His initial rise to stardom occurred under tutelage of producer's Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff on the then CBS subsidiary Philadelphia International in 1970. The Blue Notes had hits such as "I Miss You," "Bad Luck," "Wake Up Everybody," the two million seller "If You Don't Know Me By Now" and many more. Following personality conflicts between Melvin and Pendergrass, Pendergrass launched a solo career and released hit singles like "The More I Get the More I Want," "Close the Door," "I Don't Love You Anymore," "Turn Off the Lights" and others.
His first solo album was self titled Teddy Pendergrass (1977), followed by Life is a Song Worth Singing (1978), Live! Coast to Coast and Teddy (1979), 1980's TP and the final Philadelphia International Records album It's Time for Love (1981). He also sang a duet with Whitney Houston on "Hold Me," from her self-titled debut album.
Teddy Pendergrass started singing gospel music in Philadelphia churches, becoming an ordained minister at ten years old. While attending public school, he sang in the citywide McIntyre Elementary School Choir and in the All-City Stetson Junior High School Choir. A self-taught drummer, Pendergrass had a teen pop vocal group when he was 15.
By his late teens, Pendergrass was a drummer for local vocal group the Cadillacs. In the late 60s, the Cadillacs merged with another more-established group, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. In 1970, when the Blue Notes broke up, Melvin, now aware of Pendergrass' vocal prowess, asked him to take the lead singer spot. It's no secret that Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff wanted Marvin Junior of the Dells for their Philadelphia International Records roster. Since the Dells were signed to Chess, they were unavailable. When the gruff'n'ready vocals of Pendergrass came their way, they eagerly signed the group.
Beginning with "I Miss You," a steady stream of hit singles flowed from the collaboration of Pendergrass and Gamble & Huff: "If You Don't Know Me By Now," "The Love I Lost," "Bad Luck," "Wake Up Everybody" (#1 R&B for two weeks in 1976), and two gold albums, To Be True and Wake Up Everybody.
Unfortunately, the more success the group had, the more friction developed between Melvin and Pendergrass. Despite the revised billing of the group, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Theodore Pendergrass, Pendergrass felt that he wasn't getting enough recognition. Around 1976, Pendergrass left Melvin's Blue Notes and formed his own Blue Notes, featuring Teddy Pendergrass. Briefly, there was some confusion as to which Blue Notes was which. The resolution came when Pendergrass disbanded his Blue Notes in favor of a solo career and Melvin's group signed a recording contract with Source Records, distributed through ABC Records, scoring a hit with "I Want to Be Your Lover."
Pendergrass signed a new contract with Philadelphia International Records sometime between late 1976 and early 1977. He burst back on the scene with Teddy Pendergrass, a platinum solo debut that included the top-notch singles "I Don't Love You Anymore," "You Can't Hide From Yourself," and "The More I Get the More I Want." Around this time, Pendergrass began to institute his infamous "Ladies Only" concerts. His next three albums went gold or platinum: Life Is a Song Worth Singing, Teddy, and Live! Coast to Coast. The hit single "Close the Door" was used in the film Soup for One, where Pendergrass had a minor role.
The singer received several Grammy nominations during 1977 and 1978, Billboard's 1977 Pop Album New Artist Award, an American Music Award for best R&B performer of 1978, and awards from Ebony magazine and the NAACP. He was also in consideration for the lead in the movie biopic The Otis Redding Story. The '70s ended, but Pendergrass kept racking up the hits. TP, his fifth solo album, went platinum in the summer of 1980 off the singles "Turn Off the Lights," "Come Go With Me," "Shout and Scream," "It's You I Love," and "Can't We Try." It's Time for Love gave Pendergrass another gold album in summer 1981, which included the hit singles "Love TKO" and "I Can't Live Without Your Love." However in the UK chart success was limited to a handful of singles peaking just short of the top 40. Amazingly "Love TKO" failed to even grace the top 100.
A 1982 car accident left Pendergrass paralyzed from the waist down and wheelchair-bound. After almost a year of physical therapy and counseling, Pendergrass returned to the recording scene, signing a contract with Elektra/Asylum in 1983. His ninth solo album, his Elektra/Asylum debut, Love Language went gold the spring of 1984. Philadelphia International issued two albums of unreleased tracks, This One's for You (1982) and Heaven Only Knows (1983). Other albums included Workin' It Back (1985), Joy (1988, whose title track stayed at #1 in the R&B charts for two weeks), and A Little More Magic (1993). The latter half of '90s found Pendergrass recording for the Surefire/Wind Up label. Truly Blessed (the name of an 1991 Elektra album) is the title of the autobiography Pendergrass co-authored with Patricia Romanowski.
Pendergrass passed away at age 59 on January 13, 2010 from complications following surgery for colon cancer.
Can't We Try
Teddy Pendergrass Lyrics
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Soon it'll be apart, stay here to the touch of morning
I'm glad we're leaving as friends
Baby, by the way, I forgot to say
Can't we try, love was never born to say goodbye
Just another helpless fool in love is what I am
But I don't give a damn, sorry, I forgot myself
And I know that we're not supposed to cry
Love was supposed to die when people get to know each other
In case I don't see you again
Really wish you well, baby, this is hell
Can't we try, love was never born to say goodbye
Touch me one more time and make me feel that I'm alive
And if we don't survive
At least we'll have a moment here with honest pain and tears
Then say goodbye, come lay your head down on my heart
The morning suddenly leads you, you know, yet I don't need you
We can't go back to yesterday, go away
God, I wished you'd stay
Can't we try, love was never born to say goodbye
Touch me one more time and make me feel that I'm alive
And if we don't survive
Then we will end like we began and even though it's over
Can't we try, let's go back to yesterday, and I
Just another helpless fool in love is what I am
But I don't give a damn
See, once before I set you free, I just got to hold you close to me
Can't we try, love was never born to say goodbye
I want you to touch me, touch me one more time
And make me feel that I'm alive
And if we don't survive
Then we can end like we began and even though it's over
Can't we try, let's go back to yesterday, and I
See, I'm just another, just another helpless fool in, in love is what I am
But I don't give a damn
See, once before I set you free, I got to have you, I got to have you
Can't we try
Love was never born to say goodbye
In Teddy Pendergrass’s song Can’t We Try, the artist desperately asks his lover to not end their relationship, instead asking if they could try to make it work. Pendergrass’s vocals in the song drip with emotion as he implores his lover to stay with him for just a little longer. The lyrics begin with Pendergrass asking his lover to lay her head on his heart as they spend their last moments together. He tells her that he’s glad they’re leaving as friends but then breaks down and admits that he wishes they could give their love a second chance.
Pendergrass sings of how love was not meant to end and how he is just a helpless fool in love. He pleads with his lover to touch him one more time and make him feel alive, even though he knows that their love may not survive. The artist accepts the reality that their love may not work out, but pleads with his lover to at least try. The song ends with Pendergrass asking his lover to stay and hold him close, asserting that love was never meant to say goodbye.
Line by Line Meaning
Come lay your head on my heart
Rest on my chest, and hear my heart beat. Let us cherish this moment before we are separated.
Soon it'll be apart, stay here to the touch of morning
The morning will soon break our togetherness, but let us stay here as we feel the touch of the morning.
I'm glad we're leaving as friends
I am relieved that we part as friends, as breaking up would be too painful.
Baby, by the way, I forgot to say
By the way, I forgot to say something important to you, my beloved.
Can't we try, love was never born to say goodbye
Let us try to make it work, as love is not meant to end in goodbyes.
Just another helpless fool in love is what I am
I am just another person hopelessly in love and unable to let go.
But I don't give a damn, sorry, I forgot myself
I don't care what people think, but I apologize for my behavior.
I guess that I'm just not myself
I am not acting like my usual self, as this breakup has affected me more than I thought.
And I know that we're not supposed to cry
We are not meant to cry but to accept that love ends.
Love was supposed to die when people get to know each other
Love is destined to end as people get to know each other well and lose the initial spark.
In case I don't see you again
In the event that we never cross paths again,
Really wish you well, baby, this is hell
I truly hope that everything goes well for you, my dear, as parting is excruciatingly painful.
Touch me one more time and make me feel that I'm alive
Hold me one last time to remind me that our love was real and intense.
And if we don't survive
If we cannot make things work,
At least we'll have a moment here with honest pain and tears
At least we shared this moment honestly, with real pain and tears.
Then say goodbye, come lay your head down on my heart
Let us say goodbye, and rest your head on my chest one last time.
The morning suddenly leads you, you know, yet I don't need you
The morning may separate us, but I do not want you to feel obliged to stay.
We can't go back to yesterday, go away
We can't undo the past, so you must go.
God, I wished you'd stay
Oh God, I wish you could stay with me forever.
See, once before I set you free, I just got to hold you close to me
Before I let you go, I need to embrace you one last time.
I want you to touch me, touch me one more time
I yearn for your touch, just one last time.
Then we can end like we began and even though it's over
We can end our relationship on a positive note, like it began, even though it's ending.
Can't we try
Can't we give it one last try?
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Kenneth W. Hirsch, Ronald N. Miller
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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on The Power Of One
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