Finally on CD in the U.S.
DVD buff | Austin, TX USA | 03/31/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Melissa Manchester's SINGIN' is another in Wounded Bird Records' bizarre reissue campaign. Originally released in 1977, it was issued on CD in Japan a few years back, but never before available in the U.S. on CD until now.
This is a fantastic collection of songs written mostly by other writers (only one track on the original album was written by Melissa Manchester). It contains one of my all-time favorite Melissa Manchester recordings, her cover of the Beach Boys' "The Warmth of the Sun."
Sound quality is pretty much the same as the Japanese CD issue, which is excellent (unlike some of her earlier LPs reissued on Wounded Bird, which are pretty bad). The liner notes are minimal, and the quality of the artwork is fairly poor, especially when compared to the Japanese issue.
What makes this reissue so bizarre is the inclusion of bonus tracks. These tracks are not from the era of the original LP, and while two of the three bonus tracks have never been issued on CD before, why they were included on this CD is a total mystery. "Come In From the Rain" is the first bonus track, and it is the 1982 album version from HEY RICKY. I'm guessing it was included only because Melissa is shown in the rain on the album cover...
The other two bonus tracks are very nice to have on CD, but they date to 1982 and 1983, so why they weren't included on the CD reissues of HEY RICKY and EMERGENCY is beyond me. "Long Goodbyes" was the b-side to two singles that were released from HEY RICKY. "My Boyfriend's Back (extended 12" version)" is a remix of a track originally included on GREATEST HITS in 1983. and this is the first time this version of the song has been included on any Melissa Manchester album.
It's wonderful to have this album available on CD at a reasonable price, but I just have to wonder why Wounded Bird Records did such a sloppy job of reissuing the Melissa Manchester catalog, when, with a small amount of research and effort, they could have issued "definitive" versions of these albums with bonus tracks from the era of each LP."
Come In From The Rain
A. Russo | Cambridge, MA United States | 03/20/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Singin'...was released in 1977 and is her 7th LP. With a few hit records under her belt and becoming known as a singer songwriter, this LP was a departure from her songwriting and focused on her vocals and interpretation of contemporary songwriters. The songs were varied and contained an overall jazz tone with a soft rock appeal. Though many songs were played on AOR stations including Time (John Miles) and A Love Of Your Own (Average White Band), the sole single I Wanna Be Where You Are (a Michael Jackson hit in 1973) and was co written by Leon Ware who would produce her next LP Don't Cry Out Loud. The single was backed by the only song on the LP written by Melissa called No One's Ever Seen This Side Of Me. This is the "Singin" side of Miss M.
Other highlights include Wendy Waldman's My Love Is All I Know, James Taylor's You Make It Easy, Sly & The Family Stone's Stand, Three Dog Night's Let Me Serenade You and The Beach Boys' Warmth Of The Sun.
In spite of many reviews claiming that the lead track was Robert John's Sad Eyes, it was not. Guitarist who appeared on Hey Ricky wrote this song.
Wounded Bird added 3 "bonus" tracks to this collection. Unfortunately they do not go well with this concept. They came close by adding Come In From The Rain as an alternate version. I was expecting the more acoustic rare version from her Time/Life LP. This is merely a repeat of the Hey Ricky version. Long Goodbyes which was the B-side to 2 Hey Ricky singles and a non-LP track written by Melissa. Again, not fitting in the concept of this LP since she wrote it. Never Neverland was her first Bell single and was not written by her and would have made a higher selling point to this LP since that is a rare 'singin' song and more sought after. And finally the 13th song is the 12" repetitive version of her single My Boyfriend's Back in 1983. There are no liner notes.
The LP was produced by Vini Poncia who produced many artist from Ringo Starr to Barbara Streisand.
"
Track Listings (13) - Disc #1