Charles Farrar

Last updated

Charles Farrar
Born
New Jersey, United States
Alma mater Morehouse College
Musical career
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Songwriter
  • composer
  • producer
Formerly ofThe Characters

Charles Farrar is an American songwriter, composer, and producer, best known for his songwriting work with vocal groups SWV, 702, Today, and Shades. [1] In the late 1990s/early 2000s, Farrar, alongside Troy Taylor, was a member of "The Characters": a production duo that worked on Boyz II Men's Cooleyhighharmony , as well as with Kenny Lattimore and numerous other artists.

Contents

In 2001, Farrar was nominated to serve on the board of directors for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). [2]

The Characters

The Characters
Genres
Years active
  • 1990–2003
LabelsCharacter Music Corporation / DreamWorks Records / Chrysalis Music [3]
Members

The Characters were a Grammy Award-winning American songwriting and production duo best known for their work with 1990s R&B vocal groups such as Boyz II Men, Destiny's Child, and Riff. [4] The pairing was formed when Troy Taylor, signed in early 1990 to a solo record deal with Motown, decided to instead explore songwriting and production for other artists with fellow songwriter and producer Farrar. [5] [6] After commencing work with Farrar, two of the songs originally created for Taylor's debut album were repurposed and placed onto Boyz II Men's acclaimed debut project Cooleyhighharmony . [7] They would reunite with the group to create "Jezzebel" for 1994's Grammy-winning II album.

Several years later, solo R&B artist Johntá Austin, working with the duo at the time to create his own debut project at the age of 13, was experiencing instability at RCA Records as a result of internal label politics. Austin was added to the writing team as an occasional member when he was subsequently dropped and his project was shelved, and their first writing collaborations as a trio resulted in "Realize" for Jason Weaver, "Here For You" for SWV's 1997 album Release Some Tension and hit single " Sweet Lady " for Tyrese Gibson. [8] [9]

Taylor and Farrar also diversified into forming and signing girl groups throughout the 1990s, such as OSCAR (a multi-racial New jack swing/R&B quartet who released 1992 album Spotlight) under their production company Character Music Corporation. [10]

Songwriting and production credits

Credits are courtesy of Discogs, Spotify, and AllMusic.

TitleYearArtistAlbum
"Happiness"1989Nyki NicoleNon-album single
"Every Little Thing About You"1990 Today The New Formula
"Self Centered"
"Gonna Make You Mine"
"Little Things"1991 Boyz II Men Cooleyhighharmony
"Your Love"
"Chivalry" (The Characters Remix) Babyface A Closer Look
"I'll Be There For You"LateashaLateasha
"Mature Love" Keisha Jackson Keisha
"All Night Lovin'"
"All Night Lovin' Interlude"
"Step by Step (Gonna Make You Mine)"1992 Wendy Moten Wendy Moten
"Take Me Back to Love Again" Kathy Sledge Heart
"I've Gotta Have It" 3rd Avenue Let's Talk About Love
"The Minute You Fall In Love"
"I'm Calling You (Do-Po-Liddle-Lo-Le-Yeah)"OSCARSpotlight
"Just For You"
"Let Me Make It Better"
"I'll Be There For You"
"Spotlight"
"Keep Touching Me"
"How I Spend My Time"
"Give Me A Reason"
"Just Being With You" Countess Vaughn Countess
"Once More"
"Skyy's The Limit" Skyy Nearer To You
"Work It Out"1993 Perfect Gentlemen The Perfect Gentlemen
"Don't Go Nowhere" [11] Riff To Whom It May Concern
"(Seek And You'll Find) The Kinda Right Baby"1994Groove UTender Love
"Old Becomes New"
"Call And I'll Answer"
"Pass It Over"FourmulaNon-album single
"Floating Debelah Morgan Debelah
"Win You Over" (With Troy Taylor)
"Jezzebel" Boyz II Men II
"I Can't Tell You Why"1995 Brownstone [12] [13] From the Bottom Up
"Best Friend" (Character R&B Mix featuring Channel Live) [14] Brandy Brandy
"I'm Sorry" Solo Solo
"My Cherie Amour" Tony Thompson Sexsational
"Come Over"
"Goodbye Eyes"
"Love Today"Vertical HoldHead First
"Love In An Elevator"1996 Johnny Gill Let's Get the Mood Right
"Simply Say I Love U" (Featuring Stevie Wonder)
"So Gentle" (Featuring Ronnie DeVoe)
"Get Down Like Dat" 702 No Doubt
"No Doubt"
"Show You My Love"
"All I Want"
"Just Let Me Know" Horace Brown Horace Brown
"Realize" Jason Weaver Stay With Me (Shelved)
"Your Body's Callin'" Norman Brown Better Days Ahead
"Facts of Love"
"Love Like This" (Featuring Lil' Cease)1997 SWV Release Some Tension
"Lose Myself"
"Here For You"
"Who Are You" Shades Shades
"Tell Me (I'll Be Around)"
"I Believe"
"How Deep Is Your Love"
"Time Will Reveal"
"All He's Supposed to Be" Johnny Gill The 6th Man (soundtrack)
"Jam Knock" Brian McKnight Anytime
"Dance Wit Me" (Featuring Doug E. Fresh)1998 Miss Jones The Other Woman
"Smooth"
"In And Out Of My Life" [15] Ali Crucial / Bitter Honey
"Once A Fool" Destiny's Child & William Floyd eMusic Presents NFL Jams
"Work It Out" Boyz II Men & Garrison Hearst
"Let's Get It Started" Johnny Gill & Corey Harris
"Sweet Lady"1999 Tyrese Tyrese
"What'cha Gonna Do" Eternal Eternal
"Treat Me Like a Lady"
"Absent From You"
"He Is"
"Never Let You Go Away" Rome Thank You (Shelved)
"I Really Do Love You"BeverlyHeart and Soul (Shelved)
"Do It Like Us" Rudy Non-album single
"Come Correct"2000 Before Dark Daydreamin'
"Can We Make Love" Profyle Nothin' but Drama
"Candles" Pru Pru
"Got Me High"
"Can't Compare Your Love"
"Sketches of Pain"
"Hold On" L.V. How Long
"Just Because"F.A.T.E [16] For All That's Endured
"Weekend"2001 Kenny Lattimore Weekend
"Baby You're the One"
"Can You Feel Me" (Featuring Shanice)
"If Love Is What You Want"
"Right Down to It"
"Better Than" Damage Since You've Been Gone
"Money"Smash Task [17] [18] Selections From "The Dirty D.I.S.T.R.I.C.T."
"I Want You For Myself"V.A.One By One
"Nobody Else"
"Don't Ya Hate It"
"I'm The Man"
"Next To Me"
"Breathe"
"It Don't Make No Sense"
"Swole"
"You Could've Called"
"It's Cool"
"We Make Love"
"Pretty Girl"
"I'm Done"
"I Want You For Myself (Acoustic)"
"Crave" [19] 4Shades4Shades
"Why I Love You"2002 B2K Pandemonium!
"Understanding" B2K
"Baby Girl"
"Baby Girl (Terri's Theme)" Barbershop (soundtrack)
"I'm Wit It" 702 Star
"You" [20] Ruff Endz Someone to Love You
"Him"2004 Frankee The Good, the Bad, the Ugly
"Love Is Free" (featuring Maluca)2015 Robyn & La Bagatelle Magique Love Is Free (EP)
"Give It 2 U"2020J. BrownForever Yours
"Sunrise Sunset"

Awards and nominations

YearAwarding BodyAwardResultRef
1995 37th Annual Grammy Awards Grammy Award for Best R&B Album ( II )Won [21]
2000 ASCAP Pop Awards Award-Winning Song ("Sweet Lady")Won [22]
2000 ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Awards Award-Winning Song ("Sweet Lady")Won [23]

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