[bomp] R.I.P. Al Aronowitz, also GOOD RECORDING: Re: Cale/Warnes

[Louis Shukat <louis_shukat@xxxxxxxxx>]

Al Aronowitz was a great man.  Met him at Andy Pratt's
gig in New York at THE CUTTING ROOM, May 22, 2004.


Jennifer Warnes on MP3.com
http://www.mp3.com/albums/17202/summary.html

Jennifer 1972

Critic's Review


 
Joe Viglione, All Music Guide


With a plethora of producers over the years --
including Martin Cooper, Al Capps, Stewart Levine, Rob
Fraboni, Jim Ed Norman, Val Garay, and Jim Price -- it
is this obscure album produced by the Velvet
Underground's John Cale that captures a very special
moment for Jennifer Warnes. A beautiful faded cover
photo with the word "Jennifer" floating across the
top, this album stands as landmark interpretation by
the artist, and a production for Cale as important as
his first album for the Modern Lovers. Don't expect
the sound to be anything like the quagmire of
Velvetsonics that Cale allowed the legendary members
of Jonathan Richman's band to create. This is a pure
pop album. "Needle and Thread" is a replica of what
Motown producer Frank Wilson was doing exactly at this
moment in time with the new Supremes, and "Be My
Friend" is Diana Ross from this same period, by way of
songwriter Paul Rodgers from Free. As A&R for Warner
Bros., Cale explores avenues here unavailable to him
when putting together A&M's David Kubinec album in
1979. Cale doing Motown is quite a revelation, and is
equally impressive. Of the many recorded covers of
Jimmy Webb's underground classic "P.F. Sloan," the one
on Jennifer is arguably the best, but she goes a step
further on the second "Webb" title included here --
"All My Love's Laughter" is outstanding. Jackson
Browne's "These Days" has instrumentation that could
have been culled off an early Marianne Faithfull album
-- remember Browne contributed material to Nico's
first solo outing, with heavy contributions from Cale
as well. With only one original composition by Cale, a
song titled "Empty Bottles," this recording is as much
his showcase as it is Warnes', rich in both sincerity
and performance, and not as avant garde as his later
Nico recordings. As with her first album on Parrot
where she covered the Bee Gees, Jennifer opens with
Barry Gibb's "In the Morning," then closes by taking
the grand sounds of Procol Harum and subduing them,
giving the world a different "Magdalene (My Regal
Zonophone." This would have to rate with Famous Blue
Raincoat as Warnes' most substantial album -- but
having had less attention, it is one of the hidden
treasures of rock and should be sought out by fans of
Cale as well as those of this enigmatic artist. These
recordings of songs by Donovan Leitch, Webb, Free,
Procol Harum, Cale, Gibb, Jackson Browne, and Warnes'
own title, "Last Song," provide an insight -- not only
to the talent of this gifted artist, but in flavoring
those melodies in a way you have not heard them
before. 


--- Kip Shepherd <kipshepherd@hotmail.com> wrote:

> 
> >BTW, Cale did a fair amount of actual production
> for Warners, though seldom 
> >on well-known albums (Chunky, Novi & Ernie?) I also
> have a nifty bootleg CD 
> >called "Warner Soul Masters"-- obscure one-shot
> soul singles that WB 
> >released, a couple of which Cale mixed.
> >
> 
> John Cale produced Jennifer Warnes first LP.  It's
> supposed to be pretty 
> good but I've never heard it.  Anybody got one to
> spare?
> 
> Brett, I liked your Bubble Puppy story in the Oxford
> American.
> 
> Kip
> 
> NP: The Grains Of Sand - She Needs Me
> ********
> "Those who would sacrifice essential liberties for a
> little temporary safety 
> deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Ben Franklin
> 
> http://1000000milesaway.blogspot.com/
> 
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