Although best known for a long and successful career as a Nashville arranger, Bergen White also recorded one of the Holy Grails of soft-pop: 1970's lush, melancholy For Women Only, a minor classic of its genre. According to Steve Stanley's comprehensive liner notes published in Rev-Ola's 2004 reissue of For Women Only, White was born in Miami, Oklahoma in 1939, the son of a Baptist minister who regularly moved his family from city to city throughout the southern half of the U.S. The Whites finally settled in Nashville when Bergen was 14; there he befriended fellow music fans Bobby Russell and Buzz Cason, with whom he later recorded a single credited to the Todds. After college, White taught math and science for two years before Russell persuaded him to resume their musical collaboration, this time as staff vocalists with Bill Beasley's soundalike label Hit Records, an imprint infamous for cutting carbon-copy knockoffs of chart hits that were commonly sold in supermarkets and priced to move. Hit not only offered White an opportunity to hone his vocal skills, but he was also allowed to compose original material for release via the b-sides of the label's singles. In time White was taken under the wing of Nashville producer Bill Justis and offered the chance to begin arranging recording sessions. He also joined the Justis-sponsored hot-rod group Ronny and the Daytonas as a vocalist--best known for their pop smash? G.T.O." the band's ranks later included White's old schoolmate Buzz Cason as well. With a growing number of session dates now under his belt, in 1967 White signed to Monument to record his first solo single? If It's Not Asking Too Much" an exquisitely melancholy slice of string-sweetened pop, the record earned little commercial attention, and its creator resumed his work behind the scenes. In 1969 he agreed to record a full-length LP for Shelby Singleton's SSS label, enlisting the assistance of noted session guitarist and engineer Wayne Moss, owner of Nashville's legendary Cinderella Studio. The resulting For Women Only appeared the following year--an ornate and elegant work of richly-detailed harmony-pop, both the album and its lead single? It's Over Now" failed to chart. — Jason Ankeny, All Music Guide
|
Online Now!
