 The popular image of Teena Marie as a "white, female R&B vocalist/songwriter" does her little justice. Yes, it's true that the petite lady from Los Angeles has had some seriously funky R&B hits -- going all the way back to 1979 with "I'm Just a Sucker for Your Love" and on to the 1980's "I Need Your Lovin'." In more recent times, since her switch to Epic Records in 1983 after a landmark court case against Motown (which resulted in the passage of legislation protecting artists' rights through U.S. Congress, known as the 'Teena Marie Bill'), Teena hit the Pop and Black music charts with the cross-the-board smash, "Lovergirl."
But a closer examination of her albums -- in particular her last set, Emerald City -- and you'll discover in Teena Marie's music a sensitivity and power that generally hasn't recieved its due. However, Teena's new album, Naked to the World, could be the prject that earmarks her as a powerful and potent musical force as we move into the 90s. If nothing else, the LP certainly heralds a new era in Teena's career.
"I wanted this album to be a mixture," she explains. "An album that is commercial but doesn't cut off my art. I think that I achieved that with this new record." Teena admits that predecessor Emerald City was "an album I made to please me" and that the public may have found it a bit too off the beaten path of other Marie offerings. "People don't want you to step too far away from what they're used to," she notes. "My last album was very different from work I'd done before. The new album is street-oriented because that's what people like and yet it still reflects my artistry."
The LP reunites Teena with some old friends: Richard Rudolph, the late Minnie Riperton's husband, who produced Teena's second Motown album, Lady T, serves as executive producer while Rick James -- who was one of the most fervent supporters of Teena's work during her years with Motown -- duets on two cuts. "That's the first time Rick and I have been able to sing together in eight years. Once I left Motown, they wouldn't allow him to sing with me contractually," Teena explains. Clearly, the pairing works, since both "Call Me" and "Once and Future Dream" are two of the standouts on the LP, which, if the response to the single, "Ooh La La La" is any indicator, could be Teena's biggest LP yet. "That's a positive love ballad and it's like one of those songs you used to hear all the time from Smokey Robinson, the kind that you heard when you first fell in love!"
Other notable cuts include a special prayer, entitled "Opus 3, 2nd Movement" which, as Teena points out, was written in memory of the late Donny Hathaway and the late Minnie Riperton. "Both of those artists had a great impact on me, particularly in my years as a teenager. During that period, most of us reach for something -- and both Donny and Minnie gave me strength, so this is my tribute to them." In her usual, straight-forward fashion, Teena expresses that the music on this record, as always, comes from the heart. "It has to be real. I don't think people want anything less than 100% from an artist and they know when they're getting that. The title track really talks about how you put your whole life out there, how you end up being vulnerable, not holding back and keeping anything for yourself. That's my personal favorite track and it took a lot of work -- five takes on the vocal, which is unusual for me -- I normally just do one or two."
Although Teena's fans love her funky, dance-oriented material, her outstanding work on ballads (such as moodly jazz-oriented "Sunny Skies" from her last LP and the magnificent "Out on a Limb" from the Starchild LP) always garners attention. Says Teena, "Usually, when we release a ballad as a single, it's already gotten airplay and created sales for my album. This time, we decided to go with a ballad right off the bat, because it's a strong one."
As usual, Teena wrote all of Naked . . . and played all the keyboards and did most of the computer drum programming.
Has Teena ever had to deal with any problems as one of the few females to have so much control over her art? "Not really," she confesses. "I haven't had to fight any real big battles the way some others have. But I think that the whole situaltion is gradually changing. There are other women out here like Bernadette Cooper (former force behind the all-girl group Klymaxx) who are making their mark too." Bernadette and Teena do, in fact, plan to collaborate on some future projects: "Bernadette actually ad-libbed some parts on one of the tracks on my album, 'Crocodile Tears' and I'll probably be working on her first solo album as well as on the next LP she does with her group, Madame X."
Teena says she also plans to expand in terms of production on other artists, using her own extensive home studio as her work base.
"I've already cut five tracks on a male vocalist, Bendrix, right here and I must say it's great having a studio at home. I usually wake up right out of my dreams and have a song ready to go -- now I can put it down on tap," she enthuses. "We even get to use the bathroom for special echo effects!" she laughs.
With her new album doing so well, Teena says that her career is moving just the way she'd like. "But then, I feel that it's important just to be happy no matter what's happening with my career. You're going to have ups and downs, that's the nature of life. After all, you can't judge the ups if you don't have the downs, right? When I was going through the whole thing with leaving Motown, there were days when it was hard just getting up in the morning, so that's why I say it's about being happy within yourself regardless of what's happening around you."
The biggest challenge, says Teena, who has been a pioneer in breaking down the racial barriers within music ("now everyone's doing black music!" she smiles), is "trying to do good music all the time, liking what I write." If this album is any indicator, Teena Marie should have nothing to worry about.
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