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 epitome of deep Southern soul. The pain evident in Carr's voice is absolutely unimaginable.
from the single Pouring Water on a Drowning Man (Goldwax) available on CD - The Essential James Carr (Razor & Tie)
04 Apr 03 ·drchilledair: 2001 obits of James Carr appeared in Japanese publications before they did in the U.S. Alas, Carr travelled to Japan in 1979 for a mini-tour and was apparently unable to make it through a single performance due to mental problems. My guess is that he might have been suffering from lifelong undiagonosed autisism. A favorite Carr track of mine is "Gonna Marry My Mother-in-Law," a 1993 Soultrax single wherein he innocently tosses off the rather outrageous proposition that her mother and not his present wife, "has got the kind of love my heart's been longing for." The protagonist then proceeds to offhandedly list in minute detail the wondrous attributes of THIS "two women wrapped up in one." The tension between the reality of such an socially unacceptable action and the insouciant way with which Carr delivers his oratory never fails to crack me up. Extra-categorically, Carr dwells in the pantheon of music greats. Almost like a idiot savant, the enigmatic Carr was totally unexpressive in everyday life situations, but affected a 180 degree change in feeling tone when he opened his mouth to sing.
