Lavine Hudson: A straight ahead gospel singer trying to make sense of the pop/R&B world

Tuesday 1st October 1991

Britain's most heavily promoted black gospel singer LAVINE HUDSON, talks to James Attlee about her humble beginnings, exciting present and the tensions existing between rootsy church and glitzy showbiz.



Continued from page 1

"In America, as soon as you walk into a record company you're R&B, before you open your mouth - if you're white, you're pop, without them even hearing your music. At Virgin they told me that I could do what I want, they were just interested in the voice."

Much of her first album's freshness and originality came from the fact that she tapped into an under-exploited well-spring of talent and used producers and musicians from British gospel circles.

"I wanted to utilise that, I wanted to help out a lot of the talent coming up on the scene. At the same time, with the second album I felt that if l did that again I wouldn't grow and I needed to be with people to pull me up. If we're all at the same level it won't work, we can't really grow."

No expense has been spared in surrounding Lavine with names of stellar proportions in an effort to aid this growing process, although such practices are not always a guarantee of artistic success and can paradoxically lead to a diminution rather than an increase in an artist's stature. Over-dominant producers, far from helping artists to project their songs, tend to rob them of individuality, leading to a bland, identikit record product To my ears, parts of 'Between Two Worlds' comes perilously close to soul-by-numbers.

Lavine Hudson: A straight ahead gospel singer trying to make sense of the pop/R&B world

Chief producer Rhett Lawrence has recent production credits with Mariah Carey, as well as having projects with the Bee Gees and Barbara Streisand on his varied CV. Importantly, in Lavine's eyes, he also has gospel in his background, having been brought up in church under Andrae Crouch. Similarly Lemel Humes turns out to be the son of a bishop in New York, although what chiefly attracted Lavine to his production style was his preference for using live bands in the studio.

British producers only get a look in on two tracks - Carl Macintosh of Loose Ends, who mixed "Flesh Of My Flesh" on 'Intervention', co-wrote and produced one of the more commercial-sounding cuts, "Hold On Through The Night", at the insistence of Lavine's A&R man, who demanded "at least one British element" on the album. Meanwhile Nicki Brown, who did a lot of the production on 'Intervention', is relegated to the album's closer, a traditional-flavoured ballad.

The biggest name drafted in on 'Between Two Worlds', notwithstanding the likes of Phil Bailey and Bebe Winans lurking in the backing vocal credits, has to be that of Phil "Buster" Collins -- everybody's favourite middle-aged white soul artist, and not a bad songwriter to boot How did the first single to be released from the album come to be a previously unheard Collins/Lamont Dozier composition called 'All I Need?

"What happened was that Virgin said to me 'who would you most like to work with? So I quoted all these names like Quincey Jones and all these people and I just threw in Phil Collins' name, because 'Another Day In Paradise' was out at the time and I loved that so I said 'Oh yeah, and Phil - ' not really thinking that I would get him because to me he's" (she demonstrates by raising a hand to the ceiling) "up there, you know.

"A couple of weeks later the A&R guy came back and said' Phil will do it' and I was like, whaat? I shocked myself. We got together and Phil said he had some songs left over from' But Seriously' and I should go through them and see if there was anything I liked - if there wasn't he would write something for my voice. I heard 'All I Need' and I fell in love with it because it was such a simple melody line, that*s what l love about his stuff, and the words really meant a lot to me -- so we used it"

There's a clue to the tensions that a performer from Lavine's background experiences in the music business in the tide of the album.

It's called 'Between Two Worlds' because coming from a church background which, is very strict; still being a gospel artist, but reaching out to a non-gospel audience, it causes a pressure on me - I'm constantly walking a fine line. The worlds are far apart, the church world and what we call the secular world. I'm in the middle, almost like a mediator... rooted in the church but reaching out to people who are not in the church. Different churches have reacted differently to what I'm trying to do - traditional black churches are a bit tough on it, they don't give me their full support. More contemporary churches like Kensington Temple and Victory Church are 100 percent behind it I have to hold to what I believe in and not be manipulated by tradition, because a lot of tradition doesn't stem from the Bible, it's a lot of man-made laws on top of that.

"Some people from the gospel scene see me as selling out, because I find that once you have exceeded their audience...They want to cling onto you, they want to hold you for themselves, if they can have you just singing to them in church they'll love to death. Once they're not controlling you and you're doing the same music, they'll shy away from you. It's tricky, but I've dealt with it"

So would she still sing on a bill with some of her gospel peers?

"Oh yeah, it depends on the concert.. I still do a lot of church singing, Victory Church invited me to sing at their convention and I went to sing... I don't want to just be on a gospel bill, because it's the same audience. I like to do gospel and reach a new audience, like when I supported Joe Cocker. I don't see the point of always singing to the same gospel audience -a lot of them don't understand that, but that's the way I feel. My new album is still gospel in that the root of what I'm trying to say is gospel, but it s in a more contemporary form so the people on the street can understand it"

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Reader Comments

Posted by Paul Cantwell in Milton Keynes @ 14:41 on Nov 30 2017

In the 80's I worked for Marshall Arts and did a small tour with Lavine, round Europe supporting Joe Cocker, ending up at the Hammersmith Odeon(as it was then) opening for Davd Peaston, a great little tour.



Posted by Fred W Frank in Springfield, IL USA @ 16:06 on Nov 2 2017

Where can I get contact info to convey my sympathy to her family..so saddened by her loss.



Posted by fred W Frank in springfield IL USA @ 19:29 on Oct 15 2017

Its a shame that Lavine didnt achieve the popularity and recognition here that she had in GB. in the late 80s- early 90s I was looking for more & diversifying my tastes into Christian music when I saw Between Two Worlds on a Christian Video channel and was immediately taken in not only by her vocals but her charm and beauty. At that time I never did find her CD or video and kinda gave up. Have since recently found her on YouTube but SO SAD learning of her death. WOW what beauty & talent, what an Entrepeneur she was seeing her niche, what a loss for us and a gain for Heaven! It will NEVER be the same up There! RIP Levine!



Posted by aedan in peterborough @ 15:05 on Sep 8 2017

lavine i loved her, her music was lovely. she has gone home to be with the lord, bless her lord and keep her safe, amen



Posted by Tashika in london @ 09:40 on Apr 16 2017

We miss you so much angel Lavine, I know you are in the arms of your father, sleep im peace



Posted by Amanda Jane duncan @ 19:45 on Apr 12 2017

May you rest in peace beautiful x may your family find peace in their loss x



Posted by Phe in Uk @ 02:01 on Apr 10 2017

I'm sorry say Levine Hudson died on Wednesday 4th April 2017. I was searching for more information and came across this website so I'd thought I would let you know.



Posted by Verna in London @ 11:10 on Apr 6 2017

We have lost a beautiful talented gospel singer. Lavine RIP



Posted by Vee Greene in Georgia @ 05:18 on Mar 5 2017

Where ever you are Ms Lauvine, May God's perfect will fill ur Life.It may seem selfish of those who love ur gift to want to see and hear from you again. You touched my Life through ur music.Thank God for Amazon, because, I recently purchased Intervention and Between two Worlds.I wore my cassette,S out.That's all we had in the states.



Posted by Marcus Johns in Waco, Texas (U.S.A.) @ 18:16 on Jan 25 2016

I was PD & Morning man, simulcasting at Gary Indiana's WWCA AM 1270 & flagship gospel satellite network (Willis Broadcasting) based in Norfolk, VA.

When I noticed Lavine Hudson's 1988 "Intervention" album cover which came in with the new music for listening and possible programming I was blown away with her unique sound and the song's message. I couldn't wait to play it first on my show.

We got a great response to Lavine Hudson's "Intervention"

May God smile and keep her dearly.



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