LATE AGAIN
(Warner Bros./1968) Peter, Paul & Mary
Late Again forms the final third of a trilogy, in my mind, with Album and Album 1700. These were the last three really good studio albums released by PP&M before they "retired." Late Again is a continuation of the eclecticism that marked most of the trio's albums after In The Wind, and saw PP&M following Bob Dylan away from folk music, which by then was in its death throes. With this album, they made the seamless transition from accoustic folk to plugged-in folk-rock, and in so doing, showed themselves to be masters of popular music in its many forms of expression. Leaving On A Jet Plane, recorded by the Chad Mitchell Trio and written by their leader singer, a young and relatively unknown John Denver, was covered by Peter, Paul and Mary for this album. Being about a young soldier flying off to the Vietnam War, it was shelved as Late Again was meant to be a change of direction away from their past, which had been dominated by protest songs. Their version was released two years later and it became their last and biggest hit single.
Late Again would be their last album of new songs before going their separate ways; they would never make it into the folk-rock era of the 1970s that this album helped pioneer. Somehow, despite what could have been an awkward mix of folk, rock'n'roll, blues and soft, romantic balladry, this largely forgotten album moves effortlessly between the genres, mixing them up, and ends up being a wonderfully cohesive whole. It starts with a Paul Stookey song whose saloon piano and bass rhythm grabs the listener by the scruff of the neck with the opening line, "I would like to apologize for my friend here; he hasn't been himself for a long, long time." After that energetic opening, the unexpected pleasure of Moments Of Soft Persuasion does exactly what its title might suggest, and we are hooked for the remainder of the ride. Hymn is an amazing, tear-producing expression of spirituality inspired by Stookey's newly-found Christian faith. Other standouts are two Bob Dylan songs, the rarely covered Too Much Of Nothing (the only version by Dylan is on The Basement Tapes) that was the album's only hit single, and a short but sweet I Shall Be Released. Who would have thought that a simple folk trio would rise to such artistic heights as this?
Any Day Now: The Songs of Bob Dylan finds folk singer Joan Baez in a Nashville studio cutting a double-album of country-inflected renditions of 16 Bob Dylan's songs, many of which were unavailable from Dylan at the time except on bootlegs. One song, Love is Just a Four-Letter Word, has apparently never been recorded by Dylan himself. To select the songs for the album, Baez apparently spread Bob Dylan sheet music on the floor in front of her, closed her eyes and picked at random, until she had 16 songs. She also drew the illustrations for each of the songs that decorated the gatefold of the album (but sadly, not the CD cover).
Discovered by Paul McCartney who brought her success producing her biggest hit, Those were The Days, Welsh songstress Mary Hopkin is more folk-oriented here than on her previous recordings. This remains to this day the album Mary is most pleased with, considering it to be more her style than any of her other work. Earth Song/Ocean Song, which has a perhaps unintentional theme of finding inner peace, features Danny Thompson on double bass, Ralph McTell on guitar, Tony Visconti on recorder (the wind instrument, not the tape deck) and Dave Cousins from The Strawbs on guitar. The album's release marked the end of her tenure with Apple. Mary temporarily retired from recording soon after, marrying Tony Visconti, the producer of this album, and mostly left the music business to bring up her children.
When you listen to Whales & Nightingales the big question is which song do you find more haunting, her crystal clear version of Amazing Grace or Farewell to Tarwathie, which is sung over the accompaniment of Humpback Whales - both sung a capella. The latter track was truly innovative and inspiring, and has not dated in the slightest. The glorious soprano voice never falters; the quality of any Judy Collins album is always enhanced by the choice of songs and this one is no exception. This time around we have Bob Dylan's Time Passes Slowly and songs by Jacques Brel (Marieke) and Pete Seeger (Oh Had I a Golden Thread), as well a nice little original composition (Sons of). My favourite, after the a capella masterpieces, is Song for David, written by fellow folksinger Joan Baez to her husband who was in gaol at the time for burning his draft card in protest at the Vietman War. Judy Collins music invoked (and still does) the life and times of the late 1960s. The beautiful instrumentation, Judy's unique, haunting voice and the lyrics still have the power to send tingles down my spine. 
Ronstadt's breakthrough album, and her most perfectly realized. She had her first hit, Different Drum, in 1967, fronting the Stone Poneys. Though long acknowledged to be one of the best woman singers in pop, it wasn't until Heart like a Wheel that she received the acclaim she so richly deserved.
Thus named because the band at a time were struggling to stay afloat financially, Dr. Hook's album Bankrupt is chock-full of idiotic, contrived lyrics that would make any sane person vomit; pointless slide guitar and country-rock posturing, ill-conceived genre exercises, absurdly obvious drug references, ridiculously ironic cover art, and even an inane version of a Sam Cooke song.
With Summertime Dream, Gordon Lightfoot produced one of his finest albums, and wrapped up a six-year period of popularity that he would not recapture. Propelled by his second biggest hit, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Summertime Dream summed up the sound that had served Lightfoot so well in his post-If You Could Read My Mind days.
Seven years after The Seekers broke up in 1968 at the time lead singer Judith Durham left to start a solo career, the three 'boys' of the original Seekers met up again in Australia and decided to revive the group. They recruited Dutch-born Melbourne singer Louisa Wisseling as Judith's replacement and had immediate success with a top 10 single, The Sparrow Song/Every Road Leads Back To You, and an album, The Seekers (June 1975). These releases were followed up by three further singles, Reunion (No.14), Where In The World (No.36) and Giving & Taking, the latter being the title track of their second album in the new line-up. Giving & Taking was every bit as good as anything they had recorded with Judith Durham and featured a more contemporary sound than before, though sales suffered in Australia at least from a public perception that they weren't the real Seekers because Judith was no longer the lead singer. Louisa, who in every way was equal to the task, had given the group a totally different but equally professional sound which had been perfected by the time this excellent album was in the can. Bruce Woodley had been honing his skills as a songwriter, and Giving & Taking became a showcase for his latest compositions. Giving & Taking, Part of You and the Bee Gees' composition Country Lanes are the highlight tracks. Sadly, Bruce left The Seekers in June 1977 to concentrate on songwriting and production and Buddy England took his place. Within a year, Athol Guy had left, being replaced by Peter Robinson. By the next album - All Over the World (1978) - Cheryl Webb had replaced Louisa, who had left to start a family. The group disbanded in 1981, at which time only one original Seekers (Keith Potger) remained. Sadly, neither of Louisa Wisseling's Seekers albums have thus far been released on CD. Louisa proved to be a more than adequate replacement for Judith Durham and deserves better than the footnote she is so often given in the history of the group. 
I never was one for disco - I don't like dancing, the fashions were way over the top for conservative me and the music left me cold; with one exception - Boney M. Named after a 1970s Australian TV detective, the group was an odd combination of semi-plagaurised songs performed by West Indians living in Germany, all sung to a mix of calypso and disco beats with tight, close harmonies. It worked amazingly well. Boney M was the dreamchild of Frank Farian (Franz Reuther), a German schlager singer and producer whose other claim to fame was as creator of Milli Vanilla, the disgraced 80s pop duo whose members never sang a single note - all their repertoire was mimed to someone else's recordings. Farian started the practice here - he never thought he had a good enough voice to sing himself when he formed Boney M in 1974, so he got Bobby Farrell to mime to his vocals, hired Marcia Barrett, who had already recorded some songs with Farian, to sing lead, and roped in a couple of good looking Jamaican women to sing (or mime as was the case with a number of them) back-up. Thus was Boney M created.
Brothers in Arms was the fifth studio album by British rock band Dire Straits. Propelled by MTV video airplay, it was their most successful recording. The first half of the album is a development of their unique brand of arena rock which had evolved in their music since the 1980 album Making Movies, while the second half consists of more folk-influenced material. The whole album maintains the original Dire Straits' bluesy and laid back guitar-based sound whilst retaining a more lavish and bombastic production and overall sound. Brothers in Arms was one of the first albums to be directed at the CD market, being the first full digital recording (DDD) released. Money For Nothing has one of the greatest guitar riffs of all time. Your Latest Trick is every 80's soft rock cliche somehow shoehorned into one song. The second half of the album is mainly fillers that haven't aged well, but the first three tracks are so good and Mark Knopfler's Dylanesque singing and guitar playing so hot, it almost doesn't matter.
A tribute album, this time to the songwriting skills of Elton John and Bernie Taupin. There are actually some clunkers here (tribute covers, not songs), like Sinead O'Connor's woeful overdone Sacrifice and Rod Stewart's soul-less rendition of Your Song. They are more than made up for by Wilson Phillips' superior (to Elton's) recording of Daniel; the Beach Boys' Crocodile Rock perfectly evokes the 50s; Tina Turner's The Bitch Is Back could well have been written for her; Hall & Oates' Philadelphia Freedom runs rings arlound Elton's original; Bon Jovi's Levon is perhaps the best song this band of boring metalheads ever did; Eric Clapton's Border Song is excellent, as is Phil Collins' Burn Down The Mission and quite unexpected from a man who has recorded some of the world's most boring covers.
Where The Soul Cages was dark and introspective, Ten Summoner's Tales shows Sting returning to a lighter mood, with plenty of wry humor and jazz musical touches. It is an amazing compilation of 11 songs that really push boundaries with his musicianship while staying true to his excellent songwriting (Sting wrote most of the songs; his real name is Gordon Sumner, hence the album's title). The songs included on this album are expansive, serious and funny, packed with melodies. While its message isn't as deep as his past albums, it shines in its authenticity, surely the best material he's ever played. To draw you in, the first song is the well-known If I Ever Lose My Faith in You. It has an addictive groove and multiple layers of sounds and melodies. In that same vein is Fields of Gold. Surely this song, in its sombre mood and loving lyrics, is more than just a pop song but wistfully recalled memory of love that even the music video captured. Sting's strong sense of storytelling is evident in Something the Boy Said, about seafarers (a favorite subject of Sting's) and their upcoming doom on the high seas. Again, the music carries its subject flawlessly. This album feels like a whole composition while the songs themselves have the feel of a greatest hits collection. Sting's mastery of musicianship and ironic, direct lyrics can not be denied as he safely samples all perspectives and blends them into this superb volume of romantic, freshly synthesized songs. Not going too deep in message, this album is truly the pinnacle of Sting's work.
Don't Ask is the second album by Australian singer Tina Arena. She co-wrote all of the songs on the original release of the album which was produced by David Tyson. The album bears the fruits of her journey of discovery as she struggled to climb out from under the shadow of Young Talent Time (the album's title is the stock answer she used to give when asked about her YTT days - Now I Can Dance, on her next album, So Deep, documents that journey). A remarkable record by a still-maturing talent, Don't Ask became Arena's highest selling album to date selling in excess of 1.3 million copies worldwide and was certified ten times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The album spawned the successful singles Chains, Sorrento Moon (I Remember), Heaven Help My Heart, Wasn't It Good, That's the Way a Women Feels and the cover version of Maria McKee's song Show Me Heaven. Don't Ask brought Arena her first of ten ARIA Award nominations throughout 1995 and 1996.
Simply Mad About The Mouse injects new life into nine classic Disney songs by modern day artists including L.L. Cool J, Harry Connick, Jr., Michael Bolton and Billy Joel. There are also two other tracks that are based on Disney music although they are not Disney tunes: there is a creatively written introduction and the last track by Kirk Whalum, entitled Mad About The Wolf. Billy Joel's voice is in good form on When You Wish Upon A Star; Ric Ocasek chimes in with a zippy rendition of "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah; The Bare Necessities features Harry Connick, Jr. crooning this to perfection; Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Wolf gets the royal treatment from L.L. Cool J who delivers this as a rap/hip-hop number with an awesome female chorus on backup. Soul II Soul's Kiss The Girl is my favourite track. 
Any notions of Katie Melua being a calculated Norah Jones knock-off fly out the window within seconds of listening to the jazzy chanteuse's wispy, sultry voice on her debut Call of the Search. Like her idol, the late Eva Cassidy, in tribute to whom Melua penned the fetching Faraway Voice, the young Georgian-born British jazz and blues singer is clearly one of those fortunate souls who feels music in every fibre of their being.
From the first time I heard the haunting background vocals in the movie Titanic, I knew that whoever this singer might be, I had to hear more. By searching the internet, I discovered that the voice belonged to Norwegian-born siren, Sissel, which led me to add this, her second album in English, to my collection. Dynamic and expressive, mixing classical melodies, operatic arias and pop songs, this crossover artist has a vocal clarity that is reminiscent of Sarah Brightman; she sings effortlessly with a pureness in her soprano renditions.