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Everybody Needs A Little Darlene Love! Mar 30, 2009
She'd been almost forgotton,absent from music for a decade, never recorded a proper album and already had a string of unforgettable girl group hits with Phil Spector.Well you all know the rest of the story:Love fell victim to the old "artist credit" problem of that era where she was recorded under many names and often never credit and paid for what she sang. Well the creative control artists,especially in R&B had earned in the 70's hadn't disappeared in the 80's because in 1988,producers Kenny Laguana and Peter Bunetta realized that Darlene Love was sitting on her own creative goldmine and that she should record an album on her own terms.Rather then patronize Love's talents with some kind of retread wall-of-sound recording her new producers taylored a contempory rock n' soul sound with both sythesizers as well as horns and backround singers with the big voiced Love obviously very much involved in the whole musical process. Produced by Kenny & Peter along with guest musicians Robbie Buchanan,Hiram Bullock,Omar Hakim,Paulinho De Costa,Alan Pasqua and Paul Butterfield with Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil,Paul Shaffer and Tom Petty contributing to the songwriting the songs are about as high energy as they come."He's Sure The Man I Love",the hefty "Desperate Lover" and "Love Must Be Love" find Love exploring a territory somewhere between contemporary Tina Turner,Springsteen and Huey Lewis:big beat breaks,hot horns and some great guitar work. The title track is a great 80's style rocker too and very catchy too. On "Gypsy Lover" there is more of a modern smooth R&B style,less of a rock influence but it's an excellent change of pace and a great addition to this album.On Petty's "We Stand Another Chance" Love gets a chance to deliver a hefty heartland rocker very much in his style musically but,face it she OWES the song vocally.The most amazing piece of work on this is likely "You'll Never Walk Alone",a shockingly emotional gospel/soul tune that showcases little more then Love's empassioned pipes and piano accompaniment. Well if this is such a great comeback.....why was it such a short lived phenomenon?No one will ever know really.Love concentrated on acting for a bit but seemed to slip back into the nostalgia circuit for awhile.So it was yet another decade until she dropped her second albumUnconditional Love. The one thing all of us can say is that while this wasn't the start of a long string of albums,we still have this.And that is more then enough to satisfy!
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
never judge a compactdisc by its cover May 27, 2007
in spite of ugly picture paint another one its great recording featuring rare songs by such master songcrafters as barry mann cynthia weil rising star amysky&scott cutler as well as fabulous love must be love penLife Lessons: The Best of Amy Skyned by master keyboard player paul shaffer of ron dante fame
6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
If You Love Girl Groups, You Gotta Have Her Jan 26, 2007
Darlene Love was one of the greatest, most useful stars in Gold Star, Phil Spector's legendary "Wall of Sound" studio; and, as is wonderfully lucky for us, her big, rich voice survives to this day, when many of her cohort's, unfortunately, don't. Phil Spector used her frequently: she began her recording career as one of "The Blossoms," but was sometimes "The Crystals," other times "Bob B. Sox and The Blue Jeans." She had outstanding hits under many names, "He's Sure The Boy I Love," "He's A Rebel," and "Da Doo Ron Ron" for a few: in addition, of course, she stars on Tribute to Phil Spector: the Christmas Album, released in 1963. But, in regard to her work for Spector, she's been known to quote one of the female Motown singers in regard to Diana Ross: it's hard to get the best songs when somebody else (in this case, Ronni Spector), is sleeping with the boss.
Love (born Darlene Wright), is the daughter of a Los Angeles preacher: she sang in his choir as a child, and thus received the voice training that has stood her in such good stead. She's sung backup to Dionne Warwick, The Righteous Brothers, and Cher, and toured with these acts for many years. She's also sung backup, and demos all over the map, you'll hear her voice in a lot of places you don't expect to. She presents a New York concert every year at Christmas, delivering her fondly-remembered holiday songs; once upon a time at the gone-but-not-forgotten Bottom Line on East 10th Street, more recently, at the Upper West Side Symphony Space. She's also been appearing on the Dave Letterman show at Christmastime. I've seen her magic in concert several times, at The Bottom Line, and Central Park: what a lucky girl I am. Love can act, too; she played Danny Glover's wife in the "Lethal Weapon" series; and has also authored an autobiography, if you can find it.
This was her first solo album, recorded with musical friends like Tom Petty, Jimmy Iovine, Paul Shaffer, and Joan Jett. If you love girl groups, you gotta have it.
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