R&B howler Barrence Whitfield is a man who lives for the era when rhythm & blues and rock & roll walked hand in hand, and his revved-up music and over-the-top vocal style make him one of the wildest frontmen of his time. A frantic soul shouter in the spirit of Little Richard, Wilson Pickett, and Don Covay, Whitfield and his band the Savages earned a potent cult following after the release of their self-titled debut album in 1984. 1985's Dig Yourself and 1987 Ow! Ow! Ow! expanded on its energy. Whitfield sat out most of the 2000s, but 2012's Dig Thy Savage Soul proved he still had the goods, and 2018's Soul Flowers of Titan and 2023's Glory showed his command of party-starting soul was still potent. Barrence Whitfield was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on June 13, 1955. His real name was Barry White, and he relocated to East Orange, New Jersey with his family when he was young. He first took up singing while attending church, and in high school he learned to play the drums, and he handled vocals and percussion in local rock and soul bands. In 1977, Whitfield moved to Boston and enrolled at Boston University, where he majored in journalism. He landed a part-time job at a record store in Brookline, Massachusetts, where he was able to indulge his tastes for wild early rock & roll and rhythm & blues material. Peter Greenberg, a guitarist with the garage revival band the Lyres, was a regular customer at the shop, and he soon discovered that they shared similar tastes, and White could sing with the same passion and power as his heroes. At Greenberg's urging, they formed a band, and to avoid confusion with the noted soul singer and loverman Barry White, he adopted the stage name Barrence Whitfield (taking the last name from the great Motown songwriter and producer Norman Whitfield). With Greenberg leading the backing band they dubbed the Savages, Whitfield's high velocity vocals and the band's frantic attack made them a hit on the East Coast club scene, and in 1983 they released their debut album, Barrence Whitfield & the Savages, on their own Mamou Records. Reviews were enthusiastic, and Massachusetts indie label Rounder Records signed the band, releasing their similarly lively second album, Dig Yourself, in 1984. British airplay helped give Whitfield and the Savages a U.K. following, and they toured England to enthusiastic audiences. The British Demon label issued a six-song EP, 1987's Call of the Wild, which documented a new lineup of the Savages, led by guitarist Milton Reeder. The same material later appeared on Whitfield's second album for Rounder, Ow! Ow! Ow!, also issued in 1987. In 1989, Live Emulsified, drawn from recordings of three Barrence Whitfield and the Savages concerts, was released by Rounder. It proved to be his last album for the label, and 1990's Let's Lose It, produced by Jim Dickinson, was issued by the French label New Rose Records, while Stony Plain issued it in Canada. Not long after its release, Whitfield dissolved the Savages, and 1992's Savage Tracks was a collection of demos, live tracks, and outtakes. Whitfield recorded a pair of collaborative albums with the country-folk singer and songwriter Tom Russell, Hillbilly Voodoo and Cowboy Mambo, both issued in 1993. Whitfield also contributed a cover of "Pony Time" to the 1993 tribute album Back to the Streets: Celebrating the Music of Don Covay, and recorded a version of "Irma Jackson" for 1994's Tulare Dust: A Songwriters' Tribute to Merle Haggard. A short-term reunion of the Savages resulted in the 1995 release Ritual of the Savages, which included contributions from Ben Vaughn, Dave Alvin, and Brother Cleve of Combustible Edison. In 1997, Whitfield began working occasionally with a Boston-based soul and blues combo, the Movers, and he toured Europe with various pickup bands, developing a following on the rockabilly and garage rock circuits. In 2010, Whitfield and Greenberg reunited the Savages, playing a handful of live dates and cutting a new album, Savage Kings, that was issued in 2011 by the Spanish Munster label; it was picked up for American release by Shake It Records. The new edition of the Savages began touring regularly in the United States, Europe, and the United Kingdom, and they signed a deal with the Chicago-based roots music label Bloodshot Records. Their label debut, Dig Thy Savage Soul, appeared in the summer of 2013. In 2014 and 2015, Whitfield and his crew toured as the opening act for legendary garage rock ravers the Sonics, and in August 2015 they issued their second album on Bloodshot, Under the Savage Sky. The hard-wailin' blues set Soul Flowers of Titan appeared in 2018 and included the track "Let's Go to Mars," which was the basis for Whitfield's very first music video. He took a detour into new musical territory (for him) with Songs from the Sun Ra Cosmos, credited to the Barrence Whitfield Soul Savage Arkestra, featuring imaginative and full-bodied interpretations of tunes from the Sun Ra songbook. Whitfield also contributed backing vocals to Los Lobos' 2021 album of songs from California artists, Native Sons. Whitfield & the Savages teamed up again to record 2024's Glory, a rollicking R&B session issued by the Spanish Folc label. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi