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By Steve Jones, USA TODAY
Eddie Levert is feeling a mixture of pride and sadness. The lead singer of The O'Jays and his R&B star son Gerald have a new album and book out, but the projects are muted by Gerald's death in November at 40 from an accidental combination of medications.
Something to Talk About is the second full-length vocal collaboration by the two gruff-voiced soul singers who between them charted nearly 120 singles. (Their first was 1995's Father & Son.)
VOCAL LINEAGE: These kids sing to their dads' tunes
The book, I Got Your Back: A Father and Son Keep It Real About Love, Fatherhood, Family and Friendship with Lyah Beth LeFlore (Harlem Moon, $18.95), gives an intimate look at their lives and legacy. The elder Levert co-founded The O'Jays in 1958, and the trio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Gerald started out in LeVert (a trio that included his brother Sean and Marc Gordon) in 1984 before going solo in 1991. He also collaborated with fellow R&B stars Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill in the supergroup LSG. Both the title track and DJ Don't, from Gerald's posthumous In My Songs, are in the top 40 of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "This is a very emotional period for me," says Eddie Levert, who turns 65 this weekend. "But it is also a healing period for me because if I wasn't doing anything, I would probably end up in a stupor. "I miss him very much, not only as a son, but as a friend and comrade. Show business is a lonely business, and it is hard to make friends you can confide in." Gerald died shortly after returning from a 10-day trip to South Africa with The O'Jays. I Got Your Back was already completed, but there was still work to be done on the album. Eddie had to finish it alone. Over the years, he says, Gerald came to grips with the inevitable comparisons of the two. While Gerald's contemporaries affected a slicker, more hip-hop or pop-oriented style, his music was steadfastly vintage R&B. "He was able to see the difference, even if the public wasn't able to," says Eddie, who brought Gerald on stage with him at age 5. "But we still sound so much alike. It's uncanny. I listen to Something to Talk About, and there are points where I don't know whether it's me or him." The O'Jays will pay tribute to Gerald next month when they perform at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. They'll be joined on stage by Sweat and Gill, and by a Sean-led reinstituted LeVert. In November, the Rhythm & Blues Foundation will honor Gerald with a benefit concert at Philadelphia's Kimmel Center with collaborators such as Patti LaBelle, New Edition and Maze featuring Frankie Beverly. "It's unbelievable the number of people who found out that he was just a good guy," Eddie says. "He had that big smile. That big hug. And his loudness — I think he gets that from his father. "You couldn't go into a room and not know that he was there." 
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