, and a slew of others.
' LPs of the '70s and '80s, with "Feelings" being among the best.
also scored TV shows and movies.
Born in Los Angeles,
Page studied classical music during his youth. Winning a scholarship to the Brooklyn Conservatory,
Page moved to New York. His first big break in the recording field was doing the string arrangements for
the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," which parked at number one pop for two weeks and hit number three R&B on the Billboard charts in late 1964, early 1965. He also arranged
Dobie Gray's "The In Crowd," number 11 R&B, and
Solomon Burke's "Got to Get You off My Mind," number one R&B for three weeks, both early 1965.
Page first met
Barry White when he and the future "Icon of Love" co-arranged
Bob and Earl's "Harlem Shuffle" for Marc Records, number 44 R&B, late 1963. In the mid-'60s, when
White was hired by
Bob Keane for his Bronco/Mustang labels, he hired
Page to do arrangements.
In 1968, Bronco/Mustang folded and
White started doing freelance independent production. Though
White recorded sides for
Larry Marks on BMC, Malcolm Hayes on OKeh, and Brendetta Davis on Liberty, and wrote and produced songs for NBC-TV's Saturday morning kids show The Banana Splits, they were lean times.
Page helped him out by giving him arranging assignments and non-repayable loans.
White's fortunes began to turn for the better after he met the female singing trio of Glodean &
Linda James and
Diane Taylor at a recording session where they were doing background vocals. After he renamed the trio
Love Unlimited, he worked with them for over a year, developing their vocals, writing songs for them, and recording their tracks.
Meanwhile,
Page's busy recording career was now being augmented by film and TV work. He scored the soundtrack for Sid & Marty Krofft's H.R. Pufnstuf, which premiered on NBC-TV's Saturday morning lineup in September 1969. His brother
Billy Page wrote "Some Beautiful," the first single from Pufnstuf star
Jack Wild's debut album, The Jack Wild Album on Capitol.
Page also composed the soundtrack for the 1970
Robert Altman movie Brewster McCloud, released on MGM Records.
Billy also produced
Gene's Music From the Original Soundtrack Blacula. Originally issued by RCA Records in the summer of 1972, the soundtrack to the classic horror film starring Shakespearean actor
William Marshall and
Ketty Lester was one of
Gene's first efforts as a recording artist.
The Hues Corporation of "Rock the Boat" fame were featured in the movie and on the LP. It was reissued by Razor & Tie in summer 1998.
Larry Nunes, a friend of
White's, took one of the recordings to
Russ Regan, who was the head of the Uni label owned by MCA. "Walkin' in the Rain (With the One I Love)," with
White "phoning" in his part, went gold, peaking at number six R&B, number 14 pop on Billboard's charts in spring 1972.
Love Unlimited's From a Girl's Point of View became a million-seller. Soon after,
Regan left Uni for 20th Century Records. Without
Regan,
White's relationship with Uni soured.
With his relationship with Uni in chaos and
Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label,
White decided he needed to work with another act. He wanted to work with a male artist. He made three song demos of himself singing and playing the piano.
Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them as a recording artist. They argued for days before
Nunes somehow convinced
White to do it, and
White signed with 20th Century Records where
Regan was president;
Page did the arrangements on his early '70s hits. This decision led to
White having a gold- and platinum-laced recording career.
White got a contractual release from Uni for
Love Unlimited and they joined him at 20th Century.
On
Love Unlimited's second 20th Century album
In Heat, issued in fall 1974,
Gene Page arranged the majestic ballad "I Belong to You," which went to number one R&B in late 1974.
In Heat,
Love Unlimited's most exciting album, featured the same top-notch studio band heard on
White's hits,
Page's and
White's dynamic arrangements, the follow-up single "Share a Little Love in Your Heart" (number 21 R&B, spring 1975), the standout tracks "Move Me No Mountain" and "I Needed Love-You Were There," a long version of "I Belong to You," and "Love's Theme" -- with lyrics.
White continued to use
Page's talents on his productions for himself,
Love Unlimited, and the Love Unlimited Orchestra.
Gene Page recorded several albums, with the 1978 Arista LP
Close Encounters being the most successful. The title track, a disco cover of the
John Williams theme from the 1977
Steven Spielberg/Richard Dreyfuss movie, charted at number 30 R&B in early 1978.
In fall 1999, two
Barry White best-of sets that feature
Page-arranged tracks, All Time Greatest Hits and Greatest Hits Volume 1, were on Billboard's Top Pop Catalog Albums charts, due in part to
White's appearances on Fox-TV's Ally McBeal.
Gene Page died in his native Los Angeles in 1998.
–
Ed Hogan, Rovi