INTERVIEW: Deniece Williams still has so much love to share
Photo: Deniece Williams’ new single is “When You Love Somebody.” Photo courtesy of the artist / Provided by Prana Marketing with permission.
When Deniece Williams, the celebrated singer of hit songs “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” and “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle,” thinks about how her latest single came together, she can only define it as a “God thing.” She was in Los Angeles having some meetings with her sons, and she found herself sitting in the lobby of producer Emile Ghantous while her one son was having a meeting in the conference room.
“And I was just sitting in the lounge, and they were having their meetings,” Williams said in a recent phone interview. “Afterward they came out. ‘Miss Wiliams, I love your music. I’ve always wanted to write something for you and work with you. I have a couple tracks. Can I play you something, and if you hear anything you like maybe we can do something together?’ I said, ‘OK.’ So I go into the studio, and he plays a track. I don’t hear anything. He puts on a second track, and I liked it.”
Williams then decided to do what she’s known for: She sang. The words were “When you love somebody, and you dance, and you dance.” The producer was immediately impressed, and they decided to hit the record button. A week later, she received the track and then decided to send back some lyrics. Eventually the singer and producer decided that the next time they were both in Los Angeles together they’d finish the project in the studio.
That day came soon enough, and Williams walked away from her studio session with a new single. That song, “When You Love Somebody,” has been lighting up radio stations and gaining a following online. The first fans of the tune were actually Williams’ own family members.
“I was listening to it one time, and I was around some cousins and their kids,” she remembers. “And then all of a sudden they got up and started dancing and singing the song. … I said, ‘Maybe we have something.'”
“When You Love Somebody” has now become the first single off her forthcoming album Gemini, which is produced by Ghantous, Harvey Mason Jr. and Greg Manning. Listeners can also expect a collaboration between Williams and Grammy-winning saxophonist Gerald Albright on the album.
The hook for people to try out the rest of Gemini will know no doubt be “When You Love Somebody,” and Williams has been pleasantly surprised by the track’s popularity. “I’m really happy about it,” she said. “I can’t say that I’m shocked, but I’m really happy because … I hadn’t done anything new in about 10-12 years. I was thinking, well, I’m still on the radio after 40-45 years of music. It’s still out there, so I feel proud of what I’ve done. And I’m calling it a day. And all of a sudden this record comes out, and it’s like, oh, I guess it’s not quite over. I am happy that everyone is loving it and surprised.”
Throughout Williams’ illustrious career — a career that includes 12 Grammy nominations and four wins — she has become known as a singer of catchy, powerful anthems of love and romance. She has gathered fans around tunes like “Free” and “I Surrender All,” and her song “Black Butterfly” was recently selected as a Top 10 Black empowerment song by The New York Post.
“Love is a healer,” she said. “Love can solve some things that money can’t solve. We want our money, too, but when you love people, when you come from a loving heart, when you feel love, show love, it changes everything. You could be living on the streets and find somebody, or somebody touches you or shows you love, all of a sudden your world is a just teeny bit brighter, and so that’s the reason why I love to speak of love. I’ve seen people that I’ve walked up to you and said, ‘You know, you look beautiful today, or boy you look so handsome.’ And their whole disposition changes when you say those words or when you show that affection.”
This theme of love will be woven into her new album, which will feature Williams singing many different flavors of music. There are a couple jazz numbers, plus some R&B and pop. “When You Love Somebody” will be prominently showcased on the recording.
“There’s a lot of different genres of music on this particular project,” Williams said. “That’s why I called it Gemini because it has many faces. … This is probably my last project, or I’ll do a Christmas project, which I always wanted to do and never done. So I was thinking if this is going to be something that’s going to be close to the last project, I want to give people a full overview of who I am, and certainly the title of Gemini fit.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Deniece Williams’ new single is “When You Love Somebody,” which is off her forthcoming album Gemini. Click here for more information.
