AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
You know what? I'm just going to be quiet for a little bit and let Luther sing.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
LUTHER VANDROSS: (Singing) I believe in your love. So I'm glad to take the vow here and now.
(Singing) So close your eyes, and you can feel it. Coming straight from above the power, it's the power of love. You can't deny it.
(Singing) I just don't want to stop. Never too much. Never too much. Never too much. Never too much.
RASCOE: Yes. I am moving right now and just grinning ear to ear because that is the oh-so smooth, silky, sexy voice of Luther Vandross. A timeless triple-threat singer, songwriter, performer, Vandross didn't get his full due before his untimely death in 2005. But there's a new documentary in theaters and soon to be on Max and OWN that sets the record straight. Dawn Porter, director of "Luther: Never Too Much," joins us. Welcome.
DAWN PORTER: Thank you so much. I'm moving here, too.
RASCOE: (Laughter) Yes. So it's hard to believe, but I guess there is a generation of people who do not know who Luther Vandross is. I love Luther. He is one of my favorites of all time, and I listen to his music constantly. But what made you want to share his story now?
PORTER: I am like you. Luther was just always on. He was everywhere. It was like, you grew up listening to Luther. And so when I met with Sony, and Sony Music was looking to do documentaries about some of the artists in their catalog, and they mentioned Luther, and I was, like, stop. There's no Luther Vandross documentary? What are you saying out loud today to my ears? It was time for the newest audience to remember or to learn about him.
RASCOE: Well, let's play a clip from early in your documentary, and it's Luther talking about loving music as a child.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH")
VANDROSS: See, I used to love - and I used to draw pictures of The Supremes in math class, you know, when I was a kid 'cause I used to just - the way my mother would punish me for doing something wrong or get to me is not allow me to see The Supremes on "Ed Sullivan" on a Sunday night, you know.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Oh.
VANDROSS: And it worked. You know, I washed the dishes, took the garbage out, did the homework, did everything.
RASCOE: Tell us about how, as a kid, he was kind of obsessed with some of these amazing, legendary women singers of the time.
PORTER: That was one of just so many beautiful discoveries is Luther really - as his friend, Fonzi Thornton, who appears in the movie, says - Luther studied Black music. And he particularly studied these Black female vocalists - Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick. I mean, these were the women who influenced him, and he wanted to honor their elegance and their beauty. It is a love letter to all of those Black artists and to that Black music that surrounded him and pushed him forward.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SESAME STREET")
LISTEN MY BROTHER: (Singing) Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z.
RASCOE: I didn't know that as a team, he was in a group that Jim Henson cast to make regular appearances on "Sesame Street." I had no idea.
PORTER: If you remember way back to the origins of "Sesame Street," they would always have, you know, people doing fun, funny things, and they would be young people. And Luther was in this group, Listen My Brother. And they had been performing at the Apollo in Harlem in New York City, and Jim Henson came down. He saw the group, and he said, yeah, we want you all to come sing. And, you know, they performed on "Sesame Street," and "Sesame Street" is Harlem. So it made sense that they would have these kids from New York City, from the Bronx and Harlem, who were marvelous singers, perform. And they were rapping the ABCs and singing the one, two, threes.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SESAME STREET")
LISTEN MY BROTHER: (Singing) One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. We're only halfway. So, here we go again.
PORTER: But the footage is just so marvelous that people really didn't realize how long Luther had been working at his craft.
RASCOE: Yeah. And I think - I'm sure I'm not the only one who didn't know, like, how he crossed paths with all of these huge singers. Like, I didn't know that Luther Vandross worked with David Bowie recording the "Young Americans" album.
(SOUNDBITE OF DAVID BOWIE SONG, "YOUNG AMERICANS")
PORTER: So David Bowie - it's his first album in America. And he really admired these Black artists - the Philly soul sound. And so he was in Philadelphia. He had hired some session musicians who were friends with Luther. Luther wasn't even supposed to be there in the session that day. And 24-year-old Luther Vandross goes to this session. He's sitting in the background, and he starts singing. What do you think of this? (Singing) Young Americans, young Americans.
Bowie loved it. He asked Luther to join the session. And then by the end of it, Luther Vandross not only went out on tour as a background singer for Bowie, but he ended up co-arranging Bowie's first album.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "YOUNG AMERICANS")
DAVID BOWIE: (Singing) Ain't there a child I can hold without judging? Young American. Young American. Ain't there a pen that will write before they die? All right.
RASCOE: How did he make the move from being the backup singer to being, like, the star himself?
PORTER: While he was out on the road with Roberta Flack, she said to him, you know, you're getting a little too comfortable singing oohs and ahs in the background. I want you to go cut your own record. Cissy Houston sang backup for free for Luther on "Never Too Much," which was his very first album, which goes to the top of the charts immediately. And that's how he ultimately crossed over.
RASCOE: And Luther - he was this master of love songs. Jamie Foxx says, in the documentary, like, Luther would sing folks to the bedroom. But really, it's in a very loving way, like, passionate way. You don't get that now. That just don't even exist (laughter).
PORTER: It's true. Luther would always say he was singing about love, not sex. He was thinking about that emotional connection between people, and that's what he became known for.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ALWAYS AND FOREVER")
VANDROSS: (Singing) And we'll share tomorrow together. Ooh, baby. I'll always love you forever. Always forever love you.
RASCOE: One of the painful things to see in the documentary is Luther's kind of struggles with finding love and saying that he never found love. There's also the discussion of his sexuality.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LUTHER: NEVER TOO MUCH ")
VANDROSS: Questions about my sexuality, well, I suppose, will just always be questions. Let me tell you who I owe answers to. What I owe you is my music, my talent, my best effort, you know? That's all. I will neither deny or confirm.
RASCOE: How did you decide how to handle that?
PORTER: You know, it was really challenging. He's not here to say what he wants to say about his own life. To me, it's important to be respectful of people's choices. You know, when I say my body, my choice, that, to me, also applies to his body, his choice. His love life, his choice. But it was really kind of heartbreaking that this person who wrote so beautifully about love did not find it for himself - that kind of one person to share a life with. You know, he was on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" more than 10 times. But he also told Oprah that his favorite song that he had ever done was a song called "Any Love." And it was because he was desperate for any love, which he did not find.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ANY LOVE")
VANDROSS: (Singing) Everyone needs a love, no doubt. Any love. Any love. Everybody feels alone without any love.
RASCOE: And he died so young, when he was 54. Do you think Luther Vandross had the kind of career that he wanted?
PORTER: I think, in many ways, he did. He had incredible creativity. He worked with so many artists. You know, he produced and wrote for Aretha Franklin. He worked with Dionne Warwick. These were his idols growing up. He sang with Whitney Houston. Whitney Houston used to sing backup for him, if you can imagine that. So I think creatively, he was incredibly successful, also incredibly admired. And I think he understood and knew that.
(SOUNDBITE OF LUTHER VANDROSS SONG, "NEVER TOO MUCH")
RASCOE: That's Dawn Porter. The film is "Luther: Never Too Much." Thank you so much for joining us.
PORTER: Thank you. And thank you for letting me talk to my she-ro (ph), Ayesha Rascoe.
RASCOE: (Laughter) Oh, thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NEVER TOO MUCH")
VANDROSS: (Singing) There's only love to give. All my love. A thousand kisses from you is never too much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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