Boyz II Men Brings Back R&B Vibe -- With One Less Member, Trio Has Adjusted
to Fit
At a recent gig at the Nebraska State Fair, the members of R&B singing group
Boyz II Men, were not terribly surprised when a concertgoer got down on
bended knee and proposed to his girlfriend.
"That kind of stuff happens all the time," says group member Wanya
(pronounced WON-yay) Morris, noting that their hit "On Bended Knee" is a
natural soundtrack for such occasions. "We've been in meet-and-greets, and
while taking a picture somebody will just get down on their knees and propose
to their girlfriend right in front of us, saying the show was what made him
want to do it right now. "
Indeed, since forming in 1986, Boyz II Men, who perform on the Mid-South
Fair's entertainment stage Sunday night, has probably been responsible for
more tender moments between young lovers than wine coolers. Morris, Michael
McCary, Shawn Stockman and Nathan Morris formed Boyz II Men out of a group at
the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. A backstage
meeting with Michael Bivins of the vocal groups New Edition and Bell Biv
Devoe led to the group's being signed with Motown.
With their first song, "Motownphilly," an homage to their soul inspirations,
Boyz II Men confidently unveiled their mixture of danceable, New Jack rhythms
and old school, unabashedly emotional R&B. Between 1991 and 1997 they logged
an impressive five No. 1 songs on the pop charts, at one point becoming only
the third act in history - the other two being Elvis Presley and the Beatles
- to hold the top spot with two consecutive songs.
Beginning in 1997, their chart dominance was interrupted by a decade of
setbacks that included Wanya Morris' vocal problems, the departure of McCary,
and a break with Motown.
But last year Boyz II Men returned with a fury, with Motown: A Journey
Through Hitsville, an album that finds the now trio surveying hits from their
original record label's storied soul catalog.
"It wasn't actually our idea," says Morris of the project, which was
initiated by executives at the group's new label, Decca, like Motown now a
subsidiary of the behemoth Universal Music Group.
Co-produced by the group and "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson, the album
features Boyz II Men's takes on everything from Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me
(The Ecology)" to Edwin Starr's "War," their rendition of which features a
brilliant new vocalese introduction.
"We tried to maintain the integrity of the songs by keeping the music very
similar, maybe adding little twists here and there to give it a newness,"
Morris says. "We figured (the record) would do something simply because those
songs are proven hits. Then we felt we would just bring our twist to them.
Really, we can't make them better. The only thing we could do to them is mess
them up, so we really just put our hearts and our souls into it and tried to
find the spirit in the songs."
Fans who lost track of the group when they made Throwback on their own MSM
label, may have been shocked to find the original quartet stripped down to a
trio following the departure of McCary in 2003 for health reasons. According
to Morris, McCary's departure actually reinvigorated the group by forcing
them to re-examine how they did things.
"We felt like a table that had lost a leg," he recalls. "We had to turn the
table over, take the three legs, and put them in positions where we could
stand again. That's just what we did. We started making adjustments in our
show. We started making adjustments in our vocal arrangements. We started
making adjustments in our a cappella. In our everyday business dealings. It
was easier to move faster, but we still felt like something was missing, and
it wasn't until three years ago that we felt we had come to a head with the
situation."
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