Search - Wendy Waldman :: Love Is the Only Goal: Best of

The Crowded Streets Were Boiling

Lee Armstrong | Winterville, NC United States | 10/10/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Wendy Waldman is a master songwriter. Warner Bros. has done a good job of putting this package together along with Wendy's great liner notes. Since her 1987 "Letters Home" on Cypress records which was another strong CD, she's been largely silent as a recording artists, to the regret of her fans. Her recent production of John Cowan's album was great where she co-wrote three songs, "My Heart Will Follow," "The Last Summer Rose," and "Roll Away the Stone." This CD shows us how much we've missed her. Her acoustic guitar opens "Western Lullaby" where "singing is believing." The loosely autobiographical "Vaudeville Man" has great piano, "The trains ran east and the trains ran west, and I knew every one of them." The pixie-like melody and use of flute and triangle percussion on "Love Has Got Me" is contrasted with horns on the track's booming chorus, "Love will follow, this I know." One of my favorite melodies of all-time was re-recorded for this CD, "Mad Mad Me," "How many kinds of tribulation must a man endure? The years will leave a man unsure of where to beg when he is poor." Sax creates a slow mood on "Waiting for the Rain," "Come the hurricane when I find you wrapped up safe & warm, will I find a winter storm raging in your heart of hearts." Two tunes go by quickly, "Cold Back on Me" and the breezy "Living Is Good." Two slow wistful tunes follow, "Mr. Boatman, can you take my troubled dreams to the other shore?" and "Wild Bird," a song about freedom. The throbbing rocker "Long Hot Summer Nights" pulsates, "Wearing roses & lace, perfume & jewels, the crowded streets were boiling, but we never lost our cool." The sense of daring as Wendy sings, "You take Johnny, I'll take Joe, if we change in midstream, no one will ever know" is classic. The peppy "Gringo In Mexico," the slow contemplative "Pirate Ships," and the stately, "The Main Refrain" are all strong songs. "Back By Fall" is simply a great song with its slow wistful mood and jazz-inflected piano, "Mama, mend the hole in my coat, take my guitar off the wall, I've got to go see what I can do & I hope I'll be back by fall." "Charles River Song" was previously unreleased and "Prayer for You" is airy. "Strange Company," the title song from my favorite of her Warner LP's (Letters Home, her last, being my all-time fave), has a strong vocal mirrored by its piano line, "Across the city, is he thinking of me?" The CD ends with the mystical march, "On a hard road where love is the only goal." Wendy Waldman is master songwriter and expressive singer, one whose music plays as well decades later as when it was first written. Enjoy!"

Wonderful round-up of her Warner Bros years

Charles_Donovan@ipc.co.uk | London, UK | 08/23/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"That none of Wendy Waldman's albums sold enormously seems shocking ­ as this compilation (of her 1973-1978 material) demonstrates, she is a startlingly talented musician and songwriter. The songs here are taken from the following albums: Love Has Got Me, Gypsy Symphony, Wendy Waldman, The Main Refrain, and Strange Company. Each one is a brilliant folky, funky amalgamation of different genres, and all are out of print, so this CD is all there is. Particular highlights are Mad, Mad Me (also recorded by Maria Muldaur) - a really strong, Laura Nyro-esque, disturbed love song, and Long, Hot Summer Nights (which was a regional hit in 1978). Longtime fans will be disappointed that some favourites aren't included (Train Song, Goodbye Summerwind), and it's a shame that Gypsy Symphony is so under-represented. But if her original albums ever reappear, then all that will be put right. For now, this is more than adequate compensation."

Please Come Home Wendy!

David L. Poindexter | Chitown | 04/28/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I fear I'm preaching to the choir, but it is so gratifying to see there are people alive out there who know who this woman is and how unbelievably talented she was. This is a five-star record only because Wendy never wrote a song that wasn't great. Nobody had her gift for melody, and she's got that gorgeous voice, and all that passion, and the songs are just beautiful one right after the other.But to the real point: Where in hell are the rereleases of the albums? There's so many masterpieces that didn't make this one: where's "Fool to Let Him Slip Away," where's "Hard Times," where's "My Love is All I Know," where's "Come on Down," where's "Thinking of You," where's "Spring is Here," where oh where is "Racing Boat"? Get your butts to used record stores and find Gypsy Symphony, Wendy Waldman, Strange Company, The Main Refrain. . .Wendy, come back, make more records, write other people's hits, I don't care, WE WANT YOU BACK!"