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There have been many family acts, and many musicians who have watched their offspring go on to become performers as well. Today's post is dedicated to Eddie, Sean, and Gerald Levert - as well as The O'jays, LeVert, and LSG (Levert, Sweat, and Gill) by extension.
This legacy all started when Eddie LeVert and a few of his acquaintances formed a singing group, which would eventually be known as the R&B/Classic Soul group The O'jays. Eddie Levert(the lead singer) had a massive amount of success with The O'Jays throughout the 1960's and 1970's, with hit songs such as "Backstabbers", "For The Love Of Money", "Brandy", "You've Got Your Hooks In Me" (my absolute favorite song of theirs), "Love Train", "Stairway to Heaven", a very beautiful live rendition remake of "Wildflower" (Eddie Levert really outdoes himself on the vocals on this one!), and several others.
Years later, in the mid-1980's, Eddie Levert's sons, Sean and Gerald (he has another son - Eddie Jr. - who runs an Entertainment company), would go on to form a singing group of their own with a friend (Marc Gordon), with Gerald usually singing the lead.
This group, known simply as LeVert (the V was capitalized in the group's name, but their last name does not have a capital V), also spawned several R&B hits throughout the late 1980's - early 1990's, such as "Casanova", "ABC-123" (not a remake of the Jackson 5 song, btw), "Baby I'm Ready", "(Pop Pop Pop Pop) Goes My Mind", and "Just Coolin'". I'm showing my age here, but I remember when all of those songs came out and were played regularly on black radio. They wore OUT Casanova.
Eventually, however, Gerald Levert branched off on his own in a solo career, with hits such as "I'd Give Anything", "Taking Everything" and its remix with the loltastical video, and "Made To Love Ya". He also released a collaboration album with his father, Eddie (he had previously collaborated with him on the #1 single "Baby Hold On To Me") - appropriately named "Father & Son", which spawned two hits ("I'm Already Missing You" and a soulful remake of "The Wind Beneath My Wings").
Also, he managed to form the group LSG (Levert, Sweat and Gill) with fellow R&B singers Keith Sweat (another hit singer) and Johnny Gill (a former member of New Edition who also had quite a few hit songs). LSG had hits such as "My Body" and "Door #1". Gerald Levert also founded several groups (Men at Large, Rude Boys) and penning hit songs for them and others (the late Barry White among them).
His brother, Sean Levert, also released solo works. However, although he had a singing talent equivalent to his brother and father - as evidenced in this tribute to legendary group The Dells (Sean is the shortest one) - he did not gain their level of success, sadly (even sadder is that I couldn't find working audio files of his solo work).
Sadly, both Gerald Levert and Sean Levert passed away within two years of each other (Gerald from accidental prescription drug overdose in 2006; Sean from sarcoidosis/withdrawal from prescription drugs while in prison in 2008), leaving behind their father and other families. Sean's death is under investigation by the FBI. As I posted once before, Gerald's death was the celebrity death that has - to this date - affected me the most. I still can't listen to his music without feeling such an absolute loss. In fact, going and finding all the Youtube videos and audio files of their songs brought me to tears.
My intentions on posting all of these posts this month is to recognize black men and women who have left a legacy in American History. Where does the Levert family fit into this - a group of men who have had tons of hits, but have been undersung in comparison to other singers and groups from the same time periods?
These men have left a legacy on R&B/Soul music that mainstream America will never fully fathom. The O'Jays - who have been inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - are not nearly as wide-known as the Temptations, but they left an impact on the soul singers that followed them. The group LeVert is an afterthought in comparison to - say - Boys II Men - but their music helped shape contemporary R&B groups and singers that came after them. Gerald Levert did not have nearly the radioplay as Usher, but he is a singer that several Neo-Soul and modern R&B/Hip Hop artists point to when discussing the artists that influenced their works. That, combined with many of the songs they put out and all the fans they touched, is their legacy.
This legacy all started when Eddie LeVert and a few of his acquaintances formed a singing group, which would eventually be known as the R&B/Classic Soul group The O'jays. Eddie Levert(the lead singer) had a massive amount of success with The O'Jays throughout the 1960's and 1970's, with hit songs such as "Backstabbers", "For The Love Of Money", "Brandy", "You've Got Your Hooks In Me" (my absolute favorite song of theirs), "Love Train", "Stairway to Heaven", a very beautiful live rendition remake of "Wildflower" (Eddie Levert really outdoes himself on the vocals on this one!), and several others.
Years later, in the mid-1980's, Eddie Levert's sons, Sean and Gerald (he has another son - Eddie Jr. - who runs an Entertainment company), would go on to form a singing group of their own with a friend (Marc Gordon), with Gerald usually singing the lead.
This group, known simply as LeVert (the V was capitalized in the group's name, but their last name does not have a capital V), also spawned several R&B hits throughout the late 1980's - early 1990's, such as "Casanova", "ABC-123" (not a remake of the Jackson 5 song, btw), "Baby I'm Ready", "(Pop Pop Pop Pop) Goes My Mind", and "Just Coolin'". I'm showing my age here, but I remember when all of those songs came out and were played regularly on black radio. They wore OUT Casanova.
Eventually, however, Gerald Levert branched off on his own in a solo career, with hits such as "I'd Give Anything", "Taking Everything" and its remix with the loltastical video, and "Made To Love Ya". He also released a collaboration album with his father, Eddie (he had previously collaborated with him on the #1 single "Baby Hold On To Me") - appropriately named "Father & Son", which spawned two hits ("I'm Already Missing You" and a soulful remake of "The Wind Beneath My Wings").
Also, he managed to form the group LSG (Levert, Sweat and Gill) with fellow R&B singers Keith Sweat (another hit singer) and Johnny Gill (a former member of New Edition who also had quite a few hit songs). LSG had hits such as "My Body" and "Door #1". Gerald Levert also founded several groups (Men at Large, Rude Boys) and penning hit songs for them and others (the late Barry White among them).
His brother, Sean Levert, also released solo works. However, although he had a singing talent equivalent to his brother and father - as evidenced in this tribute to legendary group The Dells (Sean is the shortest one) - he did not gain their level of success, sadly (even sadder is that I couldn't find working audio files of his solo work).
Sadly, both Gerald Levert and Sean Levert passed away within two years of each other (Gerald from accidental prescription drug overdose in 2006; Sean from sarcoidosis/withdrawal from prescription drugs while in prison in 2008), leaving behind their father and other families. Sean's death is under investigation by the FBI. As I posted once before, Gerald's death was the celebrity death that has - to this date - affected me the most. I still can't listen to his music without feeling such an absolute loss. In fact, going and finding all the Youtube videos and audio files of their songs brought me to tears.
My intentions on posting all of these posts this month is to recognize black men and women who have left a legacy in American History. Where does the Levert family fit into this - a group of men who have had tons of hits, but have been undersung in comparison to other singers and groups from the same time periods?
These men have left a legacy on R&B/Soul music that mainstream America will never fully fathom. The O'Jays - who have been inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame - are not nearly as wide-known as the Temptations, but they left an impact on the soul singers that followed them. The group LeVert is an afterthought in comparison to - say - Boys II Men - but their music helped shape contemporary R&B groups and singers that came after them. Gerald Levert did not have nearly the radioplay as Usher, but he is a singer that several Neo-Soul and modern R&B/Hip Hop artists point to when discussing the artists that influenced their works. That, combined with many of the songs they put out and all the fans they touched, is their legacy.
