Race Jones
gangster. grace. alchemy
Songwriter and producer Leon Ware has passed away. The Detroit, Michigan native was a musical wizard to produced hits for such icons as Marvin Gaye and Michael Jackson throughout his 50-year career. Over the course of that half century, he gifted R&B, Disco, Funk, and Jazz with masterpieces, but it was in Soul music that his status as an architect really stands tall.
"In his 20s, Ware joined Motown Records as a songwriter, where he co-wrote songs for such artists as The Isley Brothers (“Got to Have You Back”) and a young Mike (“I Wanna Be Where You Are”). With 1976’s co-writing and co-producing credits on Gaye’s I Want You album, a 36-year-old Ware was already a songwriter’s songwriter. The ’70s brought him into the studio with Donny Hathaway, Quincy Jones (including the oft-sampled “If I Ever Lose This Heaven”), The Miracles, Minnie Riperton, as well as the launch of his solo career with his ’72 self-titled debut. As music began to evolve, so did Ware, and he would eventually go on to work with Maxwell on the Neo-Soul progenitor of an album, Maxwell’s Urban Hang Suite.
Heads know Leon Ware’s work well, even if only subconsciously. Tupac’s 1996 hit record featuring K-Ci & Jojo, “How Do U Want It” features Quincy Jones’ “Body Heat,” a record that would not exist without Ware’s creative input. De La Soul’s “Foolin’,” Mobb Deep’s “Temperature’s Rising,” Ras Kass’ “My Apology,” Royce 5’9’s “I Promise,” and Dave East & Nas’ “Forbes List” are just some of the Hip-Hop cuts built atop samples of songs Ware wrote, co-wrote, or produced. A deeper dig will reveal even more Ware fingerprints in classic Hip-Hop, such as those which sample the Ware-penned Ripperton record, “Inside My Love” (these include A Tribe Called Quest’s “Lyrics to Go,” ‘Pac’s “Me Against the World,” Slum Village’s “Look of Love [Remix],”and and others."
-Published by Amanda Mester
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