The Love Unlimited Orchestra was a 40-piece string-laden

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

formed by American singer

Barry White Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...

, and serving as a backing unit for White and for female vocal trio

Love Unlimited Love Unlimited was a female vocal trio that provided backing vocals for American singer-songwriter Barry White on his albums and concert tours. They also found success with their own recordings. Career Formed in 1969, the group included Barry ...

. From the early 1970s on, they also recorded several singles and albums under their own name.

Career

The orchestra was originally formed in 1972 to back White's female vocal group Love Unlimited for their debut album. The following year they began supporting White for his solo debut '' I've Got So Much to Give''. Their biggest hit was 1973's

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instr ...

single " Love's Theme". The track, written by Barry White, went to number 1 for one week in the US and number 10 in the UK. The

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

in February 1974. The hit was included on the orchestra's debut album '' Rhapsody in White'' issued in 1974. Two follow-up albums ''Together Brothers'' and ''White Gold'' were released later that year. ''White Gold'' featured the single "Satin Soul" which peaked at number 22 on the ''Billboard'' pop charts in early 1975. In 1976, Kenny Gorelick, later known as Kenny G, joined the orchestra as a saxophonist. The orchestra continued to record albums for

20th Century Records 20th Century Fox Records (also known as 20th Fox Records and 20th Century Records, or simply 20th Century Fox Film Scores and Fox Records) was a wholly owned subsidiary of film studio 20th Century Fox. The history of the label covers three dis ...

until the end of the 1970s. By 1981, they had moved to White's own label Unlimited Gold. Their final album ''Rise'' was issued in 1983.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

*
Discogs.com
American disco groups American funk musical groups Musical backing groups Musical groups established in 1972 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Musical groups from Los Angeles {{US-R&B-band-stub