I
have seen Bryson in concert several times and attend his annual
Colors of Christmas concert every year with the San Francisco
Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall. I have even seen Bryson in in a
starring role in a very off Broadway production of “The Wiz,”
with Grace Jones, in Oakland, CA.
Although
I have spoken with him several times in passing and expressed to him
how much I loved his music, it took me 30 years to land my first
formal interview with Bryson, and I must say it was well worth the
wait.
Real
talk: I was a bit nervous knowing that I was going to interview
someone who I had put on a pedestal for so many years. Once our phone
conversation began, all of my fears were laid to rest. I found the
balladeer to be honest, sincere, philosophical possessing a
refreshing sense of humor, a man who loves his wife, his family and
loves real
music.
Bryson also has his share of
admirers in the Bay Area. One of them is his niece, Deja Bryson, an
aspiring singer/songwriter who just released her first singles, “Just
a Woman” and “Love Sounds.” www.iloveyoudeja.com.
Another Bryson admirer is Marlon Washington, Jr., a singer/drummer at
Matthew Zion Baptist church in San Francisco. In this clip,
Washington pays tribute to the King of Soul with an A Cappella
tribute to Bryson with a snippet of “Can You Stop the Rain.”
http://youtu.be/NdJ_UCCgLZ0
Shelah
Moody: First of all, thank you for so many years of inspiring,
soulful and beautiful music. I’d like to ask you about the
inspiration behind some of your greatest hits, starting with “Feel
the Fire.”
Peabo
Bryson: (Laughs). Actually, I was in my apartment and I was looking
out of the window at the view as a thunderstorm was brewing very
heavily. Across the courtyard from me, lightning just took the
biggest tree I’d ever seen and split it in half. I could feel the
heat from the lightning strike. That’s what inspired “Feel the
Fire.” It was more spiritual and divine than anything. It was
inspired by an act of God.
SM:
So, you literally felt the fire…
PB:
No doubt!
SM:
Where did the universal refrain in the song “Don’t try to play
with my emotions” come from?
PB:
The first thing about “Feel the Fire” is that it’s a metaphor
for an act of God. The repose reminds us not to take anybody’s
feelings for granted.
SM:
Let’s talk about one of your niece’s favorite Peabo Bryson songs,
“I’m So Into You.”
PB:
It’s about an experience where you are so into someone, that
whatever they did didn’t matter; whether it was good, bad,
indifferent, right or wrong. You believe they can do anything short
of walk on water. It’s about the highest level of admiration and
respect that you can give someone, not that it’s always
reciprocated or healthy. It does happen to people; and it happens for
a reason, not all of the reasons good, not all of them valid. A lot
of times, we superimpose characteristics onto people that we are
enamored with, that they don’t truly possess. “I’m So Into You”
kind of transcends all of those basic rules, especially the negative
ones. It’s what every lover hopes to find at some point, every
person hopes to find that person at some point; you may find them
early, you may miss it, you may do a lot of things; you may never
find it; you may never be receptive enough to find it, even though
you want it or you desire it. It’s what we all want; it’s
inherent in our DNA. “I’m So Into You” is that moment where
nothing can keep you from that person. At first, nobody liked the
song except my sister, my manager and me. A lot of people didn’t
get it.
SM:
And it became one of your biggest hits.
PB:
Tell me about it. That was a lesson about what and what not to listen
to in terms of people’s opinions about what you do. I’ll bet
Pablo Picasso never even asked anybody about what they thought. If
you don’t like oblong pairs of hands and oblong faces, then don’t
buy Picasso. If you are ok with that expression and you are receptive
enough to buy into what its meaning is and what’s behind it, then
Picasso is your guy.
SM:
And now, the song that I still sing in the shower to this day, “Let
the Feeling Flow.”
P.B.
I love that song. It’s about a realization and acknowledgement of
self and others. If you are not calm, you’re going to miss
something. “Let the Feeling Flow” is both a reminder and a
warning. If you’re not at the right place, you are not going to be
receptive to information; and it could be information that changes
your life. If you miss it, then you become someone different; and
your life ends up differently. “Let the Feeling Flow” tells you
not to try to measure out emotions, especially love, like it’s a
tube of toothpaste. Love is not a tube of toothpaste, and you can’t
dole it out, you can’t squeeze it out like it’s a tube, let it
go. Whatever it is; it’s going to be anyway, and whatever you deny
yourself today is lying asleep at the foot of your bed, while you
sleep.
SM:
Is that what you mean by the lyric in the song that says “It was
too late when I realized, that I couldn’t see the forest for the
trees?”
PB:
It’s always too late. The old story in relationships of any kind is
that it is not appreciated until you’ve lost it or you’ve missed
it, you’ve missed its value. It exists in every relationship; I
mean somebody’s taking somebody for granted as we speak. It’s not
like it’s an odd thing that takes place.
SM.:
Let’s talk about another Peabo Bryson fan favorite, “Can You Stop
the Rain.”
P:B:
That song wasn’t meant for me; it’s a song I didn’t write but
wish I had. I was listening with my A&R guy at Columbia Records.
I still believe this: if someone is thoughtful enough to go through
a few hundred songs to find 20 for you that you might like, you might
want to sit there and go through the songs with them if you have the
opportunity to do so. While (the A&R rep) was listening for songs
he thought that I might like, he played me something that was meant
for a female vocalist and asked my opinion. I said that I thought it
would be a good song for her; but it would be a great song for me.
That’s how that song came into being. It was a blessing to be in
the right place at the right time, doing the right thing.
SM:
Because of songs such as “Tonight I Celebrate My Love” (with
Roberta Flack), “A Whole New World” (with Regina Belle) and other
songs, you are also known as the king of the romantic duet. Is there
any singer in particular that you would like to record with now?
PB:
That’s a good question; there are only a few artists that I haven’t
worked with. I almost had a chance to work with Barbara Streisand;
and I would have liked to have done that. The events surrounding
September 11, 2001, stopped it the last time. That’s something
that’s still on my bucket list. I’d like to do something with
Annie Lennox. She’s in a category all by herself. Oddly enough, I’d
like to work with Mariah Carey, but only if Walter Afanasieff
produces it. Actually, I like Adele. I like her honesty. Roberta
Flack is probably responsible for all those duets. She had the choice
of anybody she wanted to sing with and she chose me. I am eternally
grateful for that. She’s my all-time favorite duet partner. I never
miss an opportunity to be in her presence; she makes me…better.
SM:
That’s another album that I played over and over when I was a
teenager, “Born to Love,” with you and Roberta Flack.
PB:
We’re threatening to do another album. I’m going to start sending
her some songs. Once she’s into something, she will get really
excited.
SM:
Speaking of songwriting, what inspires you to write nowadays?
PB:
Life—how it feels, understanding it, when I internalize it
intellectually and spiritually. You can understand something in the
literal sense and in a philosophical sense, but not be able to put it
into a practical application in life.
SM:
When do you find time to write—on tour, during your quiet time…?
PB:
There’s always time to write. I can be inspired by this
conversation.
SM:
As a young woman, I loved buying your albums on vinyl, because in
your liner notes, you always dispensed words of wisdom on life and
love that no one else taught.
PB:
If you follow me on Twitter—that’s all I do! You know what I
like? Twitter is a language in itself, a means of communicating
within itself. The language is learning how to communicate whatever
it is that you have to say, however significant, observant or
poignant, in 140 characters. Twitter cuts through all of the BS; and
there is no extra rhetoric, because you only have 140 characters to
get to the point quickly. I’ve actually gotten really good at it.
I’ve only started on Twitter last year. It’s something I do
almost every day.
SM:
Do you find that people are connecting with you on Twitter and other
social media outlets?
PB:
Oh yeah! I am close to the 4,500 mark on Twitter, and I’m not
buying any of my followers, I earned them. It helps if you have
something to say. I’m getting followers who have powerful
contingencies on Twitter, and that’s always good.
SM:
Any new projects in the works?
PB:
I’m working on new music at this point; I don’t know where that
is going to take me; it will probably dictate itself. It will
probably be in front of the camera somewhere judging vocal talent and
having vocal talent legitimately judged. I remember something that my
daughter said to me when she was 16 or so, she wanted a pair of sling
backs because all of the kids were wearing them at school. I went to
Neiman Marcus and I bought her several pairs of shoes in various
pastel colors. I brought them home and she was really excited. She
pulled the shoes out of the box, and her face dropped, and her smile
turned into a frown. I asked her what was wrong, and she said “these
are the real ones; I wanted the fake ones.” That’s what they
want; they don’t want the real thing.
SM:
Hmm…Fake versus the real thing. mmmhThat
is a deep commentary on popular music and culture.
PB:
And then some.
Recent
Tweets from Peabo Bryson:
“I
read a passage when I was a boy that left an impression, the deeper
that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.”
“Note,
pain makes life surprisingly lucid, perspectives fall into a natural
order, the mind and body seek healing and the soul seeks God.”
On
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peabo.bryson.900?fref=ts
On
Twitter @PeaboBryson2
