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Memories by Barbra Streisand (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Memories
  • Artist name: Barbra Streisand
  • Year: 1981
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Scratched into side one of LP: PAL 37678 1H
    • Scratched into side two of LP: PBL-37678-1F
  • Buy it on Amazon: $19.99

Memories by Barbra Streisand

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard this record before and I’m not sure if I will recognize any of the songs on it. I do recognize the name of New York State Of Mind, but can not manage to conjure up the melody.

This will be the second Barbra Streisand record that I review. The first, Barbra Streisand’s Greatest Hits (1970), was not good.

What I expected

More show tunes, I guess.

What it was actually like

I did recognize New York State of Mind, and also Memory.

It has been rare during the course of this project that I’ve seriously contemplated getting up and turning off a record in the middle of a song (though occasionally I do turn the volume down, which I can do from my couch), but I almost did it during You Don’t Bring Me Flowers.

Everything about this record was abysmal and it was difficult to pick a worst song, but the elevator music style saxophone solo on New York State of Mind was a contender, as was the disco song No More Tears (Enough Is Enough).

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

The Best of Carly Simon (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: The Best of Carly Simon
  • Artist name: Carly Simon
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Elektra Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Sticker on front of album: PROMOTIONAL COPY NOT FOR SALE
    • Printed on both sides of LP: RADIO STATION COPY
    • Scratched into side one of LP: 7E 1048 ARE 2CP
    • Scratched into side two of LP: 7E 1048 BRE 1CP
  • Buy it on Amazon: $9.98

The Best of Carly Simon

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I previously reviewed No Secrets (1972), but did not like it very much; several of the songs on this compilation appear to come from that record.

What I expected

More easy listening with a slight country sound.

What it was actually like

When I reviewed No Secrets, I wrote:

You’re So Vain was catchy, and had maybe a bit more of a country sound than I remembered it having, but I think it was probably too clever by half.

And also:

Night Owl, a bluesy cover of a James Taylor song, was about ten thousand times better than his version, which was awful.

All of that was still true today, though I might add that Night Owl had a terrible saxophone solo.

The record’s most interesting song was Mockingbird, a cover of this Inez and Charlie Foxx song, that’s based on the lullaby Hush, Little Baby. This version had a country and blues sound and was a duet with James Taylor[1], and it was decent until its saxophone solo.

Attitude Dancing, a disco song, was the worst on the record.

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

References

References
↑1 How bad does a record have to be overall for its most interesting song to be a duet with James Taylor?

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
  • Artist name: Elton John
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: MCA Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Clipped top right corner of album
    • Scratched into side one of LP: MCA734 W14
    • Scratched into side two of LP: MCA735 W19
  • Buy it on Amazon: $27.97

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard this record before, but I have previously reviewed five by Elton John:

And also:

What I expected

The “Captain Fantastic” cartoon motif seems to have been taken pretty far, and it also seems pretty different from Elton John’s usual aesthetic, so maybe this record will be the Elton John record that I think is excellent?

What it was actually like

This was not excellent, but parts of it were tolerable, despite Elton John’s really annoying vocal style and abuse of the piano.

The record’s best song was the title track Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, which started as an acoustic country-folk song, then got more electric, becoming a good rhythmic rock song (and the piano was absent).

On the subject of the piano, (Gotta Get a) Meal Ticket was good example of a rock song that was made worse by the piano, which should have been left out, and I stand by what I wrote when reviewing Goodbye Yellow Brick Road:

… I was… distressed at the amount of piano. I really think Elton John could have created much better music by focusing on a rock style and minimizing non-rock instrumentation.

Tell Me When the Whistle Blows had a disco sound and was pretty bad, but its guitar solo was ok.

The record’s worst song was Writing, which had a terrible calypso style.

I did recognize one song, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, but it was awful.

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

Walking Man by James Taylor (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Walking Man
  • Artist name: James Taylor
  • Year: 1974
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Warner Bros. Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Sticker on front of album: PROMOTIONAL COPY / NOT FOR SALE
    • Printed on both sides of LP: PROMOTION NOT FOR SALE
    • Scratched into side one of LP: 1W2794-40795-1B
    • Scratched into side two of LP: 1W-2974-40796-1
  • Buy it on Amazon: $10.00

Walking Man by James Taylor

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’ve never heard this record before, but it will be the fifth by James Taylor that I review. The previous four were:

What I expected

More easy listening.

What it was actually like

This was pretty bad, and I had a difficult time listening to it.

Several of the songs had a nod (or more) to a funk sound, such as Me and My Guitar. I don’t think mixing funk into an easy listening record was a wise move, musically.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Is Music Now sounded like it actually could have been a good song, if James Taylor had not been determined to annihilate it with his terminal boringness.

It was difficult to pick a worst song, but Hello Old Friend was certainly a candidate, and I felt that way even before its horrific saxophone part towards the end.

The best song on the record was easily his cover of Chuck Berry’s Promised Land, but it pales in comparison to Chuck Berry performing it himself. There have also been a bunch of great covers of that song by other famous artists, such as Elvis Presley, and by Youtube micro-celebrities, like Lovesick Duo[1].

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing

References

References
↑1 And check out some of their other covers, like Beautiful Delilah, Viva Las Vegas and Nadine

Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon (Vinyl record album review)

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Record basics

  • Album name: Still Crazy After All These Years
  • Artist name: Paul Simon
  • Year: 1975
  • Number of discs: one
  • Label: Columbia Records
  • Collection: Selman
  • Distinguishing characteristics:
    • Clipped top right corner of album
    • Track list sticker on front of album: Columbia Records / Demonstration / Not For Sale
    • Sticker on both sides of LP: DEMONSTRATION / NOT FOR SALE
    • Scratched into side one of LP: PAL 33540-3A
    • Scratched into side two of LP: PBL 33540-3A
  • Buy it on Amazon: $20.47

Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I recognize a couple of these songs by name, the title track and 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover, and I expect that I might recognize another one or two when I listen, but I’ve never listened to this record as a whole. Here are the other six Paul Simon records that I’ve reviewed:

What I expected

Folk rock, soft rock, singer-songwriter.

What it was actually like

Still Crazy After All These Years is a very bad song, with totally unnecessary use of organ, and Kenny G. level saxophone that made me want to turn the music off and listen to silence instead. When I reviewed Paul Simon’s greatest hits, I wrote about it:

Still Crazy After All These Years was terrible, slow and boring – and that was before the saxophone. It could have been the worst Paul Simon song.

In the same review, I wrote:

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover was half a good song, and half crap easy listening, but the good part, which was the chorus, was excellent, and I especially loved the bass guitar.

I felt exactly the same way today, but also want to add that the marching style snare drum made the song worse than it needed to be.

My Little Town had the the vocal harmonies of Simon and Garfunkel’s early work, but in the context of a bad and uninteresting song.

Have a Good Time was totally bland and ignorable, up until its abysmal saxophone solo at the very end.

Silent Eyes had the indulgent style of an awful Faul McCartney piano ballad.

Gone at Last was the most interesting track on the record, an up-tempo soul song with an Oompa Loompa sound.

Grade

2/5: bad, but I was able to listen to the whole thing