make music

and you call music your lady your music

is very gentle music she has to be a

lady she has to be

no one could be that sensitive and that

compassionate

she never upsets me we never fight we

never

argue

[Music]

and it sounds like let the music play

again

the huge sound in the 70s of course

that's now gone on to

more recent tracks you've got the dan

speak coming in this is what we now hear

from barry white

here i am

[Music]

yeah she's at home

[Music]

now barry i know you've heard of our

very prestigious awards we have over in

britain the mobo awards

the music of black origin well we've got

a little surprise for you

please welcome the chairman of mobo

kanye king and with her a british soul

brother of yours

jazzy b

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

uh

[Music]

hey now then what have you got there

kanye

right well on behalf of the mobile

awards i'm very proud

to be here to present this mobile hall

of fame award to an

artist who's in spider nation barry

white please

we welcome you to the mobile hall of

fame thank you

now jazzy b just how cool is this man

well barry's definitely super cool

i know he's mr lover lover but there's a

natural interesting story because

barry white's one of the reasons why i

stayed in britain

it was many years ago um i we wasn't

getting very much a

claim or respect in england and i made a

move to la

and during an award ceremony actually i

met barry

and we spoke and i explained to you how

much

he meant to me and my family and stuff

and my mother was trying to get me to

come back home

and what actually happened is barry met

my manager

and association on the plane coming over

to england

and invited barry to my surprise party

and here i was um feeling no love in

england and

out in america my mom dragged me back to

england and

um i walked into the hall and

barry was there yeah and one of the many

things one of the amazing that

said to me which was true words of

wisdom

and he explained that this is where my

family is and how important it is

to to remain with your family and the

people that love you the most so barry

from my heart

thank you thank you

well barry i'm afraid we've almost come

to the end of the programme

but we're going to end with your next

generation

to complete your party we've invited

over your youngest daughter

shahera and the youngest member of your

family she's just 11 months old your

granddaughter

[Applause]

ayanna

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

thank you

now how good a dad is your dad ah he's

the best

i couldn't ask for a better daddy really

i couldn't i love you

thank you i love you too and thank you

thank you for the life you've given us

and you've shown us

the knowledge you've given i really

appreciate it and thank you for making

me the woman who i am today

you got it sweetheart

barry white your family think you're a

star your friends absolutely adore you

everybody here we adore him too don't we

thank you

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

you