Search - Ian & Sylvia :: The Beginning of The End

Late Ian & Sylvia Nashville Effort

Randall E. Adams | Los Angeles, CA United States | 06/04/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Frustratingly, the sleeve notes on this disc indicate that it was intended to consist of both of Ian & Sylvia's Columbia Records albums. In fact, this contains only the first of these two albums, originally sold as "Ian & Sylvia" in 1971.Stung by the commercial failure of their "Great Speckled Bird" masterpiece (which can be found on Amazon under the name "Great Speckled Bird"), Ian & Sylvia retreated somewhat and produced a solid but conservative Nashville style album using a surprising number of outside tunes (only 6 of the 11 songs are Tyson originals). The Tyson tunes, however, include a fine remake of Ian's "Summer Wages," two songs introduced on his Canadian TV show "Nashville North" ("Some Kind of Fool," "Shark & the Cockroach"), a deeply poignant collaboration about the necessity of putting down an elderly and disabled horse ("Barney") and one of Sylvia Tyson's most powerful ballads, the beautifully arranged "Everybody Has to Say Goodbye."But the second Columbia album ("You Were on My Mind") is nowhere to be found. Instead, Bear Family appends four extra tracks from an unknown time period. They are interesting but they do not fit with the album material and are not particularly strong.If you enjoyed Ian & Sylvia's MGM albums ("Lovin' Sound" and "Full Circle"), this record will give you great pleasure. It is these two folksters' final foray to Nashville together and benefits from excellent production values."

The title says it all

David A. Hollon | 05/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For lovers of Ian and Sylvia music, this album is bittersweet. As for the music itself, it is another excellent piece of work done by this unequalled duo. But as the title suggests, this album signalled the end of their collaboration in music and the end of their marriage. Nothing in the album, other than the title, suggests this as the music is, as usual, first rate. They even revisit an old hit, Summer Wages, and do it as a duet rather than as a solo by Ian as they originally produced it. This is an outstanding album."