Employing the services of LaFace and Jam and Lewis, Gill released four singles from the project, three of which were R&B #1s (the fourth stalled at #2) and two of which were Top 10 crossovers. It was that same year that Gill managed to step out of all of their shadows releasing his aptly titled solo “rebirth” Johnny Gill. 1990 signaled a dramatic shift in the fortunes of black pop, with the dramatic success of New Edition offshoots BBD (Bell Biv Devoe) with tracks like “Poison” (“Never trust a big butt and a smile”) and “Do Me” and Ralph Tresvant (“Sensitivity” remains one of his singular performances), the continued success of Bobby Brown’s Don’t Be Cruel (1988) and the cementing of the LaFace movement (Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and current Arista head Antonio “L.A.” Reid). Gill translated his new visibility into a new solo deal with Motown. The track gave audiences their clearest indication that the group had grown up.
While Gill played the background on the project’s lead single “If It Isn’t Love”, he was prominently featured on the anguished ballad “Can You Stand the Rain”. Though Gill’s coming into the fold meant that Ricky Bell (arguably a better vocalist than both Tresvant and the departed Brown) would never ascend to legitimate lead, Gill and Tresvant provided a nice balance on what remains New Edition’s most accomplished recording.
Heartbreak (1988) would be the first New Edition project to feature Gill’s vocals (Jagged Edge paid tribute to the recording on their J.E. Gill’s career was largely in limbo, when New Edition impresario Michael Bivens reached out to Gill and asked him to join the group after the departure of Bobby Brown.
Co-written and produced by the legendary “Philly-Soultress” Linda Creed a year before her untimely death, “Half Crazy” is one of the few examples in Gill’s career where he recorded material that matched his rather prodigious vocal talents. Gill followed-up the next year with Chemistry which featured one of Gill’s best performances on the beautiful and thoughtful “Half Crazy”. Though the track was one of Lattisaw’s last real commercial successes, it did earn Gill a wider audience. On the project’s title track, Gill sounds restrained allowing Lattisaw the limelight. After Gill’s debut fell flat, he was paired with Lattisaw, Marvin and Tammi style, (Lattisaw’s mother sang backup for Gaye at Motown) on Perfect Combination (1984). Instead Gill sounded like a more like a grown-ass Teddy Pendergrass (shout to my man Cedric), which given the era’s fixation with Michael Jackson and Prince, presented particularly a difficult sell for his label Cotillion. At seventeen, Gill sounded less like teen counter-parts like the falsettoed Ralph Tresvant or even smooth tenor-men like Peabo Bryson. With Lattisaw’s connections in the industry, Gill was signed to a label deal and released his solo debut Johnny Gill in 1983 with a jerri-curled cover photo that was never in sync with the singer’s deeply hued and husky baritone. Lattisaw had some success in the early 1980s singing often over-produced ditties like her remake of the Moments’ “Love On a Two Way Street” and “Let Me Be Your Angel”. that is), Johnny Gill was initially encouraged to pursue a recording career, by his longtime friend Stacy Lattisaw. Johnny Gill: Ultimate Collection collects some of Gill’s performances from his solo career, his less than frequent collaborations with Stacy Lattisaw, and as the post-Bobby Brown co-lead of New Edition.Ī native Washingtonian (D.C. Gill is simply one of the most gifted vocalists in the tradition but has yet to record a disc’s worth of material that fully realizes his gift. He achieved some semblance of real crossover success in 1990 with material better suited for some of New Jack Swing’s lesser lights such as Keith Sweat, Al B.
JOHNNY GILL MAYBE FULL
Blessed with a stunningly mature full baritone that he first introduced to audiences as a 16-year-old, during a 19-year career, Gill has consistently recorded underwhelming material. Johnny Gill is easily the most enigmatic R&B vocalist of his generation.
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