Worth It All: Jeffrey Osborne Returns to R&B -- by Mark Anthony Neal

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Worth It All: Jeffrey Osborne Returns to R&B -- by Mark Anthony Neal

Worth It All: Jeffrey Osborne Returns to R&B by Mark Anthony Neal | @NewBlackMan | NewBlackMan (in Exile)
When Jeffrey Osborne appeared as a drummer and vocalist on a band called L.T.D.’s (Love, Togetherness, and Devotion) debut release for A&M in 1974, they were just another solid funk band trying to share airplay with the likes of Parliament/Funkadelic, The Ohio Players, and Earth, Wind & Fire. It wouldn’t be until the third album, Love to the World (1976) that L.T.D. found its niche, pushing Osborne out to the front and recording the now classic Skip Scarboroughpenned “Love Ballad.” The song not only crossed-over to pop audiences, but, for all intents, helped establish the career of a figure, I’d like to argue, was the purest male R&B singer of his generation. More than 40 years after L.T.D. broke through with “Love Ballad” and "(Every Time I Turn Around) Back in Love Again", which was a top-5 pop hit in the fall of 1977, Osborne, now 70, returns with Worth It All, his first album of original R&B tracks in 15 years.
Jeffrey Osborne was rumored to be one of Luther Vandross’s favorite vocalists – and it makes sense; when Vandross was still grinding in late 1970s New York City, Osborne was putting his stamp on the R&B ballad with a string of memorable cuts like "(Won't Cha) Stay with Me" from Something to Love (1977), "We Both Deserve Each Other's Love" from Togetherness (1978), the plaintive “Stranger” from Devotion (1979) and “Where Did We Go Wrong?” from Shine(1980).
Mirroring the trajectory of another Funk band from that era, Osborne departed L.T.D. for a solo career; Both Lionel Richie (formerly of The Commodores) and Osborne, released their solo debuts in 1982, and while Ritchie went on to major crossover success, Osborne remained a crowd-favorite among traditional R&B audiences with tracks like “On the Wings of Love” (from his debut), “Don’t Get So Mad” (1983), “Crazy ‘Bout ‘Cha” (1984), "You Should Be Mine (The Woo Woo Song)" (1986), which was Osborne’s highest charting pop hit, and “Only Human” (1990), which closed his run as radio relevant R&B artist.
Osborne had a comeback of sorts in 2000 with the title track to “That’s For Sure”, which 17-years later holds up as quality, adult R&B – and that’s what you get on Worth It All, which features 12-songs, all written by Osborne, that won’t offend the R&B purist, and might earn Mr. Osborne a few millennial fans, who don’t need their music to be woke all the time.
Osborne is in fine form on tracks like the opener “Let a Brotha Know” and the mid-temp stepper “I Want You”, which both betray Osborne’s age; he has lost none of the power, depth and nuance of his voice – a sweet, supple and still authoritative baritone – that still rivals Teddy Pendergrass in his prime. Few would blink and eye if either track ended up in the summer cookout playlist.
Of course there are the ballads. As Osborne told Parle Magazine , “I wanted this to be a real heartfelt album. My strength is singing R&B ballads; I am known for ballads, so [Worth It All] kind of took on that flavor.” The songs “Work It”, and in particular the title track “Worth It All” are standouts. The latter is the kind of song written by a man reflecting on a 45-year career and 35 years of marriage, a perspective sorely lacking in contemporary R&B.
For fans of Jeffrey Osborne and those needing a more thorough introduction, Worth It All is the perfect companion to A Time For Love, Mr. Osborne’s collection of Jazz standards from 2013, which features saxophonist Kamasi Washington, two years before his To Pimp a Butterfly breakthrough.

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Published on May 26, 2018 07:30

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