” Nearly all his albums went platinum, and Pendergrass was acknowledged as the premier black sex symbol of the late 1970s.
As a solo performer, Pendergrass expanded his range to attract new listeners: a Stereo Review writer noted that while he still “belted out his funky amorous entreaties with a raw virility that set many female libidos a-quiver, ” he had also learned to “set aside his club and loincloth to sing tenderly, ” thereby “reaching both those who like sweetness and those who prefer swagger. They flocked to special “For Women Only ” midnight shows to hear Pendergrass sing “Close the Door, ” “Turn Off the Lights, ” and other hits. Women were even more enthusiastic about seeing him alone on stage than they had been about watching him front the Blue Notes. In 1977, Pendergrass left the Blue Notes to pursue a solo career.
” He combined an “earthy, sexual insistence on the more aggressively paced pieces with mellow, moodier vocal work on ballads, which he ’d gradually infuse with wilder, improvised and often quite histrionic outbursts. In their Encyclopedia of Rock, Dave Hardy and Phil Laing described Pendergrass ’s singing on Blue Notes hits such as “The Love I Lost, ” “I Miss You, ” and “If You Don ’t Know Me by Now, ” as “tough, powerful … mixing the styles of gospel and blues shouters whose intense delivery blended bravado and impassioned pleading in equal measure. Within two years he had ascended to lead vocalist, and his personal sound came to define the group. Pendergrass began his career in 1968, not as a singer, but as the drummer for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. His fans remained loyal, and many critics declared that Pendergrass ’s tragedy had brought new depth to his music. He could still sing, however, and within two years of the accident he had released his comeback album. Pendergrass was at the height of his popularity when a car accident left him a quadriplegic -unable to feed or dress himself, let alone execute his charismatic stage moves. Female fans frequently swooned or tossed their undergarments onstage in response to his earthy baritone and forthright sexuality one fan even went so far as to shoot another in a struggle for a scarf the singer had used to wipe his face. Teddy Pendergrass ’s fame and fortune were built on his provocative stage presence and the intimate rapport he established with his audiences.
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