9:27 PM #Friday #October 21 2022 #TableScraps from #BostonRockandRollAnthology21 @RobFraboni @TomMichJR1 @lspinna #JoeViglioneMedia thank you #CatorWebRadio for airing Tom's music @RadioRaccoon #MusicSupervisor #FilmMusic @terrykathguitar #TerryKath #FrankZappa #NecessaryWeevils
%20_%20Twitter.png)
Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves Review by Joe Viglione [+]
Released originally as Cher (Kapp KS-3649), featuring a light grey cover with strands of hair over the face of the chanteuse, this LP was re-released (as Kapp KS-5549) with the title Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves in bold white letters with song titles "The Way of Love," "Fire and Rain," and "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" above the cropped cover photo. The original has the word "Cher" in black fading into the grey; the re-release has her name in bold white. Cover issues aside, this is a good album with some great moments, among them a career highlight in the two-and-a-half-minute opening track, "The Way of Love." The Stillman/Dieval tune was originally a British hit for Kathy Kirby, and both Cher and Kirby drove the song right by the censors. The song is either about a woman expressing her love for another woman, or a woman saying au revoir to a gay male she loved -- in either case this is not a mother to daughter heart-to-heart: "What will you do/When he sets you free/Just the way that you/Said good-bye to me." Kirby hit with a similar production in the '60s; Cher's Snuff Garrett production, arranged by Al Capps, broke the Top Ten in 1972 a few months after "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" became her first number one solo hit toward the end of 1971. Both songs lead off this disc with a one-two punch that is impossible to sustain throughout the entire album. "I Hate to Sleep Alone," written by Peggy Clinger, clings onto the Jack Nitzsche/Sonny Bono riff that made "Needles and Pins" so memorable. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" no doubt satisfied fans, but the performance sounds a bit rushed; four years later Olivia Newton-John would also cover this song inspired by the Boystown logo -- interesting female perspectives four years apart, both on MCA. "I'm in the Middle," "Touch and Go," and "He'll Never Know" are all passable middle-of-the road pop, "Touch and Go" being particularly memorable, clocking in at only two minutes and one second. The cover of "Fire and Rain" is mildly interesting, with Cher saying, "Suzanne the plans they made put an end to you." Cher never minded androgynous or neutral gender identity in her songs; her deep voice could carry both the male and female ranges for the duo with Bono and, musically, her solo material could soar to heights not possible in a partnership -- "The Way of Love" being one example. https://www.allmusic.com/album/gypsys-tramps-thieves-mw0000309635
Released originally as Cher (Kapp KS-3649), featuring a light grey cover with strands of hair over the face of the chanteuse, this LP was re-released (as Kapp KS-5549) with the title Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves in bold white letters with song titles "The Way of Love," "Fire and Rain," and "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" above the cropped cover photo. The original has the word "Cher" in black fading into the grey; the re-release has her name in bold white. Cover issues aside, this is a good album with some great moments, among them a career highlight in the two-and-a-half-minute opening track, "The Way of Love." The Stillman/Dieval tune was originally a British hit for Kathy Kirby, and both Cher and Kirby drove the song right by the censors. The song is either about a woman expressing her love for another woman, or a woman saying au revoir to a gay male she loved -- in either case this is not a mother to daughter heart-to-heart: "What will you do/When he sets you free/Just the way that you/Said good-bye to me." Kirby hit with a similar production in the '60s; Cher's Snuff Garrett production, arranged by Al Capps, broke the Top Ten in 1972 a few months after "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" became her first number one solo hit toward the end of 1971. Both songs lead off this disc with a one-two punch that is impossible to sustain throughout the entire album. "I Hate to Sleep Alone," written by Peggy Clinger, clings onto the Jack Nitzsche/Sonny Bono riff that made "Needles and Pins" so memorable. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" no doubt satisfied fans, but the performance sounds a bit rushed; four years later Olivia Newton-John would also cover this song inspired by the Boystown logo -- interesting female perspectives four years apart, both on MCA. "I'm in the Middle," "Touch and Go," and "He'll Never Know" are all passable middle-of-the road pop, "Touch and Go" being particularly memorable, clocking in at only two minutes and one second. The cover of "Fire and Rain" is mildly interesting, with Cher saying, "Suzanne the plans they made put an end to you." Cher never minded androgynous or neutral gender identity in her songs; her deep voice could carry both the male and female ranges for the duo with Bono and, musically, her solo material could soar to heights not possible in a partnership -- "The Way of Love" being one example. https://www.allmusic.com/album/gypsys-tramps-thieves-mw0000309635
Cher's fourth solo album feels like the end of the first chapter of Sonny & Cher. There are photos of the pair on-stage and interesting liner notes by Sonny Bono where Cher says to him matter-of-factly (in a transcribed phone conversation) "you do your best and hope they like it." Problem is, a good portion of the performances here lack that something special found on her hit records. John B. Sebastian's sparkle is absent from the lackluster reading of "Do You Believe in Magic?." It's a delightful arrangement with a vocal the singer mailed in. The fun presence on her first solo hit, "All I Really Want to Do," doesn't translate well when another Dylan composition, "Masters of War," is put on the table. Perhaps the song was describing behind-the-scenes at the Bono household? "Like a Rolling Stone" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" made it to her second and third albums, clarifying that the folksinger icon was an important ingredient in this phase of Cher's solo career. The counterculture couple gone mainstream certainly could have found a gem from Mr. Zimmerman's vast catalog that could have clicked on the charts. And speaking of clicking, Miriam Makeba's "The Click Song" and Bob West's "Song Called Children" have the emotion missing on the covers of Denny Laine's hit version of Milton Bennett and Larry Banks' "Go Now" and Tim Hardin's "Reason to Believe." This was right before Rod Stewart got major airplay with the title, Mercury Records pushing the Hardin classic for Stewart until a Boston DJ flipped the single over and made "Maggie May" happen. Had Cher put some muscle into the popular tunes on this album, it could have been huge. The world was ready to hear the beautiful melody that is "Reason to Believe." She's great on Dr. John Creaux and Jessie Hill's "I Wasn't Ready" but drops the ball on the fantastic composition "Take Me for a Little While." Backstage is a mixed bag including some classy imports with their foreign-language titles -- amusing takes on "Carnival," a song interpreted by Miriam Makeba, and "The Impossible Dream." These pre-Snuff Garrett/Al Capps recordings are an essential part of the Sonny & Cher repertoire -- the final one before 3614 Jackson Highway leading up to the two-year gap ended with 1971's Sonny & Cher Live. https://www.allmusic.com/album/backstage-mw0000845557
With Love, Cher Review by Joe Viglione [-]
Sonny Bono's bells and castanet production by way of Phil Spector certainly adds a magical spell to Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'," but it is disconcerting, as an attempt at a female Barry McGuire is not as much fun as the Dylan love song that was Cher's first solo hit, "All I Really Want to Do." With Love, Cher has a somewhat unflattering photo by Sonny Bono of his wife against a blue sky on the front cover, and a series of exquisite black-and-whites on the back, her features striking, their youth and the sense of a real love affair leaping off the LP jacket. "Hey Joe" is even tougher to take than "The Times They Are A-Changin'," clearly the wrong material for this great singer, but she keeps the gender in place when doing the answer part, ambiguity à la "You'd Better Sit Down Kids" and "The Way of Love," which makes for some fun. The percussive sounds on the love theme from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, "I Will Wait for You," adds a dimension missing on the Dylan cover, and it is one of the more intriguing and fulfilling moments on the album. Sonny's tune, "Mama (When My Dollies Have Babies)," begins with an annoying off-key choir of kids only to settle into a mellow Wall of Sound, which works. But it's the big Top Ten hit, her fifth solo smash, that really is the moment in the sun here. "You'd Better Sit Down Kids" is just a tremendous performance surrounded by winners like "Sing for Your Supper," and not so spectacular events like "Hey Joe." For a '60s album, though, there is more meat than filler, and With Love, Cher shows why the singer endeared herself to listeners and got to play in the same ballpark as Dusty and Petula. https://www.allmusic.com/album/with-love-cher-mw0000373039
Sonny Bono's bells and castanet production by way of Phil Spector certainly adds a magical spell to Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'," but it is disconcerting, as an attempt at a female Barry McGuire is not as much fun as the Dylan love song that was Cher's first solo hit, "All I Really Want to Do." With Love, Cher has a somewhat unflattering photo by Sonny Bono of his wife against a blue sky on the front cover, and a series of exquisite black-and-whites on the back, her features striking, their youth and the sense of a real love affair leaping off the LP jacket. "Hey Joe" is even tougher to take than "The Times They Are A-Changin'," clearly the wrong material for this great singer, but she keeps the gender in place when doing the answer part, ambiguity à la "You'd Better Sit Down Kids" and "The Way of Love," which makes for some fun. The percussive sounds on the love theme from The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, "I Will Wait for You," adds a dimension missing on the Dylan cover, and it is one of the more intriguing and fulfilling moments on the album. Sonny's tune, "Mama (When My Dollies Have Babies)," begins with an annoying off-key choir of kids only to settle into a mellow Wall of Sound, which works. But it's the big Top Ten hit, her fifth solo smash, that really is the moment in the sun here. "You'd Better Sit Down Kids" is just a tremendous performance surrounded by winners like "Sing for Your Supper," and not so spectacular events like "Hey Joe." For a '60s album, though, there is more meat than filler, and With Love, Cher shows why the singer endeared herself to listeners and got to play in the same ballpark as Dusty and Petula. https://www.allmusic.com/album/with-love-cher-mw0000373039
Crystal Mansion
The Thought of Loving You
No comments:
Post a Comment