{"id":1007,"date":"2000-11-04T13:20:11","date_gmt":"2000-11-04T13:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theduanewells.com\/?p=1007"},"modified":"2018-07-29T03:22:48","modified_gmt":"2018-07-29T03:22:48","slug":"patti-labelle-when-a-woman-loves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/patti-labelle-when-a-woman-loves\/","title":{"rendered":"Patti LaBelle \u2013 When A Woman Loves"},"content":{"rendered":"

by duane wells<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There is probably no other singer on planet earth who sings a song quite like the incomparable Patti LaBelle. Whether as a part of the seminal 60\u2019s girl group, Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles or as the leader of the space age glam rock band, LaBelle, or as the definitive soul diva she has become as a solo artist, LaBelle\u2019s signature style, complete with swooping vocals and glass shattering notes, has left an indelible mark on music.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d think that it would be hard for Patti LaBelle to top herself at this point in her career, but with a voice that just seems to get better with age, the ever-changing diva once again raises the bar with her latest release.\u00a0\u00a0 On her ninth MCA album, When A Woman Loves<\/span><\/em><\/strong>, LaBelle delivers a career-defining set of heartwrenchingly beautiful songs that trace the many stages of a relationship from a woman\u2019s point of view.\u00a0\u00a0 Paired with lyrics written entirely for her by multiple Grammy award-winning songwriter Diane Warren and standout production by Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Miss Patti is at her all out best.<\/p>\n

I recently chatted via telephone with the down-home diva who was in the midst of packing for her promotional tour in support of When A Woman Loves<\/span><\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 Characteristically, Miss Patti told it like it was about everything from her recent separation and impending divorce from her husband of nearly 30 years to what really matters in a relationship.\u00a0 Now the diva speaks.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let\u2019s start with the important things.\u00a0 How many pairs of shoes are you up to these days?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe that you said that. [Laughs]\u00a0 My housekeeper was just in the dining room dumping out my bag and she said, \u2018This is pitiful! And this isn\u2019t even half the shoes in this house!\u2019.\u00a0 Do you know how many shoes I carry for four days?<\/p>\n

DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How many?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (Speaking to her housekeeper) What are there\u2026about 50 pairs of shoes down there?\u00a0 It\u2019s like 50 pairs of shoes.\u00a0 There are about 10 pairs of boots.\u00a0 It\u2019s so crazy.<\/p>\n

DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Are you still not driving?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Heck no!\u00a0 Can\u2019t drive, can\u2019t swim, can\u2019t smoke\u2026never learned to do any of those things.<\/p>\n

DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe that explains why your bio starts by quoting you saying \u201cI still have so much more to do, so many other things to try\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After such an amazing career what is it that the \u201chardest working woman in show business\u201d still wants to do?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I want to obtain some platinum.\u00a0 I want to become this real, real household name.\u00a0 I want to become a super, super, super, superstar.\u00a0 I mean I know I\u2019m blessed\u2026 but I still haven\u2019t gotten the recognition that\u2026say\u2026 Madonna has gotten.\u00a0 As far as my selling records, I haven\u2019t sold enough albums yet.\u00a0 So hopefully with this new album I can sell some more.<\/p>\n

DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let\u2019s talk about When A Woman Loves.\u00a0 You were going through a separation when you were recording the album.\u00a0 How did that affect you creatively?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, none of the songs were chosen because of that.\u00a0 At the time my ex-husband was choosing the songs with me because he was managing me. We just came to a point where we said we\u2019re really outgrowing each other so we\u2019re going to go our separate ways. The song Call Me Gone<\/em><\/strong> is the first single and it comes right in the midst of me going through all of this stuff, so it looks like this was planned but that\u2019s not the way God planned it.\u00a0\u00a0 It just happened that I recorded it at a time in my life when I was going through a divorce.<\/p>\n

DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now you do straight up dance music on this album for the first time in almost ten years\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dude I\u2019m doing straight up club music!<\/p>\n

DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You go Miss Patti!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well you know I\u2019m a thug at heart\u2026you know this!\u00a0 [Laughing] I love all that thug music and I love house music.\u00a0 So I was saying to Terry [Lewis] when we were doing Call Me Gone<\/em><\/strong> and Too Many Tears<\/em><\/strong>, let\u2019s change them to a different rhythm.\u00a0 So we went into the sound room and started working on some sounds and we decided let\u2019s go there with it.\u00a0 So we ended up going wherever that was on Call Me Gone<\/em><\/strong> and Too Many Tears<\/em><\/strong> we did like house music.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You also worked with Hex Hector?\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah he did Time Will<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What was that like?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It was a ballad at first and I love what he did with it.\u00a0 He turned that sucker out!\u00a0 I love what he came up with it because it almost sounds like \u2018White Girl Patti \u2013Cher\u2019 and it\u2019s not corny.\u00a0 [Laughs]<\/p>\n

DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Is there any song on the album that feels particularly autobiographical for you?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Maybe, When A Woman Loves<\/em><\/strong>, because my husband would always buy me beautiful things when all I wanted him to do was rub my feet or come in and pull out the vacuum and start vacuuming [laughing].\u00a0 Just little basic things. [But] that\u2019s not why we split up.<\/p>\n

DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How does Miss Patti feel about love at the moment?\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At this moment I\u2019m feeling very, very grown up\u2026very, very capable of being really, really loved, but not married.\u00a0 So I\u2019m not looking for anything or anyone, but whatever it is and whatever it will be will happen when it happens.\u00a0 I know I sure haven\u2019t turned my back on love.\u00a0 I\u2019m very open and very much alive<\/em>!<\/p>\n

DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What has 30 years of marriage and 56 years of life taught you about relationships?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Well, that they\u2019re wonderful.\u00a0 Actually for the 31 years that I was married, it was not bad at all.\u00a0 I guess I was tired of being married. I\u2019ve learned in my life, that a lot of times I\u2019ve done things to please other people, not really myself.\u00a0 But this time I said I\u2019m going to try to please myself and see how it works and it\u2019s working really well.<\/p>\n

DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You know speaking of 56 years of life, unlike many of your contemporaries\u2026?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I tell my age!\u00a0 (Laughing)<\/p>\n

DW:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 You do! Why is that?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

PL:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I love telling my age because I don\u2019t feel like whatever 56 is supposed to feel like.\u00a0 I feel timeless.\u00a0 I feel forever young. I love saying how old I am or how young I am, because most of my sisters died before they turned 45, so I\u2019m blessed to be 46 and then after that and after that and after that.\u00a0 So I just keep on talking about my age and letting people know that it\u2019s not a curse.\u00a0 It\u2019s a blessing to be living.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s a blessing to live in a world with the music of Miss Patti LaBelle. \u00a0Amen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by duane wells There is probably no other singer on planet earth who sings a song quite like the incomparable Patti LaBelle. Whether as a part of the seminal 60\u2019s girl group, Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles or as the leader of the space age glam rock band, LaBelle, or as the definitive soul diva […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88889,"featured_media":1011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1590,1588],"tags":[1133,1143,1147,1595],"class_list":["post-1007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","category-culture","tag-entertainment","tag-interview","tag-music","tag-patti-labelle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88889"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1007"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3768,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1007\/revisions\/3768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theduanewells.com\/staging3\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}