🎵When the Boys Cover Whitney Houston #2: "Greatest Love of All," March 1986 (Michael Masser & Linda Creed)
One of Substack's most popular & respected writers, Andy of the engaging "The Vinyl Room," hops over the velvet rope line, FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE, as we continue our romp through a legend's catalog!
Once upon a time, a girl delivered an inspirational message of self-empowerment.
The message was not new, but her performance gave it epic proportions.
Some men, inspired by her legacy, took on the challenge. Most failed.
Two men were brave enough to follow through. While they lived to tell the tale, it wasn't an easy ride. They struggled. Way more than she had.
The moral of the story is never underestimate a girl when she steps to a microphone ready to conquer the world.
Turns out it sometimes takes two (or four) men to do justice to a woman.
Join my friend Brad (from the wonderful Front Row and Backstage) and me as we analyse two male covers of this pop anthem.
Can these two male writers and these two male singers do Whitney’s work justice?
You’ll be the judge! -
Welcome to Part 2 of our musical road trip to Houston…The hits of Whitney Houston, that is, from the male perspective! Since Whitney’s award-winning career began in the mid-’80s, she’s not only had an abundance of mega-hits, but many recording artists have covered her hits, including a surprisingly large number of male artists!
Please enjoy our debut edition of “When the Boys Cover Whitney Houston,” here, as we dug deep into her “Saving All My Love For You” and “How Will I Know” with some striking covers by select male artists:
of The Vinyl Room, as our foreign correspondent in the UK! His creative writing style will also bring us a unique British point-of-view, as well as a “hip” 21st-century flavor!
Jet-setting Andy knows his way, comfortably, around pop songbirds. Here he is in Norway in 2018, with another one of Whitney’s longtime fans, Mariah Carey.
Whitney’s 3rd Straight #1, March 1986: “Greatest Love of All”
Early the following year (around February 1987), Whitney (in the video following) performs the song at the 29th Grammy Award telecast. For perspective, keep in mind that the star-studded (and sufficiently jaded) Hollywood audience certainly knows it is witnessing a great singer, but a scant two years into her career, they can’t know they’re observing the birth of a legend (although some may cannily suspect)!
That’ll take time and more hits; sadly, she had far less of the former, but still managed an impressive number of the latter. Fun focus: Narrow gown + heels + a dozen stairs…at about the 1:10 mark, Whitney begins the long descent down the dozen steps the Grammy producers (they had to be men, right? Clearly, they’ve never tried this!) saw fit to put in her way to maneuver her trip down-stage.
At step #2, she does a curious cross-step onto #3, which then forces her to re-group her balance a bit before taking every other step non-stop! The work of a true pro! Also, at the tail end of the video, note John Denver is sitting behind proud and beaming mama, the late Cissy Houston.
“The Greatest Love of All” was written by Michael Masser (who composed the music), and Linda Creed (above), who wrote the lyrics. Creed was a regular lyricist for the late Philly International Records co-founder/composer/conductor, Thom Bell, in the ‘70s. Together, they wrote many R&B/pop/dance hits. Creed died at 37 in April 1986, a month after Arista Records released Whitney’s “Greatest Love of All.” She didn’t live long enough to see Ms. Houston hit the top spot with her song.
Houston’s version was originally the B-side of “You Give Good Love” 13 months earlier, in February 1985, but the amount of airplay it received (as DJs flipped it) persuaded Arista to release it as a single in its own right.
“The Greatest Love of All” (Whitney/Arista dropped the “The” on her record) was originally recorded in 1977 by George Benson (for Arista), who made the song a hit, peaking at #2 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart that year, the first R&B Top Ten hit for the label.
The song was written and recorded to be the main theme of the 1977 film The Greatest, a biopic of boxer Muhammad Ali, and is performed during the opening credits. Here’s George, performing his hit on The Midnight Special, September 23, 1977:
According to Jackie Helman in the June 8, 1986 Los Angeles Times, after he had been asked to write the song for the movie, Masser (who died at 74 in 2015) felt drawn to Jerusalem, even though he was not a religious man, “to get the feelings—not just my own.” Masser also told the Times his special feelings about Ali:
“Here was a man who wanted to change his name and religion. That’s all. Ali hadn’t believed in the war in Vietnam and had refused to fight in it. He won that battle through the legal system. Still, he lost everything—including his title. But Ali retained the most important thing of all—his dignity.”
Masser (who produced Whitney’s record) also told the Times that the song had another personal meaning for him to give up a legal career to pursue his interest in music, adding, “People thought I was crazy. I had to starve. Had no money. Marriage broke up. But, I had to do what I’d wanted to do since I was 6...write music.”
Upon his return from Jerusalem, he contracted with lyricist Creed to work on the song and wrote it right from the heart, with Creed drawing inspiration from her family [at this point, in 1977, Creed was recovering from breast cancer]. Then Masser had George Benson perform the song for the soundtrack. He said, “The record came out and the song became an underground theme for Black people.”
Andy’s POV
This song came into my life more than a decade after its release. It was in the late ‘90s, during my foundational years, when I discovered acrobatic singing courtesy of the best teachers you could think of at the time: Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, and George Michael. Their records, particularly their back catalogues, changed my life forever.
We all know Whitney’s version is untouchable: Her warmth as she delivers a beautiful message of self-love and empowerment, coupled with her unwavering determination never to walk in anyone’s shadows, is only matched by her outstanding dexterity in navigating some of the sharpest curves in contemporary singing.
Songs like this one, much the same as Mariah’s “Vision of Love,” belong in a completely different league. They are impossible to master unless you are both a very strong singer and ready to put in untold amounts of hard work.
Vocally, from a technical standpoint, range, agility, intonation, and control are all hugely important to do this song justice. Yet, there is an essential element without which you are most certainly doomed to fail: breathing, baby. You’d better fill those lungs of yours with air, because you’re going to need a hella ton of it!
Ms. Houston made it sound easy: In her early years, not once could you hear her gasping for air. When she sang live, she was usually covered in sweat, in full-body-workout mode, but the magic she worked meant you couldn’t hear the effort in her voice.
Andy’s Favorite Cover: Tim Seelig, 1995
Tim Seelig (who longed to be an opera singer since college) has been the Artistic Director and Conductor of the 42-year-old, trailblazing San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (www.sfgmc.org) since 2011. Raised in a Southern Baptist family and closeted until his 30s, Seelig, who previously worked with Dallas’ LGBTQ+ Turtle Creek Chorale (www.turtlecreekchorale.com) for 20 years, boasts an incredible resume and bio: He carried the Olympic torch in 1996, met Queen Elizabeth II in 1992, was friends with Maya Angelou, and conducted at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center dozens of times!
Tim Seelig’s version caught my ear for various reasons: To start with, I didn’t know about this singer, who obviously sounds like he’s had some very solid classical training. He does a superb job in elevating the song to new heights, literally and metaphorically, and he gives it a solemn, almost royal, kind of vibe.
Interestingly, and despite his strong technique, he seems to gasp for air at times as he tackles one of the song’s many challenges: Extremely long-winded verses with an unforgiving tempo. To make things harder, this song was not written to be sung with his classical, operatic style. He does an impressive job, though, at giving it a completely new lease on life.
I loved hearing him soar in the bridge and chorus sections. Towards the end, he blesses us with beautifully-crafted dynamics. I particularly enjoyed his modulation in the last line and how he went for the high harmony when he sang the last note. You need an incredibly clever singer to cover another, and Tim Seelig passed the test with flying colours!
Eric Dodge is a country boy at heart. When not on stage performing his favorite songs, you can find him out riding horses or 4 wheelers or camping out at his family’s ranch. He loves anything outdoors including fishing and hiking.
Eric discovered his passion for singing in a most unusual and inspiring way: While always having a strong love for music, his greatest fear was to share that passion publicly. On September 11th, 2001, Eric was on a cruise ship outside of Mexico. That fateful day was when Eric made his decision to no longer be afraid.
He stepped up to the microphone aboard the ship to share his voice and love of music. He was no longer willing to let his fear keep him from what was truly his gift to the world. He opened up his heart and sang Garth Brooks’ 1990 song, “The Dance.”
After his performance, a passenger approached him and encouraged him to pursue a singing career. Just as many others were changed by the events of 9/11, Eric took her words to heart and decided to follow his heart into the world of country music.
Interview with the Songwriter
Rare, never-aired, far-reaching TV interview with Michael Masser from 1986. It was taped and poised to air on a show that was cancelled before editing could begin! Michael begins talking about Whitney and “Greatest Love of All” at about the 31:00 mark:
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