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Like Father, Like Son
Ladies Love Levert
Gerald Levert Has Reasons to Smile
Like Father, Like Son
The Washington Post, December 27, 2002 p06
by Richard Harrington.
Full text: Copyright 2002 The Washington Post Company.
Last year, Gerald Levert twice stepped into his father's shoes, once purposefully, once because of an accident.
The first time was actually the culmination of a lifelong homage to Eddie, founding member and lead singer of legendary vocal group the O'Jays. Part of an Ebony magazine sponsored African-American Men's Day gala in New York, "Footsteps: Walking the Path of Our Fathers" honored outstanding fathers from various professions -- others included Black Enterprise publisher Earl Graves Sr., Percy Sutton of Inner City Broadcasting and Dr. Walter Massey, president emeritus of Morehouse College. Eddie Levert was the only musician honored at the inaugural event.
"We have helped each other through all the trials and tribulations of this business, given each other strength and support," says Gerald, who began his career in the early '80s updating the O'Jays sound with the trio LeVert before embarking on a successful solo career in 1991. At the Ebony event, Gerald and brother Sean, also a solo artist, praised their father in words before Gerald and Eddie dueted on a riveting "Wind Beneath My Wings" that made the song's lyrics that much more immediate and meaningful.
"Sean and I noted that the O'Jays have put out so many hits over so many years [50 on the R&B charts since 1960], and yet they've never gotten a Grammy Award, they've never gotten the respect and justice that they deserved. They sang about things that were relevant to the times and are still relevant today and they were and are a great performing group," Gerald says. "Our thing was that this is from us to you, all your Grammys and American Music Awards wrapped up in one."
The other opportunity for the younger Leverts to step into their father's shoes was more literal. Just as the O'Jays were embarking on a tour, something they do six months out of the year, Eddie Levert slipped in a swimming pool and broke his foot. Yet the tour continued without missing a beat as Gerald and Sean took turns delivering classic hits and essaying the smooth dance routines they've known all their lives. Eddie Levert Sr. and Gerald Levert share the stage at DAR Constitution Hall this weekend.
"There's no word for the reward, for the feeling I get when I see Gerald or Sean do what they do," the senior Levert says proudly. Familial memories include the rigors of touring, long separations from family and the dedication and sacrifice a successful music career demands. Yet there were also numerous basement jam sessions with Eddie on keyboards, Gerald on drums, and Sean on bass, and the imparting of hard won wisdom.
"As I watch them, I think, you didn't do bad, Eddie, even though you weren't home as much as you wanted to be, even though there are things you see as a father that if you'd been there just a few more days and spent a little more time, you could've broke them of some bad habits," Eddie Levert says, slipping into an old role.
"I don't see Gerald Levert, the superstar, but the kid who I told 'I don't really want you to be in show business, I want you to go to college and get an education and do something that's a little bit more solid,' and him telling me 'Dad, I want to do this!' And me saying, 'If you're going to do this, you're going to have to come up to my standards before I even lift a hand to help you.' "
Adds Gerald, "He didn't push me to do this. He was just there to make sure that when I fell, he was there to help me up."
Of course, Eddie Levert didn't do a particularly convincing job discouraging his sons by plunging them into the strobe-lit wonders of the R&B and comedy circuit of the '60s and '70s.
"I was exposed to a lot of great things because my dad took me on the road a lot," Gerald recalls warmly. "As a little kid, I saw Gladys Knight and the Pips, Marvin Gaye, Flip Wilson and Richard Pryor, and it taught me a lot about performing, about timing, about just being able to capture a crowd's attention. As I got older, once I got some hit records, I was able to go out on tour with Patti Labelle, the O'Jays, the Whispers, the Temptations, Frankie Beverly. All these people taught me my craft. I took something from everybody to become what Gerald Levert is.
"But most of it I took from Eddie Levert."
Which turned out to be a pretty good source. Levert, Walter Williams and William Powell had begun their career in Canton, Ohio, in the late '50s, classmates at McKinley High who first sang as the Triumphs and the Mascots before settling on a name honoring a supportive Cleveland DJ, Eddie O'Jay. The O'Jays had some minor hits for Imperial and Bell ("Lonely Drifter," "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Than I Was Yesterday)") before hitting their stride with Philadelphia International Records and its songwriting producing owners, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. "Backstabbers" in 1972 was the O'Jays breakout hit, followed by such classics as "Love Train," "For the Love of Money," "Used to Be My Girl" and "Have You Had Your Love Today." O'Jays hits, a mix of romantic ballads, dance anthems and social critiques, helped Philadelphia International rival Motown as the most successful and influential black_owned label of the '70s.
They left Philadelphia International in the mid '80s, spent a decade at EMI and are currently signed to MCA. Oddly, last year's "For the Love" album marked the first time since the Imperial era that the O'Jays wrote their own songs.
"Before we got with Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, we'd spent a lot of years in obscurity writing our own material," Eddie Levert notes with a chuckle. "Gamble and Huff were so tenacious in writing songs and doing tracks, and we were so much in awe, that we stopped writing and just worked on developing ourselves as performers and that's what we put the focus on."
"[With 'For the Love'], we figured we might as well see if we could go back to basics," he adds. "We've had mediocre success with our writing and producing, but we've been able to survive because of our fan base."
The O'Jays fan base has remained loyal partly because of the old hits and partly because veteran R&B acts have always understood the value of showmanship. That was another lesson handed down to Eddie's sons, first in LeVert (which featured Gerald, Sean and Marc Gordon) and in Gerald's solo career.
"I really worked on my performance, on being a great entertainer, not just somebody who made good records, but who knew how to relate to the audience, how to have that special relationship with them that's so important," Gerald says.
"Baby Hold On to Me," the first single from Gerald Levert's 1991 debut, was a duet with Eddie; fittingly, it topped the chart in a rare bridging of R&B's generation gap. Father and son have often appeared at each other's concerts for a song or two and in 1995 they recorded what is thought to be the first father and son duet album, the appropriately titled "Father & Son." It includes "Wind Beneath My Wings," inspirational songs like "Apple Don't Fall Far From the Tree" and "I Got Your Back" as well as the kind of romantic missives you'd expect on both O'Jays and Gerald Levert albums.
"The easiest thing I've ever done," Eddie Levert says of "Father & Son." "I love what I do with the O'Jays but this was extra special, something that I dreamed about and wanted to do. There's a lot of love in that record."
With enough left over for another duet venture, which Eddie and Gerald hope to get to sooner than later. Eddie's also signed as a solo artist but has been too busy to pursue that particular option, which would mark his debut outside the O'Jays.
"Elektra signed me at 57 and now I'm 60 years old," he says. "Ain't that something! But I don't want to wait too long. I might have to be wheeled out!"
Based on the O'Jays' unflagging energies, that's not likely to happen. And while there's a whole lotta love on stage when the Leverts work together, there's also a definite rivalry.
"He wants to be the man, and he is the man," Eddie says of Gerald. "But I can't let him upstage me, because this is a competitive business and I'm still a competitor."
"People watch and compare," acknowledges Gerald. "I tell people I'm just the next thing to Eddie, so there will always be a Levert around doing something. If anything were to ever happen to him, I'm an extension of what he's done. I try to make him work a little harder."
Leave it to Eddie to get the last word in.
"Washington has always been a great place for the O'Jays and Gerald and what better way to consummate the year. I love my son and these are things you dream of, being able to work with him and have people come and see us, see what we do together. I'm looking forward to this gig and I'll be with my family. What more could a man ask for?"
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