“I was a victim of my foolish thinking. Carelessly, I’ve risked my love and my life – there’s no self-pity, I admit. I obliged, overpowered by love, I pretended to be blind. Faith has survived all the doubts I’ve summoned, my heart has stood all the failure and loss. Helpless I cannot further be driven. I’ve learned to respect the power of love…”
The lyrics are from Àngela Winbush’s soulful, self-penned testimonial “I Have Learned To Respect (The Power of Love),” which she recorded for her second solo album, 1989’s The Real Thing. Before that, the trio Alton McClain and Destiny had sung it in 1978; R&B evangelist Stephanie Mills had covered it twice. Mills’ first, romantic take on the song spent two weeks at Number One on the R&B chart in 1985, and nine years later, she redid it as “Power Of God”.
The ballad taps into the way life can seem like a cycle of feeling lost and found. Winbush wrote it at 18. “I Have Learned To Respect (The Power of Love)” is a song with both spiritual and secular meaning, a foundational principle of soul music, and one with particular resonance in Winbush’s career. For nearly a half-century — first with the duo René & Angela, then as a solo act — Winbush has crafted songs that detail the rich emotional life of Black people. Her music has been sampled by the Notorious B.I.G. and Jay-Z, Foxy Brown, Pimp C, and Common, among others.
She’s a Prince-ly multi-talent as a singer, songwriter, instrumentalist, and producer, working with a diverse range of acts, including Janet Jackson, the Isley Brothers, Lenny Williams, and Sheena Easton. Winbush is one of the most accomplished virtuosos whose name you might not even know. She’s only had one pop charter, 1994’s thumpin’ “Treat U Rite” which peaked at Number 117.
Moving on proved taxing. The label wasn’t sure it wanted a Winbush solo album, because Moore had convinced executives that he did all the behind-the-scenes stuff, even though these same people had watched her at work. “My feelings were hurt,” she told Unsung, “because I was like, ‘Well, you were in the studio with me when I was playing the piano on all those records, and suddenly, you believe that one person did it, and you take his side without even asking me.’” On top of this, Moore sued her over songwriting, wanting credit for songs such as “I Have Learned To Respect (The Power of Love),” which she insisted she had composed long before she ever teamed with Moore.
This amplified tensions, leading to a number of violent encounters that she described later in Unsung. At one rehearsal, Winbush alleged, Moore asked her to step into a dressing room, where he put her in a chokehold. The musicians, still on stage, could hear her screams. Another time, Winbush told Unsung, he gave her a concussion and bruised ribs. (Speaking in 1988 to the Los Angeles Times, Moore “acknowledged that he and Winbush frequently argued, but denied striking her.”). After a seven-year legal battle, Winbush retained 50 percent of the songs that were credited to “René and Angela,” and 100 percent of her songs going forward.
Ronald Isley, of the Isley Brothers, was a fan and tapped her to co-produce the group’s 1987 Smooth Sailin’ album. When the two began working together, they fell in love and eventually got married.
Winbush’s label moved forward with her solo deal after the success of the Isleys’ project. Her first album, Sharp, dropped in 1987, boasting the credits: “All songs are written, produced, and arranged, and played by Angela L. Winbush… All lead and background vocals performed by Angela L. Winbush.” In 1989, she released The Real Thing, featuring now-Oscar-nominated Don Cheadle bustin’ some turn-of-decade moves in the title track video, and in 1994, she put out her most recent solo album, a self-titled effort that includes a bass-boomin’ cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues” and the febrile, seductive “Keep Turnin’ Me On,” which she performed live on BET. Every note, facial expression, and hand gesture in that performance is purposeful; it’s a portrait of the artist in total command of her craft.