Clive Davis On Whitney Houston's New CD - 'It's Her Musical Bio'

Whitney Elizabeth Houston was  towering vocal talent the likes of which we may not see again in this lifetime. Sadly she died a tragic death at age 49 in Los Angeles in the midst of a comeback, but the circumstances of her death is not the legacy she leaves behind. It’s in the musical gift that for many years made her one of the most successful singers in the industry.

Veteran music executive Clive Davis, who signed Houston at age 19 has just released a compilation of Houston’s live performances including a stunning performance at the 1994 American Music Awards and her first televised performance in 1983 on the Merv Griffin show. He says that these are the moments that Houston should be remembered by, not any of the dramas in her personal life.

“It’s timely in the sense that during Whitney’s life tabloids got off kilter,” says Davis. “It got away from the music. People forgot that she was the greatest singer of her generation. This live album, which is getting incredible reviews, It’s time we get back to the music which was the passion of Whitney’s life.”

The 16 cute CD/DVD features all the musical highlights of Houston’s over two-decade career. Davis says that he went through everything to choose the best of the bunch for this project.

“I went through everything she had done. The performances go from when she was 19 in 1983,  and it takes you chronologically up until 2009 on the Oprah Winfrey Show,” Davis says.

As for his own personal favorites, Houston’s very first live performance is one close to his heart. “

“Well, obviously ‘Home’ is one of them. The performance of Greatest Love of All from the Arista 15th Anniversary makes your jaws drop open. The medley is probably the greatest awards medley I’ve ever heard where Whitney combines ‘I Love You Porgy’  from ‘Porgy and Bess’ to ‘And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going’ long before the Dreamgirls movie and then ends it with ‘I Have Nothing’ from The Bodyguard soundtrack.”

Davis also references another performance from 1994 in South Africa where Houston wore a golden turban and matching dress to perform in front of a crowd of 105,000.

“To see the impact that she had worldwide, he says. “That she in a turban, movie star beauty, comes and takes control of the stage just an amazing impact on all these people on the other side of the globe. This set is her musical bio that takes her from 1983 to 2009.“

As far as a personal memory, Davis says it was her surprise performance at the 16th annual World Music Awards where he was being honored that is one of his fondest memories of Houston.

“We’re going up to the year 2004,” he says. “I had started J Records with Alicia Keys and Luther Vandross and we were getting back together. We had only missed one album. I was getting an award from the World Music Awards with Alicia Keys and Celine Dion and others and Whitney called me and said ‘How can you get a Lifetime Achievement Award and I’m not there?’ I said, ‘The last time I saw you at the Michael Jackson concert, you were skin and bones. This is a worldwide TV show.’ And she said ‘I’m ready, I might be slightly thinner than normal but I’m ready, my vocal is ready. We had a secret rehearsal at the MGM Grand, 15,000 seat [arena] in Las Vegas.

My colleagues said she looked good and sounded good. I didn’t let ABC announce it. As part of my thank you for the Lifetime Achievement Award ,I introduced her as the holder of 7 #1 records and the greatest selling soundtrack of all time and the greatest selling CD of all time and the crowd kept screaming when they realized Whitney Houston was there unbilled. All the artists came forward to the front of the stage with tears in their eyes and she performed a chilling performance of ‘I Believe In You and Me.’ 

Listen to the audio for Davis’ thoughts on Bobby Brown and Bobbi Kristina Brown.

Whitney Houston Live

Track Listing:

01 Home (The Merv Griffin Show)

02 You Give Good Love (The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson)

03 How Will I Know (The Brit Awards)

04 One Moment in Time (The 31st Annual Grammy Awards)

05 Greatest Love of All (That’s What Friends Are For: Arista Records 15th Anniversary Concert)

06 I Wanna Dance with Somebody (That’s What Friends Are For: Arista Records 15th Anniversary Concert)

07 The Star Spangled Banner FT The Florida Orchestra (Super Bowl XXV)

08 All The Man That I Need (Welcome Home Heroes)

09 I’m Your Baby Tonight (Welcome Home Heroes)

10 A Song for You (Welcome Home Heroes)

11 Medley: I Loves You, Porgy / And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going / I Have Nothing (The 21st Annual American Music Awards)

12 I’m Every Woman (The Concert for a New South Africa)

13 I Will Always Love You (The Concert for a New South Africa)

14 My Love Is Your Love (Late Show with David Letterman)

15 I Believe in You and Me (The 16th Annual World Music Awards)

16 I Didn’t Know My Own Strength (The Oprah Winfrey Show)

Like BlackAmericaWeb.com on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.