Written by David Foster, Jeremy Lubbock & Paul Gordon

In the early eighties, one of the few, precious gems that David Foster and the great Jeremy Lubbock (1931-2021) co-wrote was “Whatever We Imagine”. The song was first recorded as an instrumental for Foster’s 1983 solo album that took its name, The Best Of Me, from another Foster/Lubbock classic. The Best Of Me was released in Japan by Sound Design Records. It included a string of mostly instrumental tunes that immediately bloomed into hits plus signature songs for stars including Chaka Khan, Boz Scaggs, Olivia Newton-John, Al Jarreau and Dionne Warwick. The Best Of Me was performed by Foster with minimal accompaniment on a few songs by friends comprised of Lubbock, hi old partner, Jay Graydon plus Tom and John Keane. The strength of the record was in the melodic beauty of the compositions, the superior performance of Foster on various keyboards and synths plus the excellent level of the arrangements.

“Whatever We Imagine” was a dreamy ballad with a deep emotional and nostalgic feel perfectly delivered by Foster’s sublime musical touch. Around the 80’s, Foster was working a lot with Quincy Jones, who was selecting material for James Ingram’s (1952-2019) debut album. With lyrics by Paul Gordon, “Whatever We Imagine” became one of the highlights of Ingram’s It’s Your Night. “Whatever We Imagine” stands as one of the most beautiful ballads in Foster’s vast songbook.

The Hitman kindly sent a commentary about the song:

“I recorded the “Whatever We Imagine” instrumental in my house on a Yamaha PA
board with a Linn drum machine. Jeremy and I wrote the music and Jeremy also played the Fender Rhodes including the beautiful intro. Later on, Paul Gordon put lyrics to it. Quincy heard the demo and loved the song so I brought my drum machine down to the studio for the recording. Q eventually used quite a bit of my original recording for James Ingram’s version. I can’t remember if I played piano on it, probably so, but I’m sure I playe moog bass on it. I absolutely loved James’ vocal on it. What a singer!! He is truly missed!!”

Listen

• Acoustic Piano, Synthesizers & Moog Bass: David Foster
• Fender Rhodes: Jeremy Lubbock
• Synthesizer Programming: Amin Bathia & Steve Porcaro

• Arranged by David Foster & Jeremy Lubbock
• Produced by David Foster & Take Narni

Lyrics

No lyrics

Written by David Foster, Tom Keane & Cynthia Weil

Robert Peapo “Peabo” Bryson was one of the kings of the soul/quiet storm genre from the second half of the seventies up to the nineties. His velvety and powerful tenor graced the charts and international airwaves with hits including “Reaching For The Sky,” “Tonight, I Celebrate My Love” with Roberta Flack, “If Ever You’re In My Arms Again,” “Can You Stop The Rain,” “Beauty And The Beast” with Celine Dion and “A Whole New World” with Regina Belle.

In June 1994, Bryson released a new album titled Through The Fire. A few key tracks of that record were produced by David Foster who had just teamed up with the singer for the song “By The Time This Night Is Over,” a duet with saxman Kenny G. that became a solid, multi-format hit off the mega-successful soundtrack of the movie, The Bodyguard. The title-track of the album was a reworking of the classic 1985 Chaka Khan hit that Foster co-produced with the wonderful Arif Mardin (1932-2006) and co-wrote with his friends Tom Keane and Cynthia Weil. Bryson’s cover of “Through The Fire” sounds a tad dated today with its heavy programmed drums, but it was very enjoyable, nonetheless, for the superior quality of the singer’s performance and the top-notch level of the Hitman’s production. Bryson’s vocals are sheer proof that he was one of the few male singers that could do this song justice and could have almost almost rivalled Chaka’s spectacular original with a fully-played rhythm section. Foster’s arrangement and keyboards still gave the usual ear-candy with support from studio legends including keyboardist Robbie Buchanan, Dave Boruff on sax and Michael Thompson plucking his guitar. 

The Hitman kindly sent a few thoughts about Bryson and “Through The Fire:”

“I really loved Peabo Bryson’s singing and I still do today. He was so easy to work with and absolutely well prepared. A total treat. I gotta admit that our version of ‘Through The Fire’ sounds dated. About Chaka’s original I remember I recorded the track in Los Angeles and then sent it to Arif Mardin in New York so he could do Chaka’s vocals. The first vocal he sent back didn’t match my vision at all so I immediately gave him a few suggestions and they recorded it again and it was absolutely spectacular.”

Listen

• Lead Vocals: Peabo Bryson
• Keyboards: David Foster
• Synthesizer Programming & Additional Keyboards: Robbie Buchanan
• Drum Loop Master: Jeff Lorber
• Guitars: Michael Thompson
• Saxophone: Dave Boruff
• Backing Vocals: Katrina Perkins, Alex Brown, Yvonne Williams, Regina Troupe, September Gray & Peabo Bryson

• Strings Arranged by Jeremy Lubbock
• Produced & Arranged by David Foster
• Additional Production by Peabo Bryson

Lyrics

I look in your eyes and I can see
Your love’s so plain to see
You’re not trusting your heart to anyone
You tell me you’re gonna play it smart
We’re through before we start
But I believe we’ve only just begun

When it’s this good there’s no saying no
I want you so I’m ready to go

Through the fire to the limit to the wall
For a chance to be with you I’d gladly risk it all
Through the fire, through what ever come what may
For the chance of loving you I’d take it all the way
Right down to the wire even through the fire

I know your afraid of what you feel
You still need time to heal
I can help if you only let me try
You touched me and something in me knew
What I could have with you
Now I’m not ready to kiss that dream goodbye

When it’s this sweet there’s no saying no
I want you so I’m ready to go

Through the fire to the limit to the wall
For a chance to be with you I’d gladly risk it all
Through the fire, through what ever come what may
For the chance of loving you I’d take it all the way
Right down to the wire even through the fire

Through the test of time
Through the test of time
I’m willing to go

Through the fire to the limit to the wall
For a chance to be with you I’d gladly risk it all
Through the fire, through what ever come what may
For the chance of loving you I’d take it all the way
Right down to the wire even through the fire

Written by David Foster & David Paich

Around 1986 after the huge success of his soundtrack for “St. Elmo’s Fire,” aka the “brat pack” movie, David Foster decided to focus more on instrumental music. Foster would soon deliver his critically acclaimed self-titled cd and another well-received soundtrack album for the Michael J. Fox’s movie, “The Secret Of My Success.”

The next step of this creative phase came in June of 1987 by means of a fruitful collaboration with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra that led to an album aptly titled The Symphony Sessions. On this classically-inspired project performed live with the orchestra, Foster teamed up with the great Jeremy Lubbock (1931-2021). One of the world’s most gifted orchestra arrangers and Foster’s partner in crime, Lubbock arranged on pop masterpieces including Chicago’s hits “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” and “Hard Habit To Break.” On The Symphony Sessions, Lubbock and Foster crafted a series of gorgeous instrumental themes. Lubbock beautifully orchestrated the pieces while Foster performed them on the acoustic piano.
In the past, this site has had articles written about some of The Symphony Sessions gorgeous musical landscapes including “Time Passing,” “Piano Concerto In G” and the theme of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, the famous “Winter Games.”  For this week’s review, the site picked another incredible piece of music titled “Morning To Morning.”
Composed by the Hitman with his pal David Paich from Toto, “Morning To Morning” was arranged by Marty Paich (1925-1995) who was David’s father and another musician with a list of legendary talents. Marty Paich could be credited with amazing work from the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) to Sir Elton John. On “Morning To Morning,” Marty Paich crafted an arrangement that’s a musical tour-de-force with tempo changes and spectacular orchestral work. Both Davids played some enchanting acoustic piano on the delicate first part of the tune while suddenly trading virtuoso lines as the track’s tempo sped up.
Given its classical feel, The Symphony Sessions was a surprising entry on Billboard Top 200 at #111. The superior level of the recording was acknowledged with two Grammy nods; one for “Winter Games” as “Best Instrumental Composition” and the other for The Symphony Sessions short film that was nominated for “Best Performance Music Video.”
Foster kindly sent his recollection of The Symphony Sessions:
“I remember The Symphony Sessions so clearly. It was such a thrill to go to Canada, near my hometown, and work with the Vancouver Symphony. We recorded the whole project on two tracks and I practiced quite hard before to be able to play all the material live. We brought a talented engineer from London because I loved his previous works. Eric Tomlinson, this was his name, recorded the whole album in two days. ‘Morning To Morning,’ co-written with David Paich, was very special also because of Marty, David’s father, who was such an incredible arranger and breathed life into our song (as did on the other tracks of the album the incredible Jeremy Lubbock and Johnny Mandel). David Paich played all the hard parts on our song and I was so impressed with his piano skills. He played incredibly on ‘Morning To Morning,’ although you wouldn’t expect less from the guy who wrote masterpieces like Toto’s ‘Africa,’ one of my favorite songs of all time. The whole The Symphony Sessions project was a labor of love for me and gave me the opportunity to think outside the box after so many pop hits. I also knew that if I included one semi-contemporary tune with some modern programming like ‘Winter Games’ that I would have had a better chance to sell more albums. That definitely worked as ‘Winter Games’ became a good adult contemporary hit and even entered Billboard’s Hot 100.”

Listen

• Acoustic Piano: David Foster & David Paich

• Arranged by Marty Paich
• Orchestrated by Jeremy Lubbock
• Produced by David Foster
• Co-Produced by Jeremy Lubbock

Lyrics

No Lyrics

Late last month, world-class arranger Jeremy Lubbock passed away (June 4, 1931 to January 29, 2021). Mr. Lubbock was born in England and moved to Los Angeles in the late seventies.  He was unanimously recognized as one of the best arrangers in the history of popular music. Mr. Lubbock would work alongside heavyweights including Quincy Jones, Pat Metheny, Burt Bacharach, Joni Mitchell and, of course, David Foster.

Mr. Lubbock was the mastermind behind the orchestral landscapes that enriched many of Foster’s classic productions including Chicago’s “Hard Habit To Break” and “Hard To Say I’m Sorry,” the late Whitney Houston’s (1963-2012) “I Have Nothing” and “I Will Always Love You,” Michael Bolton’s “To Love Somebody” and the late Al Jarreau’s (1940-2017) “Mornin’.” This arranger extraordinaire gained 14 Grammy nominations with three wins. He also wrote timeless gems like “Not Like This” for Jarreau, “Goodbye Love” for Manhattan Transfer, “The Best Of Me” co-written with Foster and Richard Marx and sung by superstars like Cliff Richard and Barry Manilow and “Whatever We Imagine,” also penned with the Hitman, lyricist Paul Gordon and sung by the incomparable James Ingram (1952-2019).

To honor Mr. Lubbock’s memory, “All That My Heart Can Hold” was picked for its gorgeous instrumental that Mr. Lubbock co-wrote with Foster for the Canadian super-producer’s 1986 self-titled album.

“All That My Heart Can Hold” sported one of Foster’s trademark heart-wrenching melodies and an intimate nocturne feel that resulted in pure listening bliss. The track was all performed by Foster on various keyboards and synths except the timely mid-track appearance of Dave Boruff’s warm saxophone. This gorgeous instrumental was eventually rediscovered by Latin superstar Luis Miguel. Miguel recorded a version with added Spanish lyrics under the title of “Ayer” that jumped to #1 in 1993 on the Latin chart.

On this solemn occasion, David Foster dedicated a few words to his friend:

“I don’t remember how I met Jeremy, but right from the start I fell in love with his musical brain. He was simply a notch more talented than most of us. His brain was wired differently. Jeremy hated to compromise (and seldom did) and he had an uncommon ability to walk between the world of classical and pop. Sure, we did have extraordinary success with Chicago, Whitney, etc., but I particularly loved his contributions to a couple of lesser-known Josh Groban tracks like the arrangement of the Christmas classic, ‘Oh Holy Night’ and ‘Mi Mancherai’ from Closer.”

On a personal note, we were lucky enough to exchange a few emails in the past with Mr. Lubbock and here was the first paragraph of his first answer:

“Many thanks for your very kind e-mail. First of all, my name is Jeremy, NOT Mr. Lubbock!!!!!!!”

R.I.P. Jeremy 

Listen

• Keyboards & Synthesizers: David Foster
• Saxophone: Dave Boruff

• Arranged by David Foster
• Produced by David Foster & Humberto Gatica

Lyrics

No Lyrics

Bebe & Cece Winans are one of the most successful gospel duos in history. They are part of the illustrious Winans family that includes, among others, their four older brothers who are members of the legendary gospel group, The Winans.

In September of 1994, Bebe & Cece Winans released their Relationships cd. This collection gave the two siblings a couple of minor hit singles on the R&B charts and also two top twenty hits on the US Christian charts. David Foster was one of the producers involved on the album and crafted a couple of solid tracks for Relationships. Foster first collaborated with Bebe & Cece on his successful Christmas album in 1993 where they sang a lovely rendition of the seasonal classic, “The First Noel.” On Relationships, Foster helmed the meaningful ballad “Don’t Let Me Walk This Road Alone” that he co-wrote with his then-wife, Linda Thompson, and fellow music-maker, Keith Thomas. “Don’t Let Me Walk This Road Alone” can be rediscovered in the archives.

The other Foster production on Relationships was an inspirational tune, written and sung by Bebe Winans and titled “These What Abouts.” It was a song with very personal lyrics about a relationship that’s not going well, but where there’s still a ray of hope. Bebe Winans does an excellent job with his vocals. Foster provided him with a magnificent backing track while the legendary Jeremy Lubbock provided a beautiful orchestra arrangement. This song had an instrumental arrangement with tasteful keyboards and guitars that built up, thus emphasizing the emotional power of the lyrics and the singer’s heartfelt performance.

Relationships reached #4 on the Gospel chart and #19 on the R&B chart. It was the last cd for the duo. They decided to focus on their solo careers before reuniting in 2009 for their Still cd.

Listen

• Lead Vocals: Bebe Winans
• Drums: John Robinson
• Keyboards: David Foster
• Guitars: Michael Thompson
• Synthesizer Programming: Claude Gaudette
• Arranged by David Foster & Bebe Winans
• Strings Arranged by Jeremy Lubbock
• Produced by David Foster

Lyrics

Now let me start by saying sorry
Thought it might be positively too late
Knowing this one word can’t change things
But yet it can express the way my heart aches
My heart aches.

Cause what about the plans we made
What about the dreams of cascades
What about the vows we pledged
Are they still alive or dead
And what about the promise to stay
Can I still believe it’s OK
Can we somehow talk about these what abouts
These what abouts

So let me just confess I love you
Admitting that I failed to show in times past
So if you just can’t in your heart continue
Know the love you gave forever will last
Forever will last.

And what about the promise to stay
Can I still believe it’s ok

Can we somehow talk about
Somehow work it out
Can we somehow find a way, find a way
Can we somehow find a plan, somewhere there’s a plan
Can we somehow work it out, somehow work it out
Somehow find a way, somehow find a way
Somehow talk about it, somehow talk about it
Somehow there’s an answer, somewhere there’s an answer
Can we somehow work it out, somehow work it out
Can we somehow talk about these what abouts
These what abouts
Can we talk about these what abouts

It won’t hurt to talk about
These what abouts