Number 1's

Since the success of the Beatles’ 1 album in 2000, the concept of compiling a collection of an artist’s number one hits has been another way of getting at the “greatest-hits” package. Of course, not many artists have an album’s worth of legitimate number one hits. Barry White does, by a liberal interpretation that includes all three of the trade magazines current in his era — Billboard and the now-defunct Cash Box and Record World — and all of the charts those publications assembled, as well as all of White’s projects, including his solo recordings, his instrumental ensemble the Love Unlimited Orchestra, and the female vocal trio he produced and wrote for, Love Unlimited. Add in the 1990 song “The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite),” credited to Quincy Jones Featuring Al B. Sure!, James Ingram, El DeBarge, and Barry White, and you have 12 hits dating back to 1973′s “Love’s Theme” by the Love Unlimited Orchestra and up to 1994′s “Practice What You Preach.” For good measure, the set adds five “Bonus Tracks: #2′s and More,” for a 72-minute running time. Actually, including the different White efforts improves the album by giving it some measure of diversity. A White hits album that simply presented his solo hits one after another would tend to emphasize their similarity as, in song after song, his deep bedroom voice murmured pillow talk, leading to a creamy chorus of more romantic blandishments spoken in ‘70s slang. Here, those tracks are broken up somewhat by the instrumentals and contrasting vocals. Still, it’s a remarkable run. White may have had only one thing to sell, but he found different ways to package it, and this album presents the highlights of his repertoire on a single disc. – William Ruhlmann