b. Eugene Edgar Page Jr., 13th September 1938, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
d. 24th August 1998, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.
Gene Page was born in Los Angeles.
He was taught piano by his father and went on to win a four-year scholarship to the Brooklyn Conservatory.
Back in Los Angeles he found work arranging demo tapes, and in 1962 was hired by Reprise Records as their arranger.
His early successes included 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' for The Righteous Brothers and 'The In Crowd' for Doble Gray, alongside hits for The Drifters, The Mama's & The Papa's, Barbra Streisand and Solomon Burke's 'Got to Get You off My Mind,' number one R & B for three weeks in early 1965.
He also arranged numerous records for the Motown label.
On meeting Barry White, he was hired to work with Love Unlimited, his first collaboration with them being 'Walking In The Rain With The One I Love'.
Gene went on to co-arrange the strings on every Barry White hit in the 70's, while also showcasing his own arranging skills through Love Unlimited and The Love Unl imited Orchestra, and eventually his own albums 'Hot City' (1975) and 'Lovelock' (1976) featuring Merry Clayton and Augie Johnson, for Atlantic Records.
From 1977 to 1980 he recorded as a solo artist for Arista (including a disco single 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind', 1977, and 'Love Starts After Dark', 1980).
Gene has arranged strings on a number of hits and classic recordings for artists including Diana Ross ('Touch Me In The Morning'), Diana Ross / Lionel Richie ('Endless Love'), Aretha Franklin ('It Only Happens When I Look At You'), Johnnie Taylor ('What About My Love' and 'Just Ain't Good Enough'), Johnny Mathis, The Four Tops, The Jones Girls, Deniece Williams ('I Found Love'), Jackson Sisters ('I Believe in Miracles'), Nancy Wilson, Natalie Cole, Eloise Laws ('Baby You Lied'), Dionne Warwick, The Gap Band, Carrie Lucas, Carl Anderson, Gerald Alston ('Take Me Where You Want To'), Kiki Dee, Randy Edelman, Lamont Dozier, Anita Baker ('The Songstress'), The Mac Band, Shalamar ('High On Life' and 'Take That To The Bank'), The Whispers, Peabo Bryson & Roberta Flack ('Tonight I Celebrate My Love'), Whitney Houston ('You're Still My Man') and Elton John ('Philadelphia Freedom').
He has also written and / or produced for Stanley Turrentine ('Midnight And You', 1974), Paul Kelly ('Stand On The Positive Side', 1976) and Maxi Anderson (Maxi, 1977), amongst others.
In the autumn of 1999, two Barry White 'best-of' sets that feature Page-arranged tracks, 'All Time Greatest Hits' and 'Greatest Hits Volume 1', were on Billboard's Top Pop Catalog Albums charts, due in part to White's appearances on televisions 'Ally McBeal'.
Gene Page died from a long term illness in his native Los Angeles in 1998.
Albums:
Hot City (Atlantic Records 1975)
Lovelock (Atlantic Records 1976)
Close Encounters (Arista Records 1978)
Blacula (RCA Records 1979)
Love Starts After Dark (Arista Records 1980)
