作者Brien (B-jam)
看板RnB_Soul
标题[旧闻] Kevon Edmonds
时间Tue Dec 6 18:38:28 2005
VH1有一些关於Kevon的「轶事」,觉得蛮有趣的,谨提供给没看过的朋友们:
(来源:
http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/971737/06072000/edmonds_kevon.jhtml)
Kevon Edmonds Emulates Nat 'King' Cole's Elegance
Stylish R&B singer refuses to cut corners in music or business.
by Contributing Editor Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen
A lot of R&B singers talk about their love for the old school, but Kevon
Edmonds digs
really old-school music.
"I love Nat 'King' Cole," Edmonds said when asked to
name his favorite singers. "Just the smooth elegance of his voice."
It's an elegance Edmonds himself emulates, both vocally and musically, on his
debut solo album, 24/7. Ask the singer to describe his musical sensibility,
and the first words you'll hear are "melody conscious."
He's not about production tricks or sledgehammer hooks, he says. His latest
single, "No Love (I'm Not Used to)," reflects his love for melody lines that
draw listeners in slowly, until they're caught up in a lovely chorus or
seductive bridge. It's at #32 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart.
Even though he's focused on melody and vocal technique, Edmonds sees those
things as merely a vehicle for delivering a song's emotional punch. "I become
less conscious of how high the note is and more in tune lyrically to what the
message is," he said. "It's not a technical thing. It's a feeling."
Kevon (pronounced Keh-VAHN) got his start singing with his brother Melvin and
Keith Mitchell as the group After 7, who scored hit singles with "Ready or
Not" and "Can't Stop" from its platinum-selling, self-titled 1989 debut. They
released two more albums before 1996, when Mitchell decided to pursue his own
business interests, leaving the trio a duo wondering where to go from there.
Trying to find someone to replace Mitchell turned out to be harder than the
Edmonds brothers thought it would be, and soon they decided just to dissolve
After 7. That gave Kevon the chance to pursue a solo career, something he had
been considering for some time.
"Shortly after the inception of After 7, I was approached by some of the
staff at the record label who would whisper in my ear about going solo,"
Edmonds said. "But we had just gotten started. That would have been bailing
out on my brother and Keith, and I was not prepared to do a solo record yet."
Out On His Own
His solo musings got sidetracked when his other brother, Kenneth "Babyface"
Edmonds, began looking for singers to make up a fictional vocal group for the
movie "Soul Food." Kevon and Melvin joined K-Ci & JoJo (born Gedric and Joel
Hailey) — who had just left the group Jodeci — to form Milestone, who
performed in the movie and released the hit ballad "I Care About You" in 1997.
Edmonds said the group considered making a whole album as Milestone, but the
logistics of picking a producer and label were too complicated. So he began
selecting songs for the album that became 24/7. That allowed him to work with
some old friends, including former After 7 drummer Angelo Ray, who wrote the
title track (RealAudio excerpt).
"That song is just sweet with melody," Edmonds said. "You don't have to think
when you sing it, you don't have to remember what the lyrics are. It just
comes to you."
Not so for "Baby Come to Me" (RealAudio excerpt), which Babyface co-wrote.
The song's soaring bridge presented Edmonds with a challenge. "Kenny wrote
the melody to the bridge, and my brain wouldn't accept at first that I could
sing it," Edmonds said. "It took several shower rehearsals for me to be able
to sing the notes. They're just so high."
Fight For The Right
He points to "Love Will Be Waiting" as another favorite. "It's like a
throwback to some of the 1970s, Marvin Gaye kind of feel," he said. He loved
the song so much that even though another artist was slated to sing it,
Edmonds fought to make the song his own.
"This guy wouldn't even leave the tape alone with me, he knew how badly I
wanted it," Edmonds said, laughing. "But I wanted to go about getting it the
right way. A lot of people in this business just cut corners and don't have
any real regard for ethics."
Edmonds and the other artist, whom he wouldn't name, sat down with the writer
and came to the conclusion that his voice — a sweet but strong high tenor —
was better suited to the track. "It's just the simple melody that grabbed
me," he said.
Edmonds is branching out to acting, and will appear on a June 19 episode of
the soap opera "All My Children." He'll also sing on the show, though a
spokesperson for him said she did not know what song he'll perform.
感想
1. 原来"Kevon"的发音重音在後面,我都把它当Kevin念…。
2. Kevon极限音在high E!也就是文中所说,Babyface帮他写的"Baby Come to Me"中,
bridge的最後一个音"from here to eterni
ty~~~"(听的出来真的很难唱)。一直以为
他可以再唱高一点的说,哈哈。
3. 一个团中总是那几个常被忽略的人先出走…Keith Mitchell、Mike McCary…。
4. Kevon看来是个羞怯而优柔寡断的人。如果没有Babyface带着他,他的好声音可能永
远不会被发现。就如他所说,他在中学前因害羞而不敢加入教堂诗班,都只是唱给自
己爽(to my own satisfaction)。然而也是因为Babyface的缘故吧!他处处都会被标
上"Babyface的兄弟",除了专辑发行还会因为Babyface太忙而被搁着,歌曲也须依赖
Babyface制作写曲。或许,After 7留给我们一些值得回味的好歌,但我想,若在一
开始Kevon就有勇气以单飞姿态出辑,不知会是什麽样呢?(当然,他必须有除了唱情
歌之外更多的才华)
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Brien "B-jam" John
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1F:→ prexceed:Keon,Kanyon,Rasheed,Jamaal..重音也一样 61.228.90.156 12/07 11:38