> William wrote: > > You will love the album Song to a Seagull. >Mack wrote: > Too early for me to write just what I think about but Joni was in great > vocal form, wasn't she?
> That is true William. The writing is unique, fine. I love STAS. It is one of my favorites. I find it to be the most soothing of Joni's records. Taming the Tiger comes in second. I am so glad she is doing 'The Dawntreader' on Travelogue. It is a favorite of mine. > > As far as Linda goes Get Closer is not bad I think this was Linda's first album after she finished the Nelson Riddle stuff. It has some good songs on it. I like it better than 'Living in the USA' or 'Mad Love'. > > > w, Heart Like A Wheel, Prisoner in Disguise, Hasten Down the > > Wind, and Simple Man/Simple Dream. These albums came out in this sequence > > and she was on a winning streak here!!! > > Yes, I have those. And what a winning streak it was. Those are my favorites too although I don't have 'Don't Cry Now'. I'd like to get ahold of 'Silk Purse' but I don't think it's available on cd. 'Prisoner' and 'Hasten' are particular favorites. Linda's verion of 'I Will Always Love You' puts Whitney to shame imo and she interprets songs by J D Souther and Karla Bonoff like nobody else. > > > As you stated, her Nelson Riddle > > Stuff in almost flawless in a technical/vocal sense but there are quit a > few > > recordings out there of the same material that have "half" her voice, yet > > have a better interpretive feel to them. > > I haven't been able to get up the courage to listen to the second half of it > yet but curious as to how she will do "Lush Life." I really dig RLJ version > of the tune. I really loved 'What's New' when it came out. Played it alot. Whatever else you want to say about it, it's very pretty music and Linda sings it well. But over time it hasn't worn well with me. As others have said, she really didn't go much beyond technique here. I started exploring Billie Holiday's music around the time 'What's New' came out and eventually discovered that a pretty voice does not necessarily a great interpreter make and a less than pretty voice can sometimes get to the heart of a song and give it life that you never suspected was there. I have to admit that Rickie Lee's reinventions of standards sometimes puts me off on first listen but she has grown on me as an interpreter. I love 'Pop Pop'. Still not sure about 'Girl at Her Volcano' but it is growing on me. > > > I don't bother much with Ross. She is just > > like Whitney, Mariah, etc... Great voice, crappy material. > > This woman. Who can understand her? Ms. Ross. Diana. What can you say about her? I agree with William that her vocals were surprisingly good in 'Lady Sings the Blues'. She did do a pretty decent job of giving an impression of Billie's style. But the character she played was not Billie Holiday. At least not from everything I've read about Billie. I go back & forth about Diana. The Supremes stuff is good, fun music and she did record one or two ok songs without them. But overall, her post Supremes stuff leaves me cold and her ridiculously inflated ego makes it nearly impossible for me to take her seriously. I sometimes think she is somebody with a pretty voice but limited talent. Mostly fluff. > > > > I'm with you on your Carole King comments. > It is such a shame. > > Sad but true I fear. > I agree with both of you about Carole. Much as I love her, she seemed to run out of gas around the time she made 'Fantasy'. Carole was the first singer/songwriter that caught my ear and I have a special place in my heart for her. 'Tapestry' is pretty much etched on my brain. I suppose that album alone on top of all the hits she cranked out with Gerry Goffin earned her a spot among the great pop music writers. Thanks guys, for bringing up some of my favorites. It was fun to read your thoughts and put in one or two of my own. Mark E in Seattle
