Whenever I hear this track I think the same thing, that it seems to be the beginning of something
bigger. ....And it seems in a way that it was...
What a great version of an already undisputed soul classic! He really adds something to it thats loose and breezy. Like he did with his arrangement work, he adds something indefineable, but definately something we would hear for decades to come in american radio pop. More precisely, in the 70's.
It's one of the many blossoms in the blue-eyed soul bouquet!
from Happy Heart (A&M SP-4176) available on CD - Afternoon Tea Music - Orange Iced Tea (UM3 (Japan))
29 Jan 03 ·klatu: Anyone interested in the work of A&M sound sculptor/master arranger Nick DeCaro would be well directed towards the masterful album "Italian Graffiti", MCA 74. 14 Jan 08 ·steveo443: Happy Heart album by Nick Decaro has some great tracks..Outstanding is the title track(Happy Heart)
there is a Bacharach influence here....Another Great tune on the album is Quiet Sunday?(think thats the title)
Nick Decaro was a certifiable genius! Love his arrangements.
Nice mellow one from A&M master arranger Nick DeCaro (Claudine Longet, many more), but this is probably my fifth "favorite" song off of this wonderful album, with versions of songs by Stevie Wonder ("happier than the morning sun") and Joni Mitchell ("all i want") that even the composers would have to admit have value added. I don't know if Ms. Mitchell necessarily sees the humor in changing the lyric "I want to knit you a sweater" to "I want to lift your sweater", but I do. Also a radical arrangement of "tea for two" only Bob Azzam can compete with. Nice comments by "konsu" on Nick's earlier album only show up if you put a space between "De" and "Caro".
from Italian Graffiti (MCA MVCM-21036), available on CD (MCA Japan)
29 Jan 03 ·konsu: Cordially corrected for hair splitters,and for the benefit of search engines everywhere!I'm sure Joni
has lifted a top or two in her heyday too!His work needs WAY MORE stateside attention indeed. 03 Apr 03 ·drchilledair: Even if you think you don't know who Nick DeCaro is, chances are you are familiar with his music, via his arrangements for many Golden Age of Warner-Reprise "Burbank Sound" recordings incl: Gordon Lightfoot's 'If You Could Read My Mind', James Taylor's 'Shower The People' and Randy Newman's 'Marie'. By conservative estimate, as producer, arranger, musician, songwriter, or singer, DeCaro, who died in 1992, partnered with over a hundred groups or artists - including not just Warners-Reprise artists like Arlo Guthrie, Maria Muldaur, Ry Cooder, the Everly Brothers, the Mojo Men & Harpers Bizarre, but also such diverse recorded citizenry as Barbra Streisand, the Ventures, Claudine Longet, Chris Montez, the Sandpipers, Del Shannon, Gary Lewis, et al - amassing a catalogue in excess of 300 albums and sundry 45rpm singles. In an interview I conducted with Randy Newman in 2001, he described DeCaro as being almost pathologically shy. Thus explaining, perhaps, the state of anonymity that still surrounds Nick, despite his prolific achievements. As a journalist I have devoted some of the last couple of years trying to redress this oversight. If you are interested, one result is an article I published in Japan in 2001. The English language version is available at communities.msn.com/NickDeCaro. A more recent article can be found on the web at www.spectropop.com/NickDeCaro
The pinnacle of soft pop! And I can't imagine it not being followed up by "kinda wasted without you"! Twin peaks! Vinyl buffs are at a disadvantage there, you have to get up quickly for the side change to experience the epiphany, and deal with the "pops-and-crackles" chiaschuro instead of "sterile" atomic clock mastering. Also included, my favorite version of the Lovin' Spoonful's "Cocoanut Grove", even better than the one by David Lee Roth! Well, I probably lost a few of you on that one. Roger Nichols went on to later fame and fortune as Paul Williams' songwriting partner on several smash singles, mostly by the wrongly-maligned Carpenters. After that, engineering on all of the Steely Dan albums. Not too many superstar engineers, but on those albums, it was notable. Fagen'n'Becker dubbed him Roger "the Immortal" Nichols on some liner notes. Now he has a byline in some stereo mag, or so I am told.
from Roger Nichols and the Small Circle of Friends (A&M UICY-9184), available on CD (A&M Japan)
30 Jan 03 ·gregcaz: Roger Nichols/pop genius and Roger Nichols/Steely Dan engineer are actually two different people. When Steely Dan toured Japan, people kept asking him to sign their "Small Circle" CDs! So funny! 31 Jan 03 ·klatu: How embarrassing to be the spreader of internet misinformation! I've heard that from several places. It seemed so plausible, with the Ted Templeman Harper's Bizarre/Van Halen connection. Or is that two Ted Templemans? Thanks for the correction. So it's probably the Steely Dan guy who writes the article? I'll have to check that out.
I had to mention my favorite Claudine tune. A nice cinematic piece about an enigmatic lover with "Laughing eyes & dark brown hair..." who sweeps her off her feet, then splits with her dough when he goes to buy a ring. The track is touched by the deep-blue sax of Ernie Watts, which gives the track a "Noir-ish" vibe. Look of Love is one of the best records she did in her short career. Arranged by the genius Nick DeCaro, the godfather of A.O.R. !
from Look Of Love (A&M SP - 4129), available on CD
Late 60s mellow sunshine pop with amazing vocal harmonies, composed by the legendary Roger Nichols with lyrics written by his long-time partner Paul Williams. A very gentle, breezy and light tune, due to excellent arrangement/production by Nick DeCaro and Tommy LiPuma with a delicately sounding trumpet playing the main melody. Like many Nichols songs, it's soft and mellow while being full of longing and melancholia at the same time.
