Darlene Love on Phil Spector bringing a gun to recording sessions, her role as Danny Glover’s wife in Lethal Weapon , and talking with Elvis about gospel music. She goes into all this and more in the upcoming documentary 20 Feet From Stardom .
Via: darleneloveworld.com
Darlene Love, a singer who's been working in the business since 1963, is responsible for the soul of many songs you know and love, like "Da Do Ron Ron," "He's a Rebel," and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." So why don't you know her name? In the stunning documentary Twenty Feet From Stardom, out June 14, it becomes clear that "backup vocalists," or the mostly female singers behind many of the hit songs of the '60s and '70s, weren't really the "backup" at all — instead, they were at the forefront of shaping and defining the sound of almost all of the most popular music that came from those eras. The film gives Love and many other singers the opportunity to have their gorgeous voices be heard both figuratively and literally.
Love got her start when Phil Spector discovered her group, The Blossoms. She went on to work with artists like Elvis, Aretha Franklin, and The Beach Boys, and was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. BuzzFeed spoke with her about her career, the industry, and what life is like on the other side of the wall of sound.
Do you think Twenty Feet From Stardom will have an effect on the music industry once people become more aware of what backup singers do?
DL: I think that it should, but I don't know that it will. The industry is crazy right now — there is really no way people can get started in this business. The groups today come already prepared with their own singers and their own musicians. Even in commercials now, commercial houses use the same people over and over again. It's hard to get started as a backup singer.
Is it hard to maintain a career in background singing even if you've been doing it for a while?
DL: No, not if that's what you've been doing. A lot of the people that I've worked with over the years have gone out on the road. They're not in the recording studio; they're out on the road with Sting and those people that need background singers.
Darlene Love's lead vocals on "He's a Rebel."
Source: youtube.com
