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Born Robert Bryson, Peabo Bryson's love of music mostly stemmed from his mother, who gave Bryson the best education in music she could when she would regularly take her family to concerts by some of the best R&B and soul singers of the age. Schooled by seeing the likes of Sam Cooke and Billie Holiday perform live, Bryson made his live debut at the tender age of 14, and by 16, he had left home to tour the chitlin' circuit as a backing singer for Moses Dillard and the Tex-Town Display. While he was singing with that band, they secured a recording session at Atlanta's Band Records and while the band themselves didn't impress the label's head, Eddie Biscoe, he was very taken with Bryson's voice. He signed Bryson to Bang as a writer, producer and arranger, while also encouraging Bryson to work on his own solo material. After working with the label for several years, Bryson made his debut in 1976 with his debut album “Peabo”.
The album didn't exactly set the charts alight but it did secure him a record deal with Capitol Records, and his next three albums, “Reaching For The Sky”, “Crosswinds” and “We're The Best Of Friends” did respectable business on the charts and were all certified Gold soon after release. As the 80's dawned, Bryson became best known for his duets, most notably with Roberta Flack, with whom he had his first top twenty hit on the Billboard charts in the form of 1983's “Tonight I Celebrate My Love”. A year later, he had his only solo top ten hit in the form of “If You're Ever In My Arms Again”. The 90's were even kinder to him due to The Walt Disney Company tapping him to record the lead singles to their animated films, leading to huge hits and even a Grammy award for “Beauty And The Beast”, which he sung with the iconic Celine Dion. Bryson tours to this very day, and continues to give ballad singer the world over a very good name. For that, he comes highly recommended.
Featuring Tony Borowiak, Jamie Jones, Delious Kennedy and Alfred Nevarez, as youngsters, the members were heavily involved with church choirs, an experience through which they developed their talents as vocalists. Interestingly, the band met in a California (US) studio, where they were recording commercial jingles, soon deciding to collaborate and begin their search for a recording contract. Having impressed through an audition for Blitzz Records, the vocal troupe were soon signed to the label.
In 1994, All-4-Men were ready to release their self-titled debut album, which became a runaway success through the singles “So Much In Love” and “I Swear,” with the latter becoming one of the biggest selling singles of the year. Having sold millions of copies and received a Grammy Award for ’Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal,’ the band looked set to become one of the biggest acts in pop, yet with a changing musical climate, All-4-Men were in need of a new direction.
With 1995’s “And the Music Speaks,” the quartet played it safe, delivering a middle-of-the-road record that failed to find appeal due its bland sound. Despite limited success, All-4-Men continued to remain popular through their appearance on the theme song for Disney’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame.” Their next release, “On and On,” was to be one of their strongest efforts, yet due to record label issues, its release date was pushed back to 1999 and it failed to meet with much success. Moving to AMC Records, 2001’s “A41” scored a Top 20 hit with “Beautiful As U,” offering a small return to form. Despite their lack of continued popularity, All-4-Men remained popular in Asia, with the quartet spending significant time touring in the region, as well as offering the Asia-only release, 2004’s “Split Personality.”
The group disappeared from the spotlight thereafter, not returning until 2009 where they were given a second chance with “No Regrets.” The album offered a return to form, gaining critical acclaim and gaining a number of hits on the Urban Adult Contemporary chart, most notably the single “My Child.” Despite failing to ensure longevity in the band's popularity throughout their career, nonetheless All-4-Men have sold an impressive 20 million records worldwide, making them amongst the most successful vocal acts of the '90s.
Best known for singing a range of soft-rock ballads, Peabo Bryson is an American R&B singer-song writer. I know him best for singing the Beauty and the Beast song with Céline Dion, a personal favourite of mine. If you're a Disney fan you're bound to love this guy like I do, just because of his performance. At only 14 years old, he made his first debut by singing backup for Al Freeman and the Upsetters. His name is actually Peapo, but due to people's difficulty in pronouncing his name, he decided to change it to Peabo. He has an enchantingly beautiful voice, I can't say many of his songs stick in my mine but I do love to listen to his music when I'm relaxing with a glass of wine. His greatest hits include 'Feel the Fire', 'I'm So Into You' and 'Crosswinds' and several more. He actually won a Grammy Award for his performance in Beauty and the Beast in 1992, including another one for 'A whole New World' from Aladdin, which he performed with Regina Belle. He's done several theater and opera productions throughout his career, which proves what a talented performer he is live. He can reach the hearts of everyone in an audience and would undoubtedly leave with a standing ovation at any of his performances. He is a very talented man that deserves a lot of appreciation from his fans.
‘Home’ is one of my favourite songs, and Ruben Studdard’s R&B twist on the song that opened the show was absolutely magical, and as his gospel voice rang out across the auditorium, he held every single member of the crowd in complete silence. After winning American Idol back some years ago, he was one of the lucky ones who rose to fame from the success, and has released many albums and singles with much success since his win.
He played through a great selection of his tracks, both covers and originals, and focused mainly on his 2009 album, Love Is. He was great at encouraging us all in the audience to sing and dance along to his music, and would shout out ‘if you know this one sing along and put your arms in the air’, which was awesome to feel so involved in his performances.
Studdard is an incredibly performer as well as vocalist, and his witty humour and confident stance held the audience captivated from start to finish. He even took requests for songs after he’d finished playing through his set list, which I thought was an awesome and really personal touch.
It’s probably fair to say that for any British solo artist, the holy grail is really being able to achieve transatlantic success; it’s actually incredible to take a step back and consider the fact that artists like Robbie Williams, capable of selling out Knebworth three times over here in the UK, is relatively obscure by way of comparison over in the States. Of course, Scotland can lay claim to having a female solo artist who’s managed that particular crossover in spectacular style in recent years, in the form of Susan Boyle, but it’s also fair to say that Sheena Easton - who hails from Belshill in North Lanarkshire - could also be viewed as similarly successful, given the fact that she matched her slew of top ten solo singles in this country - the likes of ‘Modern Girl’ and ‘9 to 5’ included - with a host of Grammy nominations over in America, two of which she’s won. With over twenty million records shifted to date, Easton has been relatively inactive in recent years, with last year’s remasters of a handful of her classic records being as close to new material as we’ve gotten in a while; she seldom tours, but would surely be able to book huge venues around the world if she chose to mount a comeback.
‘I swear like the shadow that’s by your side, I’ll be there for better or worse, till death do us part, I’ll love you with every beat of my heart, and I swear’…the lyrics from the All-4-One hit echoed around the intimate venue, and they opened their concert with their biggest hit. It seemed that there were lots of long time fans there, singing along, hands in the air, completely immersed in the moment. It was something really fantastic to be a part of, and a wonderful start to a concert.
The R&B group have had incredible success over their career, and have even bee dubbed the Dukes of R&B multiple times across the internet. After winning countless awards over the years, they have built up an incredible amount of critical acclaim, that has sent them touring the world time and time again. They’re great performers, working together flawlessly, bouncing off of each other, and transitioning seamlessly from one song to another.
They played a great variety of tracks, mainly from No Regrets, and Split Personality, but then revisited some of their older tracks for a nostalgic jam. When watching a band live, it’s so much more enjoyable when the musicians are having a good time, and All-4-One were absolutely loving it. I can’t fault the performance at all, I’ll definitely be going back.
The South venue was a very nice intimate setting. I enjoyed Lindsey Webster and Gerald Veseley, and the rest of the band. She gave personal accounts of her songs, memories of her mother, and it was her birthday. It is exciting and refreshing to hear such a beautiful voice and songs. I would love to see her again.