Leon Ware

Leon Ware
Ware in 1982
Background information
Born	(1940-02-16)February 16, 1940 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	February 23, 2017(2017-02-23) (aged 77) Marina del Rey, California, U.S.
Genres	R&B soul disco funk jazz
Occupations	Musician songwriter record producer
Instruments	Vocals piano keyboards
Years active	1967–2017
Labels	Gordy United Artists Fabulous Elektra Expansion Stax P-Vine
Website	http://www.leonware.com

Leon Ware (February 16, 1940 – February 23, 2017)^[1] was an American songwriter, producer, composer, and singer. Besides a solo career as a performer, Ware was best known for producing hits for other artists including Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Maxwell, Minnie Riperton and Marvin Gaye, co-producing the latter's album I Want You.

Ware was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, United States.^[1] His mother was a minister and a pianist for their local Baptist church and his father worked for Ford Motor Co. on the assembly line. Ware was the youngest of ten siblings. He was blind for two years after he had an accident with a slingshot at five years old. Despite being only blind in the right eye, his left eye was covered as well. Ware said that, "They [presumably his family] worried that if my left eye wasn’t covered, it would be too strong if my right eye regained its vision." Subsequently, he was sent to the Michigan School for the Blind.^[2][3] In his teens, he was a key member of a vocal group, the Romeos, with Lamont Dozier and Ty Hunter (later of the Originals).^[4]

Ware worked at ABC Records as an arranger and songwriter before he joined Motown as a songwriter in 1967.^[4] He had co-written songs for the Isley Brothers, Martha & the Vandellas, and the Jackson 5 during his early years at Motown.^[5]

In 1971, Ware collaborated with Ike & Tina Turner, co-writing six songs on their United Artists album 'Nuff Said. The album reached the number 21 on the Billboard R&B chart and also appeared on the Billboard 200. This led to a contract as a solo artist on United Artists where he released his self-titled debut album in 1972.^[6] Around this time, Ware began collaborating with Arthur "T-Boy" Ross, younger brother of Diana Ross. They penned the 1972 hit "I Wanna Be Where You Are," recorded by Michael Jackson for his album Got To Be There.^[7] The single reached number two on the R&B charts and peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972.^[8] Ware co-wrote for numerous artists during this period including Donny Hathaway and The Miracles.^[9][10]

In 1974, Quincy Jones booked Ware as songwriter and performer for two songs on Jones' Body Heat album.^[11] The song "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" hit the R&B chart in September of that year and was covered by the Average White Band.^[11][12] Ware had worked with Minnie Riperton on Jones' album, and they collaborated again on Riperton's album Adventures in Paradise,^[11] co-writing several tracks, including the R&B hit, "Inside My Love". In 1975, Ware and Ross worked on demos for Ware's second album, this one to be issued on Motown and also for Ross to win a deal.^[7] One of the demo recordings, "I Want You," was heard by Motown's founder Berry Gordy, who decided the song would be a good fit for Marvin Gaye.^[7] Gaye heard the other demos and decided to record much of it on what would be his next album, I Want You.^[7] Buoyed by the number one title track, the album peaked at number one on the R&B chart and it reached the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 and sold over a million copies.^[13] Having given away the material for his album, Ware began again on a solo effort for Motown's Gordy label. The result would become his second album, Musical Massage, released in September 1976.^[7] Riperton lent her voice on the album, sharing vocal duties in "Instant Love" and "Comfort", an outtake from the recording sessions.^[14][15] The album was a commercial failure due to poor promotion.^[11] However, it became a cult hit among soul music fans that were intrigued with Gaye's I Want You album and Ware's compositions.^[16] After his brief stint as a recording artist at Motown, Ware decided to focus on writing and producing for other artists, and he wouldn't release another album until 1979.^[11] He finally achieved chart success when he released his third album, Inside Is Love, via Fabulous Records. The album reached the charts along with its single, "What's Your Name," establishing him as a recording artist for the first time.^[11] Concurrently, he began a long-standing collaboration with Brazilian musician Marcos Valle.^[17] After recording for Fabulous Records, Ware signed with Elektra Records,^[11][18] and he released his fourth album in 1981, titled Rockin' You Eternally.^[19] The album spawned two R&B singles chart entries, "Baby Don't Stop Me" and the title song, but the album itself did not reach the charts.^[11] Elektra financed a follow-up, and Ware's fifth album, Leon Ware, was released in 1982.^[11][20] Unfortunately for Ware, the label dropped him when the album didn't sell enough copies.^[11] In 1987, he signed with Slingshot Records and released his sixth album, Undercover.^[11] Between the late 1970s and 1990s, Ware co-wrote songs and produced records for Shadow,^[21] Teena Marie, Jeffrey Osborne, Loose Ends, James Ingram, Melissa Manchester, Krystol, Bobby Womack, and Lulu, co-writing the latter's European hit, "Independence."^[11]

In the 1990s, his earlier work became a major source of samples in hip-hop music.^[11][22] William Ruhlmann of AllMusic wrote, "Such success didn't increase Ware's exposure as an artist, but it substantially increased his publishing income. At the same time, he was being discovered as a soul music progenitor, particularly in England, where the Expansion label began reissuing his solo albums."^[11] Ware released his seventh album, Taste the Love, on his own Kitchen Records label in 1995 to help his cause.^[11] He also contributed to singer Maxwell's 1996 debut album Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite by co-writing his hit song "Sumthin' Sumthin'." The album is considered one of the landmark albums of the neo-soul genre.^[22] Throughout the 2000s, Ware continued to release several albums, such as Candlelight (2001), Love's Drippin' (2003), Deeper (2004), A Kiss in the Sand (2004), and Moon Ride (2008). In the 2010s, Ware was featured in several projects by contemporary artists Tyler, the Creator on Cherry Bomb, Theophilus London on Vibes, and Omar on Love in Beats.^[23] After two years of Ware's death, his posthumous album Rainbow Deux was released in 2019.^[11]

Ware was married four times.^[24] His second wife was the singer Susaye Greene (best known as a member of the last lineup of The Supremes),^[24] whom he married in 1974 and divorced in the same year.^[2][24] He was married to the former Carol Cassano from 1980 until his death.^[1] Their wedding took place on September 5, 1980 in Malibu, California.^[25]

As of 2009, Ware was recovering from treatment for prostate cancer, and credited his friend and fellow songwriter Adrienne Anderson with directing him to appropriate medical care.^[26] He died in Marina del Rey, California, on February 23, 2017, from complications of prostate cancer. He was 77.^[1][27] At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, his sons, his granddaughter, and his brothers.^[1]

Ware wrote and co-wrote dozens of songs for various artists, some of his credits include:

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leon Ware.

• At AllMusic
• Leon Ware discography at Discogs
• Artist page at Soul Walking
• Leon Ware at IMDb
• Leon Ware 75 minute audio mix with dialogue
• Leon Ware 2012 Interview at Soulinterviews.com Archived February 25, 2017, at the Wayback Machine

• Leon Ware RBMA video lecture session