How I Will Always Remember Her

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19 Responses to How I Will Always Remember Her

  1. tracey says:

    Holy crap. I just got home from an afternoon with the in-laws and now THIS? A very bad day overall.

    We turned on the TV to unwind (from the in-laws) and heard a promo for the news “Remembering pop star Whitney Houston. ” We looked at each other and said, “WHAT???”

    I am just so stunned. Thanks for posting this, Sheila. It will always be the standard by which all others are judged.

    I honestly cannot believe this.

  2. sheila says:

    Yes, her version is the yardstick. And I love her glimmering laughing eyes.

    Sad.

    The self-righteous judgment has begun – which seems to be a human trait, especially when it comes to celebrities. Of course I think of Elvis. How much people still try to diminish him, reduce him, because of how he died.

    Well, sorry, but I saw that Hall of Gold Records at Graceland. That cannot be reduced. And he DIDN’T have a “full” lifetime to do it. He did it in 20 years.

    I saw a comment on Twitter:

    “300 million albums. 415 major awards. Joke about a ‘crack whore’ one more time, motherfuckers.”

  3. sheila says:

    Speaking of Elvis: The Grammys are tonight and the box set Young Man with the Big Beat is nominated. A brilliant lavish box set devoted to Elvis’ groundbreaking year 1956.

    Elvis died in 1977. He’s nominated for a Grammy in 2012. His albums continue to sell, and go platinum, many times over. His gospel albums can’t be touched, in terms of how much they have sold. They sold during his life (he got his only competitive Grammy’s for them), and they continue to sell after his death.

    Whitney Houston’s legacy may not be as intense as Elvis’ (for one thing: there’s not as much music – Elvis recorded music like he knew he didn’t have a lot of time on this earth. Whitney not so much) – but her talent and the memory of what she brought to the music scene will long outlast the tabloid obsession with her problems. People will try to reduce her. They already are trying.

    They will not succeed.

    She had such a huge impact. Her success was astronomical. Her influence immeasurable.

    I kept hoping she’d pull it together again. I was so excited when “It’s not right, but it’s okay” came out – what a rockin’ song – but after that … mostly silence and a diminishment of her voice. But I still hoped. I remember saying to Mitchell, “How AWESOME would it be if Whitney had a comeback – like a real honest-to-goodness comeback?”

    Its so sad for her mother, her daughter.

  4. Cory says:

    Minority view:

    Everyone knows about the drugs and the abusive husband. But there was another factor at work here. Whitney Houston never learned to sing. I know, I know, what are you talking about? Whitney Houston sold 170 million albums.
    She did that on the strength of her voice, which was admittedly one in a million. She had the right combination of range and gospel styling and the songs she was given accentuated those strengths. But that’s different from singing. Those beautiful lilting high notes can only carry you so far for so long. And the consequence professionally was two things- she couldn’t sing anything but the same songs, she couldn’t move into other genres that might have saved her voice and her career, and more importantly, the notes you can hit when you are 25 aren’t there when you are 45.

    If that’s all you can do, your artistic career is in trouble (doesn’t mean you won’t sell lots of albums). Put that together with a screwed up life and, well, you see.

    Look for the singing careers of some of the other singers who modeled themselves after Whitney Houston to have the same problem, maybe not in their lives, but in their singing careers. Being able to hit those high notes may impress the judges on American Idol but unless you learn to sing- you are a one-trick pony. And none of them started out with her range.

  5. sheila says:

    Who says it’s a minority view? I actually agree with most of what you just said.

    I don’t happen to think singing is an either/or proposition, however. There are many ways to sing, many ways to look at it. There are those who pay a price for the high notes they hit in their youth. Liza Minnelli was one – and she had to go through so much training when she lost her voice in the last couple of years to get back to a way of singing that was healthier and based on the breath. But she went for those high notes in her youth because, well, she could do it, she got famous for it, and people expected it of her.

    Learning how to sing is not a prerequisite for a good career. Elvis Presley never took a singing lesson.

    But yes: learning how to sing properly is certainly important, especially if you want to be singing for your whole life. James Hetfield, for example, does vocal warmups before every performance. He lost his voice once during a tour for the black album and it scared the shit out of him so he went to a vocal coach, got some tips and training, and has never lost his voice since. And if you know the way he screams and rasps – then that says something.

  6. sheila says:

    I saw Liza in Vegas a couple of years ago and she was in top form – absolutely incredible – with her voice back, her notes in place – some adjustments made – you know, she’s 800 years old, she can’t hit those notes anymore … but it was thrilling to see her back in gear. But it was really tough there for her for a while – the abuse of drugs, certainly, didn’t help – but it was also damaging, the way she was singing as a young woman. Effective, exciting, but damaging long-term.

  7. Lisa says:

    I’ve always felt that the drugs and other self-destructive behavior were indicative of a woman who’s trapped by her own talent.

    From an early age, she was defined by outside relationship. She wasn’t WHITNEY, she was “Cissy’s daughter,” or “Aretha’s goddaughter,” or even “The Voice.” She was forced, like the proverbial round peg in a square hole, into the role of the Pop Princess to Save Us All by Clive Davis. But who was SHE? I don’t even think she knew.

  8. sheila says:

    Yes, I can see that. Oh, and “Dionne’s cousin”!! She was over-packaged. I always wished she would do a Gershwin album. Or something like that. Take charge. That’s one of the reasons why that Preacher’s Wife soundtrack is so off the charts. It’s personal, it’s fierce, it’s really deeply felt.

  9. Kent says:

    In subtle and personal ways, not the obvious ones, I think she had much in common with Elvis. She made it in the pre-internet era, before transparent public openness, and was sold as a squeaky clean act. Protected. Slathered in media coverup, old Hollywood style. Her issues were always very real, and very present, and not for public consumption until they boiled over in a later era. Despite her public image, she struggled for most of her life, fought her battles in lonely silence, and lived up to the grueling professional obligations that her talent brought her. Her very great professional triumphs, like these moments as you say, are for the millions who deeply loved her.

  10. sheila says:

    // She made it in the pre-internet era, before transparent public openness, and was sold as a squeaky clean act. Protected. Slathered in media coverup, old Hollywood style. //

    Excellent observation.

  11. sheila says:

    And then of course, with her mother, she is directly linked to Elvis. But then, most everyone is, in one way or another.

  12. Kent says:

    Yes, what a legacy she was given to live up to, and she did, and exceeded. She earned her peace and respect.

  13. Dg says:

    Another minority view, and I’m not trying to be a d.b. here. She was a nice kid with a good voice who sang very fluffy pop songs who decided to waste her life on drugs. Overall impact on modern music? Negligible.

  14. sheila says:

    “decided to waste her life on drugs”.

    Do you know any addicts?

  15. sheila says:

    I am so fucking sick of the stupid shit people say about people who use drugs. It’s fucking ignorant.

  16. sheila says:

    Sorry, I’m not done: Wasted her WHOLE life? Really? She wasted her whole life, according to you. That life where she won over 415 career awards? One of the most successful female recording artists of all time?

    You may not like her music but your personal taste is totally irrelevant. To say this was a “wasted life” is stupid.

  17. Dg says:

    Well so much for me not trying to be d.b.. When I posted that dumb comment yesterday I went against three simple tenets that I usually stick to:1 never speak I’ll of the dead.2 if you have nothing good to say say nothing at all.3 don’t be such an F’n idiot. I struggle with number three sometimes. This is your space and I have no reason to bring that sort of negativity to it so I sincerely apologize for that. Unfortunately, I am all too familiar addiction. People very near to me have been clean for 48 years and counting while others have fallen into the ditch causing massive collateral damage on a regular basis. It’s my understanding that a decision is made in there somewhere on a daily and sometimes hourly basis. I’ve seen the pull and should not have been so insensitive with that remark either so again I sincerely apologize.

  18. sheila says:

    Dg – //People very near to me have been clean for 48 years and counting while others have fallen into the ditch causing massive collateral damage on a regular basis. //

    I am very sorry to hear that.

    I really am.

    Many people did not like Whitney Houston’s music, she wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. I wasn’t an enormous fan (my sisters were) but this is a performance that will go down in the annals of history as one of the all-time great moments – on TV, in American pop culture, whatever.

    The commentary about Whitney has been pretty terrible.

    What happens is: someone is immediately reduced to something pathetic. People cackle over it. They get superior. They say, “Well, we all saw this coming.”

    Well, good for you, motherfuckers. Must feel nice to be so RIGHT.

    The same thing happened with Amy Winehouse. She was addicted to drugs. She wasn’t a piece of shit.

    I just have been so angry about how drug use is talked about – especially when it comes to very talented individuals. But apology is definitely accepted.

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