Not the Walrus of Love

Cover versions can be a truly terrible affair, it is true, but for digging in the crates aficionados they can also be the source of some great gems from the vaults. I could list numerous versions of songs, some originally great themselves and some not so, that have been given definitive reworkings, often by relatively obscure artists who barely register on the musical map thereafter. And funk and soul seems to be particularly fertile for good cover versions. But even I have to take my hat off to an artist with the front to cover a Barry White tune, especially when that cover arguably knocks spots off the original.

I mean we are talking abut one of the most definitive voices in musical history, and yet to my mind Kellee Patterson’s 1976 version of the classic “I’m Gonna Love You Just A Little More, Baby” from her “Kellee” album of cover versions, does just that. It is an absolute stormer that takes the rug fight from under Mr White’s sizeable feet, injecting what is already a sultry and timeless groove into a plaintive statement of downright soulful sweetness that you never tire of hearing. It is difficult to find out too much more about Patterson, and certainly I have no idea if she is still recording, but what she did record is well worth digging for.

A former beauty queen from Gary, Indiana, she grew up as a contemporary of the Jacksons, often competing against them in local talent shows. She cut some records as lead singer of Groovy and the Electras in the early 1970s, but it was with pianist Gene Russell and his Black Jazz label where she really found her voice. Debut offering “Maiden Voyage” is a jazz gem, including another great cover, this time of Herbie Hancock’s jazz classic for the title track. Russell folded the label and moved to the Shady Brook stable, taking Patterson with him, and it is for this label that her best work was made. “Kellee” was followed in 1977 with “Turn On The Lights/Be Happy”, a funkier move towards the disco sound which then came fully to light on 1979’s “All The Things You Are”.

There are some really great tunes on all three of these LPs, not to mention the 12” “Let Go Let Go (Let Love Be The Driver)” which does not appear on an album, but after that the trail goes quiet. Shady Brook folded soon after and with it all signs of Patterson’s recording career. Who knows where she ended up, but if you are looking for a place to start some digging for a 70s soul classic, you can do much worse than finding Kellee Patterson. If Barry was the Walrus of Love, then she’s gonna love you just a little more, baby.