Making Mirrors
Gotye
Universal Republic Records B0016449-01
2011
I first heard Gotye on KCRW which is our local NPR station. I would describe their playlist as hipster-light. The song was "Somebody That I Used to Know" and like most of the world I loved it the moment I heard it. The song was soon in heavy rotation on KCRW and Gotye even did a live set on the air there that I really enjoyed. Then much to my amazement the song took off and soon it was everywhere including the popular stations that my son liked. My son loved the song as much as I did and it made me happy to bond with him over it. In the old days when I was a snob, this kind of massive popular success would have been the kiss of death for me, but now I embraced it. I was glad the song was everywhere. I took my son to see Gotye live back in 2012 and we both had a great time. I think an artist who can bridge generations is special. Some of the hipsters at work poked fun at me when I mentioned liking the Gotye show, but I could not care less. I respect Gotye as an artist and I think this album is terrific. It begins with the introspective "Making Mirrors" which is a dreamy tune that barely lasts a minute. The album kicks into gear with the propulsive "Easy Way Out" which is one of my favorite cuts. This song about ennui and difficulty getting away from past feelings is driven by fuzzy guitar riffs. This song leads into the slinky groove of the "Somebody That I Used to Know" which is the ultimate song about being hung up on the past. As you probably already know, this song is about the emotional wreckage of a break-up. It is one of the most potent break-up songs I've ever heard. Before I heard it a thousand times it used to give me chills with its emotional power. The most inspired aspect of the song is bringing in Kimbra to provide an alternative viewpoint to the self-pity of the main part of the song. The side finishes with another uptempo song, the exuberant "Eyes Wide Open." Powered by resounding drum beats and an impassioned vocal from Gotye, this song chronicles the ecological disaster created by humans indifferent to the consequences. The B side begins with the electronic pop of "Smoke and Mirrors." The song is about selling out and artistic integrity, remarkably prescient considering how Gotye's career took off abruptly taking him from cult figure to international superstar. The song is not directed explicitly at himself and I'm not saying it necessarily applies to him, but I find the issues it raises are interesting in this context. If nothing else it does show Gotye's artistic awareness and introspective nature. The mood lifts for the joyous sunshine pop of "I Feel Better." The song is a paean to love and friendship. It is not deep, but provides some welcome lightness to the album. "In Your Light" continues in a similar vein both lyrically and musically as he celebrates the joy love brings him. Side C opens with "State of the Art" which celebrates Gotye's acquisition of a vintage Lowrey Cotillion electric organ which he uses throughout the song as he lauds its various features. Gotye combines this old technology with modern electronic devices, distorting his voice as well as using samples to flesh out the smorgasbord of sounds that drive the song. It is silly but fun unlike the next song, "Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You." It is a reggae style electronic song with a plodding, lethargic beat and a foreboding sound to it that matches its creepy lyrics. It is about trying to leave some controlling organization, probably a religion. It makes me think of Scientology but it could apply to a lot of things. Side D begins with "Giving Me a Chance" which is about finding redemption with a loved one. It is low key romantic electropop. "Save Me" has an ebullient world music sound bolstered by prominent percussion and an abundance of instrumental overdubs, both analog and electronic. It is an extremely upbeat song about being redeemed through the power of love. The records concludes with "Bronte" which is not about the famous sister authors, but rather about a dying pet. It is a beautiful and delicate song that gives the album an emotional and sensitive ending. Some people rag on Gotye for being wimpy and whiny, but I admire his emotional honesty and expressiveness. This record is full of self-doubt and angst for sure, but it also features Gotye's will to find his way and overcome his unhappiness. I find it moving and uplifting. Musically it is extremely engaging with a lot more instrumental texture and variety than is typical with electronic music. Recommended to fans of Lorde.
With a Little Help From My Friends
Joe Cocker
A&M SP 4182
1969
My belated tribute to Joe Cocker who died last December. I think it has taken me so long to get around to this because I have mixed feelings about his career. I have to admit that I hated him when I was a kid. My introduction to him was his hit single "You Are So Beautiful" which they used to play all the time on the crummy soft-rock/adult contemporary radio stations my father listened to in the car. That song made my skin crawl. Then I saw him on "Saturday Night Live" and thought he was ridiculous. My opinion of him changed in my senior year of high school when I saw "Woodstock" and finally perceived his talent. I became a fan of his first three albums. I haven't much interest in him after that. I've heard tracks from most of his 1970s albums, none of which appeal to me. His hit single with Jennifer Warren "Up Where We Belong" nauseates me and I've never bothered to explore his post-1970s catalog. I do like those first three records though, especially this one which was his debut album. The album consists largely of covers of well-known songs. My favorite is the title track which of course comes from the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." It boasts an extraordinary and dramatic arrangement that radically transforms the song to the point where it is hardly recognizable as the same song. Cocker howls his way through the song supported by soulful harmonizing from female background singers with his back-up band (including Jimmy Page) making a racket behind him. It is an exciting song but I don't consider it an improvement over the original. I think the song was better served by the charm and warmth that Ringo brought to his performance of the song rather than Cocker's histrionics which overwhelm the message of goodwill and amity at the heart of the lyrics. I still dig the arrangement, although when I feel like hearing Cocker's version, I usually reach for the "Woodstock" soundtrack album which has an even more over-the-top and kinetic performance. My other favorite track is a cover of Traffic's "Feelin' Alright" which benefits greatly from Cocker's soulful vocal augmented by Merry Clayton, Brenda Holloway and Patrice Holloway's strong backing vocals. I consider this the definitive version of the song. Cocker comes close to cutting the Animals with his smouldering version of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." I give Eric Burdon the edge for his intensity, but the groove on this arrangement is fabulous. I'm also impressed by the way Cocker revitalizes the 1926 pop standard "Bye Bye Blackbird." The song is given a soul-style treatment that makes it sound contemporary and Page contributes a stinging guitar solo that gives it some fire. Cocker is less successful with a pair of Dylan covers. "I Shall Be Released" seems like a natural fit for him, but I find it dull and over-wrought. My favorite part of the song is Stevie Winwood's swelling organ lines. "Just Like a Woman" is worse. The song is undermined by Cocker's exaggerated vocal and a fussy arrangement. I greatly prefer the simplicity and directness of Dylan's original. He also covers the comparatively obscure "Do I Still Figure In Your Life" which was a 1967 single by Honeybus. The song provides a good vehicle for Cocker's impassioned emoting. There are three original songs that Cocker co-wrote with Chris Stainton which are easily the worst tracks on the record. I've had this record for decades and played it a bunch of times and I still can't remember any of them even after I've just finished listening to the record. "Sandpaper Cadillac" is the best of the three thanks to Page's fuzzy guitar riffs and some appealing shifts in tempo. "Change in Louise" is energetic and reminds me of Procol Harum if Gary Brooker had laryngitis. "Marjorine" has a music hall flavor to it. For some reason Cocker chose to sing some of it in a high, almost falsetto voice, that irritates me like fingernails on a chalkboard. The song features both Jimmy Page and Albert Lee on guitar and I'm still bored by it. I think the weakness of the original songs is emblematic of Cocker's career. He was a great interpreter, but I don't believe he was a great artist. He was heavily dependent on outside material and I think Chris Stainton was largely responsible for the imaginative arrangements that make Cocker's first two albums so compelling. Once Stainton left, Cocker's sound suffered. Despite my misgivings about his taste and vision, there is no denying that the man was a fantastic singer, among the best of his era. Even the weaker songs on this album sound wonderful. Like Janis Joplin, he redefined rock singing by incorporating soul and rhythm and blues techniques into the orthodox style of rock singing creating an intoxicating synthesis that is still thrilling to me 46 years after it was recorded. Recommended to people who think it would have been cool to hear Ray Charles perform with a loud rock band.
Joan Baez in San Francisco
Joan Baez
Fantasy Records 5015
1964
It is amusing to me that one of my favorite Joan Baez albums is the one she sued to prevent from being released. In her lawsuit against Fantasy Records the album is described as a "poor quality and tasteless record" that damaged her reputation. I beg to differ. I don't blame her for being mad, the record is obviously a rip-off and a shameless bit of record company chicanery. Despite that, the album is often quite enjoyable. It was recorded in 1958 when Baez was 17. I mistakenly believed it was a live album when I bought it, but it was actually a demo recorded in a studio. It features an eclectic bunch of songs, more diverse than most of her Vanguard albums. My favorites are the two rock and roll songs on the record, covers of the Coasters' "Young Blood" and the Midnighters' "Annie Had a Baby." Throughout her career I've never found Baez's sporadic efforts to sing rock to be convincing, she just sounds too uptight and stilted. Perhaps because of her youth, she sounds more relaxed, even happy on these cuts. I've always found her to be humorless to a fault, but these two songs are funny and she plays up their humor. "Annie Had a Baby" is the better of the two. Baez sings in a low voice and a southern accent and distorts the words like a rockabilly singer. Of course it is ridiculous but I still love it and I'm sorry it is so short. She sings "Young Blood" in her normal voice although she lowers her voice for the lines sung by the back-up singers in the Coasters' version. She whoops and hollers her way through the song and I adore her for it. I've heard a bunch of her albums and there is nothing like this on any of them. Unfortunately the rest of the album is not nearly as fun. Her version of "La Bamba" comes close. It is energetic but her Spanish sounds exaggerated, like she is showing off in Spanish class. Baez was a big fan of Harry Belafonte as a teenager and she does three of his songs which are among the best tracks on the record. My favorite is her cover of "Man Smart, Woman Smarter" which she sings in a silly Caribbean accent that I find utterly charming. She tones down the accent for "Island in the Sun" which is pleasant and light. On "Scarlet Ribbons" she sings in her normal voice which is of course lovely. She also covers Merle Travis' country classic "Dark as a Dungeon" which I like as well. She sings it beautifully as you'd expect, but she also sounds loose, responding to the song rather than forcing her will upon it. The rest of the album sounds more like her early Vanguard albums, traditional folk songs and spirituals delivered with that perfect soprano voice. My favorite of the bunch is her take on the old work song "Told My Captain" which is restrained and moody. "Every Night" is generally known as "Every Night When The Sun Goes In." I like the song but her vocal lacks sufficient feeling to put it over. "Water Boy" is another work song often associated with Odetta who was a big influence on Baez as a teen. Again I find the song lacking in feeling. "Oh Freedom" was also a song Odetta performed and it is the one song from this album that Baez kept in her repertoire. It is a very stirring song, but she performed it much better later in her career. The old English folk song "I Gave My Love a Cherry" would easily fit on her first album. She sings it flawlessly as if she were singing a hymn and I find the song lifeless and dull. My least favorite cut. Nonetheless this is a remarkable record for a 17 year old. Baez's magnificent voice was already fully developed and she unleashed it freely with impressive force. Her lack of maturity is most evident in her inconsistent ability to bring out the depth and feeling in the songs. Too often she sounds like she is imitating someone's record without connecting to the words. It is hardly embarrassing though, I wish some of the youthful exuberance and sense of fun displayed on this recording had carried over to her mature career. Recommended to fans of Carolyn Hester.
I Am The Man
Simone White
Honest Jons Records HJRLP28
2007
I had never heard of Simone White when I caught her opening for John C. Reilly and Friends at a church in Santa Monica back in 2013. It was the perfect setting for her sensitive music and delicate voice. I was enormously impressed by her and shortly afterwards bought this album. The LP has an unusually generous number of cuts, it actually has three more tracks than the CD version much to my delight. "I Didn't Have Any Summer Romance" introduces White's low key style. She breathily croons the words backed by a muted horn section and a laid-back rhythm section. The song is a cover of a 1962 Carole King single that laments that the only thing worse than having a broken heart from a summer romance that dies in the fall is to not have any summer romance at all. Despite the song's age, White's version sounds completely contemporary. "Worm Was Wood" was written by Frank Bango and Richy Vesecky. Without the horn section, this song sounds even more languid than its predecessor. The lyrics feature a series of false statements which are ultimately compared to the illusion and transient nature of love. White's own "The Beep Beep Song" is a whimsical song about love. It sounds like a children's song but its theme is serious. "The American War" is a biting satirical song about American military aggression and gunboat diplomacy. In keeping with its theme, the song has more of a rock flavor with prominent percussion and a guitar riff although White's vocal remains sedate. "Sweetest Love Song" is a lovely track in which White gives up listening to music because she all she wants to hear is the love song that her lover represents. The song is glacially slow placing all its emphasis on the sensuousness of the vocal which totally sends me. "Great Imperialist State" is about being "a spoiled child of the great imperialist state" and the uselessness of such an existence. The music has more tension than the rest of the album with a richer instrumental palate driven by jangly guitar. The song concludes with a musical rave-up with a raga-rock flavor. It is my favorite cut on the album. "Mary Jane" is about a woman with an abusive husband who becomes a musical performer before settling into a comfortable middle-class existence. The song has a jazz-folk flavor to it that along with White's breathy vocal reminds me of Nick Drake. Side one concludes with "Soldier Sailor" which compares a soldier with a sailor and their unhappy situations. The turmoil in the lyrics contrasts with the calmness in the music. Side two begins with another Bango/Vesecky composition, "Roses Are Not Red" which again recounts a series of false statements, this time to emphasize the denial a person experiences after a break-up. Horns and a cello enhance the sparse accompaniment giving the song some much needed color. "We Used to Stand So Tall" coolly examines the decline of America and the deceptions behind wars. The song assumes the guise of a children's song which adds to its cutting effect. "Why Is Your Raincoat Always Crying" returns to Bango/Vesecky once more for a song that uses a person's clothing to dissect their emotions and personality. White's girlish voice is particularly lovely on this track. It is followed by a subdued cover of Ewan MacColl's classic "Dirty Old Town" which describes a romance in a decaying industrial town. It is an odd choice of songs since White's delicate crooning style contrasts with the gritty words, but she manages to put it over anyway. "You May Be In Darkness" is a melancholy description of a break-up, no recriminations just unhappiness pervades the song. The song's minimalist accompaniment features a mournful cello that enhances the sadness in White's voice. "Haven't Got a Dollar To Pay Your House Rent Man" is an old blues song by Morris Rouse and Eddie Jackson recorded by Genevieve Davis in 1927. The song's exuberance offers a welcome contrast to the moodiness of the rest of the album. "Only the Moon" is about unrequited love. It is a sorrowful song that again reminds me of Nick Drake. White has a voice that is perfect for conveying heartbreak. The album perks up at the end for "I Am the Man" which is about her taking responsibility for her life and the world around her instead of blaming the powers that be. In keeping with its upbeat message the song has more energy and a more memorable melody than most of the songs on the record. It is another one of my favorite cuts. I enjoy this record's intelligence and consistency of tone. The lyrics are interesting and have a political edge to them as well that I find refreshing. I'd prefer more dynamic musical accompaniment, but I have to acknowledge that the restrained arrangements serve to place all the record's focus on White's gorgeous voice and fortunately she is a strong enough singer to make it work. Nonetheless I find that I can only listen to this album at certain times. If I listen during the day, it sounds insufferably precious and twee to me. It runs well over 50 minutes and it is so tranquil and relaxed that I don't have the patience to hear it all the way through. I find the best time to listen to it is late at night when I am in a more receptive mood for White's sensitivity and the delicate grain of her voice. Around midnight this album really gets to me. Recommended to fans of the Finches and Inara George.
We Are The Star People
Turn Me On Dead Man
Alternative Tentacles Records Virus 453
2013
I knew nothing about this Bay Area band when I bought this album. I had never heard any of their music. I bought it partly because it was cheap, partly for the dazzling cover art, partly for being on Jello Biafra's record label, but mostly because of the band's name. If you are a Beatles fan you are probably aware that you can hear what sounds like the phrase "turn me on dead man" when you play "Revolution No. 9" backwards. It was one of the clues in the "Paul is dead" hoax. Being a Beatles nut myself, I couldn't resist this record and besides it looked like a psychedelic record which is one of my favorite genres. It turned out to be a fine album, I'm delighted that I bought it, but it is more heavy than psych with kind of a whacked out grungy sound, although the lyrics are often very trippy. The band kicks out the jams right from the start with "Heart of the Deaf" which is a paean to an evil goth woman who the singer is attracted to. The song features a pounding rhythm, a heavy riff and plenty of hard rock noise, but it is intelligent and controlled, far from the self-indulgent excesses of heavy metal. "Dreamchild" is another powerful rocker with spacy lyrics buried in the mix like a shoegaze song. I wish it went on longer. That is not a problem for the lengthy "Deep Space Pollen" which features a request to extraterrestrials to come to Earth and take the band for a ride in their spaceship although this might also be interpreted as a drug metaphor. The song is driven by a slow, thunderous riff and lots of metallic guitar noodling. "Missing Time" describes the experience of being taken by the spaceship, although it probably is also a drug trip metaphor. It starts slow and trippy and then some power riffing takes over for awhile before giving away to a calmer conclusion. Side two opens with "Her Majesty the Drug" which is a colorful invitation to take a hallucinogenic trip. The song starts out psychedelic but then a monstrous riff kicks in reminiscent of Blue Oyster Cult's classic "Godzilla." The song returns to psychedelia briefly with some lyrical sitar-like guitar sounds and then the band rocks out again. This is my favorite track on the album. I like the dramatic shifts in dynamics as well as the trippy lyrics. The band quiets down for "Let Them Eat Flowers" which is the lightest sounding song on the album. It is another drug song featuring sky and flower symbolism and it is the most overtly psychedelic song on the album. The band returns to heaviness with the hard driving "Star People" which backs up its ominous lyrics about space invaders with a powerful sonic assault that drives the song to its conclusion. The song has a prog-rock sound to it as well which makes it more interesting than a typical hard rock song. The album concludes with "Uhura" which is a sludgy instrumental that I assume is a reference to "Star Trek" in keeping with the space theme that permeates the album. As an album closer, I find it a downer. I have a limited appetite for hard rock, but this band's use of psychedelia and prog-rock to flesh out their sound makes them very appealing to me. At times I wish the music was as trippy as the lyrics, but for the most part the band's sonic roar excites me. The band's dope-crazed, sci-fi lyrics stimulate me as well. It is an imaginative and creative album that I find consistently engaging. Recommended to fans of the Warlocks and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
Please Please Me
The Beatles
Parlophone PCS 3042
1963
Introducing the Beatles
The Beatles
Vee-Jay Records SR 1062
1964
The Early Beatles
The Beatles
Apple Records ST 2309
1965
I recently watched the documentary "Good Ol' Freda" which is about Freda Kelly, Brian Epstein's secretary who ran the Beatles' official fan club. I loved the film, she seems like a really good person and her stories were fantastic, especially the ones about the early days when the group was just becoming famous. I've always wished that I could have witnessed Beatlemania first hand and Kelly's perspective on it fascinated me. Thus I pulled out the Fabs' first album to experience a little bit of those heady days myself. "Please Please Me" is far from my favorite Beatles' album, but I dig its youthful exuberance and innocence. It is best experienced in the Parlophone version which has the most songs and a classic cover picture. Mine is a reissue from the early 1980s I believe, I no longer remember when I bought it. The Vee-Jay version was the first Beatles album released in America. Vee-Jay got it when the idiots at Capitol Records passed on it. I have a counterfeit version. Originals are not hard to find but I don't think they are worth their exorbitant cost. I bought mine in a chain record store around 1974. It was among the first Beatles albums that I bought, I chose it because it was cheaper than the Capitol/Apple albums. The cover says stereo but the record sounds mono to me, which I prefer. It follows the running order of the Parlophone album but drops "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why." Capitol belatedly issued "The Early Beatles" to replace the Vee-Jay album when Vee-Jay's license to the material expired. Capitol crudely jumbled up the running order and released only 11 of the original 14 tracks on the Parlophone version. This version restores "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why" but drops "I Saw Her Standing There," "Misery" and "There's A Place." I have an Apple reissue that I bought in the mid-1970s because I couldn't find a copy of the Parlophone album living out in the suburbs and shopping at crummy chain record stores. The Parlophone album is the one I play when I want to hear this music. I keep the other two only as a dumb collector thing. The album opens with the Lennon/McCartney composition "I Saw Her Standing There" which is one of the Beatles' most successful rock and roll songs. I've always loved it and I think it ranks with the best work of Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Buddy Holly as one of the definitive statements of the genre. McCartney's urgent vocal and that irresistible, shuffling riff still thrill me 40 years after I first heard them. The Vee-Jay album omits McCartney's count-in to the song which invariably irks me on the rare occasions that I give it a spin. Lennon and McCartney's "Misery" is a bit maudlin but the expressive joint McCartney and Lennon vocal makes it palatable for me. Arthur Alexander's "Anna" is one of the strongest tracks on the record thanks to a mesmerizing and sensitive vocal from Lennon. The group's cover of the Cookies' Goffin/King hit "Chains" suffers from a weak George Harrison vocal although the harmony vocals (always a Beatles strength) are very pleasing. Ringo does better with a rocking cover of the Shirelles' "Boys" that benefits from his enthusiasm as well as a superbly messy guitar solo from Harrison. "Ask Me Why" is a Lennon/McCartney original that features another strong Lennon vocal that makes it sound deeper than it really is. Side one concludes with "Please Please Me" the group's classic breakthrough single. More than 50 years after its original release, the song still sparkles with inventiveness and brilliance. As a kid I failed to recognize the sexual undertone to the song, which makes it seem even bolder given the repressed era in which it first appeared. Side two opens with the group's debut single "Love Me Do." Even as a child I thought the song was inane but I'm won over by the joint vocal and Lennon's harmonica playing as well. "P. S. I Love You" shows off McCartney's romantic side to great effect. From the very beginning the man has had a gift for silly love songs. The band turns to the Shirelles again for a cover of "Baby It's You" that is given a tremendous dramatic interpretation by Lennon that shreds the original. The Lennon/McCartney original "Do You Want to Know a Secret" proves to be a good vehicle for Harrison suiting the limitations of his range and his natural understated and laconic style. McCartney pulls out all the stops for a romantic interpretation of "A Taste of Honey" worthy of a pop crooner. The final Lennon/McCartney original is "There's a Place" which is notable for its introspective lyrics and its churning, distinctively British Invasion sound. The side ends with the band's explosive interpretation of "Twist and Shout" which thanks to Lennon's throat shredding performance is an eternal rock classic, rivaling the best work of James Brown and Little Richard in its intensity and passion. If the Beatles had never recorded another album, they'd still have a place in rock history for this wonderful record, one of the very best of its era. I can only imagine how exciting it must have been when people heard it for the first time, how I envy them that thrill. Recommended to people who wish they could have seen the Beatles at the Cavern Club.
I Left My Heart in San Francisco
Tony Bennett
Columbia CS 8669
1962
Here is a post for Ralph Sharon who died back in March. Sharon played piano and did arrangements for Tony Bennett for many years and was credited by him with introducing him to his trademark song "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." I rhapsodized about my long love affair with this song in my post on "Tony's Greatest Hits Volume III" so I won't repeat that here. It is easily the best song on the record and Sharon's delicate piano lines contribute greatly to the song's atmospheric effect. The song was written by George Cory and Douglass Cross who gave the song to Sharon who forgot about it for awhile. He came across it again prior to Bennett's 1961 appearance at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco and worked up an arrangement. They did the song and predictably it went over big. In early 1962 Bennett went into the studio with Marty Manning and recorded the song as a single. It was originally the b-side to the sappy show tune "Once Upon a Time" recorded at the same session and also on this album. Bennett sang up a storm on that song, but it can't hold a candle to the greatness of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" so inevitably DJs flipped over the single and "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" became a massive hit. In response Columbia cobbled together this album using older tracks. The oldest is Cole Porter's "Love For Sale" recorded using a Sharon arrangement in 1957. This is one of my favorite tracks. Sharon employed an exotic samba style approach to the song and Bennett gave it a swinging interpretation that enlivened the cynical lyrics. Sharon also arranged "Taking a Chance on Love" which Bennett recorded with Count Basie and his Band in 1958. This is another favorite. I'm a fan of Basie and he gave the song a swinging jazzy sound. Bennett is a great crooner, but I like him best as jazz singer and this song allows him to show his chops. These two songs exemplify the special relationship between Sharon and Bennett, he brought out the best in Bennett's style. Charles Chaplin's classic "Smile" was recorded and released as a single by Bennett in 1959. It is a sentimental song that invites a melodramatic interpretation, but fortunately that isn't Bennett's style. Despite a mawkish arrangement from Frank Burns, Bennett sings strongly but with emotional restraint, one of the better versions of this song that I've heard. A 1960 session with Frank DeVol yielded "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows." It is a show tune from 1917 adapted from Chopin and originally performed on stage by the Dolly Sisters. DeVol's arrangement is typically heavy-handed with mushy strings and ethereal background singers, but Bennett's vocal is strong enough to cut through most of the goop. He makes the song sound almost contemporary with his wistful, romantic style. Another 1960 session with Cy Coleman produced "Marry Young" and "The Best is Yet to Come" which was released as a single that year. Coleman wrote both songs with Carolyn Leigh. "Marry Young" is a lovely romantic song with a very warm vocal from Bennett. "The Best is Yet to Come" is one of Bennett's best songs. The swinging arrangement supports Bennett's swaggering vocal. It is a classic performance. Coleman and Leigh's "Rules of the Road" was recorded in 1961 with Ralph Burns conducting and arranging. It is a terrific song given a gently swinging setting that puts it right in Bennett's wheelhouse. Bennett forcefully sings the worldly lyrics as if he really relates to them. Later in 1961 Bennett recorded "Candy Kisses" and "Tender is the Night" with Marty Manning. "Tender is the Night" was written for the movie of the same name and was even nominated for a best song Academy Award. It is appropriately dramatic but also kind of dreary despite Bennett's resonant vocal. The country song "Candy Kisses" is a lot better. Bennett sings with a lot of feeling despite Manning's stiff accompaniment. Manning also arranged and conducted "Have I Told You Lately" at the same session where Bennett recorded "I Left My Heart in San Francisco." It was written by Harold Rome for the Broadway show "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" which made Barbra Streisand a star. I think the arrangement is too slow and stodgy but Bennett sings it with a lot of enthusiasm. Despite the hodge podge construction of this album and the multitude of arrangers, it has a cohesive and consistent sound to it. I think that is a tribute to Bennett's style and vision, which is strong enough to overcome weak arrangements or indifferent material. The title track is an immortal classic and the three Coleman/Leigh tunes are first rate. I also really like "Love For Sale" and "Taking a Chance on Love." So that's six strong tracks out of twelve and the remaining six all have some merit. I mostly bought this record because I dug the cover, but it turned out to be a really good album as well. Recommended for staring out at the San Francisco Bay on a foggy day.
