Alex Henderson

Encore:          Freda Payne

By Alex Henderson


In the R&B world, Detroit native Freda Payne is best known for her 1970 smash “Band of Gold”—which was written and produced by the famous  Brian Holland/Lamont Dozier/Eddie Holland, Jr.  team and went down in history as a definitive example  of Motor City soul. Payne had other major R&B hits as  well in the ‘70s, including “Bring the Boys Home” (a protest against U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War),  “Cherish What Is Dear to You” and “Deeper and  Deeper”. But those who know a lot about Payne’s  history realize that vocal jazz and jazz-influenced traditional pop are also important parts of her history. Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday were among Payne’s  early influences and her first album, After the Lights Go  Down Low and Much More!!!, was a jazz recording that
the late Bob Thiele produced for Impulse Records in  1963 (alto saxophonist Phil Woods, tenor saxophonist  Zoot Sims, pianist Hank Jones and guitarist Jim Hall
were among the major-league participants). And Payne
has come full circle with her new Artistry Music Group/Mack Avenue release, Come Back to Me Love,
which emphasizes vocal jazz and is her first new studio  recording in over a decade. Arranged by pianist Bill Cunliffe and produced by Cunliffe and Al Pryor, Come
Back to Me Love ranges from several new songs to  familiar standards such as “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry,” “Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most,” “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” and Lionel Hampton’s “Midnight Sun”.

“I have a long history with jazz,” explains Payne, who is now 71 and lives in Los Angeles. “So this new
album is not to be treated like, ‘Oh, this is a first-time thing.’ This is not like Linda Ronstadt doing her first
standards album.”

Come Back to Me Love moves into jazz-blues territory with performances of Eddie Miller’s “I’d
Rather Drink Muddy Water” and Buddy Johnson’s “Save Your Love for Me” and the album takes a
Brazilian turn with Ivan Lins’ “The Island”—which is an appropriate choice given that back in 1962, Payne’s first single was an English-language performance of a
famous Brazilian standard: Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Desafinado.” Payne asserts: “Let’s just say that
‘Desafinado’ and ‘The Island’ belong in the same restaurant, but have very different ingredients. I did
‘Desafinado’ more staccato, more poppish, whereas I did ‘The Island’ like I was in a dream—like I was going  through a sexual experience. The way I did ‘The Island’
is very ethereal.”

“When the label asked me who I would like to  work with, my only suggestion was Bill,” Payne recalls.
Cunliffe had collaborated with Payne at an Ella Fitzgerald tribute at the Catalina Bar & Grill in Hollywood. “The label had their own list of people in case I didn’t recommend someone, but Bill was my choice. Bill’s a great person to work with. I’ve worked  with so many different producers over the years and they’re always wanting to force their ideas on you. But
Bill was open to my ideas. We chose the songs together
and most of the songs were my suggestions.”

Payne’s involvement with Detroit soul took a major step forward in 1969, when she signed with Hot
Wax/Invictus Records—the Detroit-based outfit that
Holland/Dozier/Holland founded after leaving Motown Records. Payne’s first single for the label,
“The Unhooked Generation”, was a minor hit, but it was “Band of Gold” that made her a major name in
R&B—and like other hit singles that Hot Wax/Invictus  released in the early ‘70s (including “Want Ads” by
Honey Cone and “Give Me Just a Little More Time” by the Chairmen of the Board), “Band of Gold” had the Detroit soul stamp all over it.

But despite her emphasis on R&B in the ‘70s, Payne never quit performing jazz or traditional pop. “I never did a strict R&B show in a club,” notes Payne, whose
younger sister, Scherrie Payne, sang in a post-Diana Ross lineup of The Supremes from 1973-77. “I would do ‘Band of Gold’ and ‘Bring the Boys Home,’ but then I would do other material. I would do standards.

Maybe a blues number here and there. Maybe I would do Duke Ellington’s ‘In a Sentimental Mood’.” Payne continues: “Most of the people who are coming to see
me live come to hear ‘Band of Gold’ but most of them—  not all of them—know that I do more than ‘Band of  Gold.’ And a comment I hear a lot is, ‘You sing jazz
even better than you sing ‘Band of Gold’.” • 

For more information, visit fredapayne.com. Payne is at B.B. King’s Blues Bar Aug. 9th, 2014 See Calendar.

Recommended Listening:

• Freda Payne—After the Lights Go Down Low  and Much More!!! (Impulse, 1963)
• Freda Payne—In Stockholm (Sonet, 1965)
• Freda Payne—How Do You Say I Don’t Love You
Anymore (MGM-Universal, 1966)
• Freda Payne—Band of Gold (Invictus, 1970)
• Freda Payne—An Evening With Freda Payne (Live in
Concert) (Dove/Varese, 1993)
• Freda Payne—Come Back To Me Love   (Artistry Music Group/Mack Avenue, 2013) 

Freda Payne performing on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1970.