Brush With Greatness #1

I've been asked how I got started in the music business and every time I smile at the thought of how blessed I've been to have my first "real" background vocal gig was for Jeffrey Osborne.  To be selected to be apart of the children's choir to sing on "Soweto" was truly a dream come true. 

I remember walking into the Lion Share Recording Studio feeling like I walked into some sort of royal palace. It was the old ABC Records Studio but was purchased by Kenny Rogers in 1981 and was one of the first at that time to offer an all digital and editing computer system.  Of course, millions of folks now have some sort of "Garage Band-like" software in their homes, whether they are professional or just do it for fun but that was a major advancement for those times.  To be able to begin my musical journey in the same studio where "We Are The World" was recorded and to later discover that it was also where one of my all-time-favorite-movies/soundtracks was recorded. (When I finally saw Barbra Streisand's Yentl, the theme of a woman wanting to set out and make her mark in the world in spite of adversity, made me take on that lyric "....nothing's going to stop me now" from the closing song "Piece of Sky"....that's a WHOLE other blog entry in itself.) 

Once I walked into the sound booth, I had forgotten how awkward I felt as an adolescent.  I even forgot that my secret crush didn't know I was alive.  In this room there was a community that I seemed to belong in, by default. His more "seasoned" background singer Portia Griffin  (Kenny G, Aretha Franklin, CeCe Winans, Donna Summer) being there to help us know what our cues were.  She was such a sweetheart. I remember thinking that she didn't treat us like we were "just kids".  Some of the girls and I were even making up choreography to the song, daydreaming that someday we would hit the road with Mr. Osborne.  

So my memory doesn't serve as well on the names of everyone that was in the choir with us, but I do believe Shanice Wilson (I Love Your Smile) and Monica Calhoun (The Best Man, The Players Club, Diary of Single Mom) were among us. #Good Times


I remember the first and only time I heard the song on the radio.  My friend's mom was taking us to school and it came on and I was trying to stay cool even though I wanted to yell out the window "Hey, I'm on this song!".  Frankly, no one would believe me especially since it was a "choir" setting on most of the parts and it's not like you could hear my voice peeking out of the others. (Although, my mom swears "she" could here me.) 

I find it interesting that the lyrics in his song are about "freedom" and my first single was " Free". Given the current racial climate in North London [London riots: update - The Big Picture - Boston.com]; Jackson, Mississippi [White Teens Run Over Black Man In Surveillance Video - ABC News].....the violence in other areas of the world.... continued famine........we all are still seeking freedom in some sort of way.  The words to the song, written by Elizabeth Lamers, Frank Musker, Hamish Stuart  still ring true for all of the various places mentioned. 

"....I can't believe the things my eyes have seen...I only have a dream..(we shouted) FREEDOM!" - Jeffrey Osborne - "Soweto"

Teri Tobin | Free (feat. Dash) | CD Baby

Here's praying that we can find worldwide peace.....