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What
brings you back to music?
Freddie
Jackson: Well, I never left music. I’ve always been
in music. Last year I had an album out
called ‘Personal Reflections’. It did
very well for me. I toured the summer.
Prior to that I had an album out. What
brought me to this point, this album
‘Transitions’, I thought it was time for
me to go home to my old company,
Orpheus, which we had a history
together. So I went back to my family.
And after going through so many
transitions I thought it was time for me
to go where my family was. So I went
back to my family and we came up with
this album of 12 great songs. And one of
the songs was titled ‘Transitions’ but
we decided to call the album
‘Transitions’. So, when people ask me
what brings me back to music? music is
my love. Music is my heart, my soul. And
when I’m not recording, I’m on the road
performing. And that’s the power. I life
my hand to God. 11 #1 records. Without a
record, I perform. I also do a lot of
shows in Europe. Which we all know about
Europe, without a record you can still
tour there too. I’m always singing. I
can’t imagine doing anything else. I’m
not going to back to work as a word
processor. I’m gonna definitely be
singing.
No more
word processing huh?
Freddie
Jackson: None for me.
You are
one of the masters of romance. You have
it down cold. What can romantics expect
from your album ‘Transitions’?
Freddie
Jackson: Well, my new single is entitled ‘Until the
end of time’. I felt like I wanted to
bring people together again. I wanted
people to hold hands. To have dinner and
look across at each other with a
wonderful gaze. I wanted to bring
romance back into the music. I think a
lot of romance is lost. There is nothing
left to the imagination. And there are a
lot of issues. This particular song is
not about issues, it’s simply about I
love you forever. And if anybody knows
what that feels like they will
understand this record. I feel like
music was in need of a quicker picker
upper …Bounty (LOL). Like music needed
to be revived with romance. I feel this
album will bring people together. And it
will make them slow dance together. I
also have some mid-tempo stuff, but its
groove stuff. It’s reminiscent of old
block parties. Everybody kind of
remembers good old block parties. Its
time for people to hold hands again.
With 11 #1 records and most of them
ballads, I figured, it was best for me
to come with what I know. That’s why we
started this album out with ‘Until the
end of time’.
What is
it about your relationship with Orpheus
that you stopped making music via that
outlet?
Freddie
Jackson: Orpheus and I we have such a history. I
sang background for Melba Moore. I wrote
for Melba Moore. I did it for all people
that were connected to Orpheus
productions. My first album that sold 2
Millions copies and had 3 number 1
records off of it and after that I just
kept having Number 1 records, so we all
know each other. We had a little
separation in time at one point but it
was to allow me to grow and to learn and
to feel the things I needed to feel. But
the doors were never shut for me. The
doors were always open. The relationship
between Orpheus and Freddie is a fierce
romance that’s been ongoing. And the
best is yet to come out of this romance.
What
prompted the dedication to Luther
Vandross?
Freddie
Jackson: Luther was my friend. He was my buddy. And its hard to imagine Luther
not walking around. And we’re not
bumping into each other at Tiffany’;
playing jokes on each other telling
security to get him. You’d better check
his bag before he leaves…lol. The
industry would always want to put me and
Luther against each other but we would
laugh at some of the stuff that people
would say about the both of us. So I
miss him dearly. It took me a minute to
really get up the nerve to…it was a
difficult thing to produce this song to
Luther in the studio. I felt like I was
ready to shed something. And we’ve all
got to shed pain. And I will forever
love him and I will forever consider him
to be a hero. Many of us grew up to
Luther and some attribute their sounds
to him. And I too listened to Luther
Vandross. But I made it me, Freddie
Jackson. And so I say every male singer
in the world, black or white, was
influenced by Luther Vandross. I feel
that it’s a service to not let his
legacy pass by because he’s gone. What
he’s taught and what he is given must
live on forever.
What is
your most memorable experience with
Luther?
Freddie
Jackson: Standing in the middle of a club just belting on each others songs.
What do
you want people to get from Freddie
Jackson?
Freddie
Jackson: Well, I want them to get the transition
that I’ve gone through. When they listen
to this album they will feel the growth
and when they see the pictures they will
see the growth. When they come to the
conference they will see the growth in
the shows and in the performance. I want
them to get through their heads that we
all make changes. Some of us we grow for
the better, some take time to reassess
ourselves. Some of us in the industry
keep plugging and some of us need to
take a minute and rethink our careers.
You know, get that new charge and right
now, Freddie Jackson is just charged up.
I want my audience to know that the best
is yet to come from Freddie Jackson and
to thank them for holding on. September
12…it’s coming.
Thank you so much for this interview Mr.
Jackson…
Freddie Jackson:
Thank you. You’re the hardest
working women in show business to catch
up with.
LOL. I’m sorry, I’m just all over the
place.
Freddie
Jackson: You making that
money. I need to come hang out with you.
When you taking me out to dinner?
Anytime. I’ll take you out to eat if you
sign all your albums for me?
Freddie
Jackson: That’s easy.
I saw you cook before. You were on
B.Smith w/Style.
Freddie
Jackson: Oh. Yeah. That’s my
baby.
I said look at Freddie cook.
Freddie Jackson:
Aw yeah baby. I throw down. You may want
to change your mind and saw, naw
Freddie. You doing the cooking. You
ain’t going nowhere.
Yeah. I should put you in my kitchen. I
got a big old country kitchen too.
Freddie
Jackson: I love big kitchens.
Get me your address. We gonna have to
come out there and do some cooking’.
Until the end of time I’m gonna cook.
Until the end of time.
Well if you cook I’m going to eat till
the end of time…lol.
Freddie
Jackson: Thank you so much.
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