*This latest episode of our EURweb podcast For the Record takes us back for a second dose of R&B musician/singer/songwriter Michael Henderson.
The artist best known for his early 70s classics “Wide Receiver,” “Valentine Love” and “You Are My Starship” returned to the Catalina Jazz Club in Los Angeles this month, and so did EUR creator and For the Record host Lee Bailey and his longtime buddy, music journalist/historian Steven Ivory.
As they did back in July after Henderson’s first show, the duo took their thoughts about the concert to the podcast – basking, again, in memories of that old-school musicianship that Henderson brings, and that appears to be lost among today’s R&B superstars.
Ivory was again blown away by the musician, but less impressed with the execution this time, partly due to a different backing band. He told Bailey: “If you were really paying attention, it was almost a damn train wreck. Because some guys were missing turnarounds, and you could hear him directing. The uninitiated members of the audience probably didn’t know that sometimes when he started singing the bass line … he’s looking back at the bass player, saying, ‘This is where I want you to go with this.'”
But Ivory made clear, “considering the fact that he was guiding this band through some of these songs right there on stage, just how remarkably wonderful his stuff sounded.”
Ivory compares Henderson to Prince and Jermaine Jackson among guitar/bass players who also sing lead. He equates that unique skill with trying to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time. The bass is “following one melody and your voice is following another. Not everybody can do that.”
Ivory also talks about that time Jimmy Fallon mocked Henderson’s hit “Wide Receiver,” explains why he considers the song a “novelty” hit, drops in a Ron Isley anecdote and much more. Listen to the entire conversation in our latest episode of For The Record, below.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
