Home
Sanctuary/Suite for Late Summer
Sanctuary/Suite for Late Summer in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $13.99
Loading Inventory...
Size: OS
Dion
had firmly shed his former skin as a '50s and early-'60s
rock
teen idol
for
singer/songwriter
clothes by the time he made these two albums in the early '70s. That was a welcome development, as demonstrated by the strength of his prior work in the late '60s and the early '70s. However, by this time he -- like many
singer/songwriters
-- was sliding into laid-back production and material that couldn't help but be inferior to his best efforts in the genre. He sounds like a somewhat bluesier
James Taylor
on the studio cuts of 1971's
Sanctuary
. It might not be accurate to accuse
of imitation here, as it's possible
Taylor
himself borrowed from
, but that doesn't mean the songs are outstanding. They're only OK, sometimes rising a bit above that, as on
"Sunshine Lady,"
which like many of his songs of the period has the sense of a man prone to extreme self-reflection after going through the worst of his hard times. Some nice female harmony vocals boost
"Harmony Sound"
but, overall, the production (with lead guitar and dobro by
Dave Bromberg
) is too complacently tasteful. A slow
folk-blues
rearrangement of his old hit,
"The Wanderer,"
can't measure up to the original, but at least provides a new take on an old warhorse. The inclusion of three acoustic songs done live at
the Bitter End
in New York, including versions of two other old hits (
"Ruby Baby"
and
"Abraham, Martin and John"
), contribute to the sense of a record running on lower than full inspiration. Released in 1972,
Suite for Late Summer
is likewise the work of a
with a very above-average voice but average songs, with
Russ Titelman
's production on the lush side. There's a sluggish introspection to most of the tracks, and the occasional injection of melodic melancholy, as on
"Soft Parade of Years"
or the
classical
string arrangement embroidering
"It All Fits Together,"
does it quite a bit of good.
"Jennifer Knew,"
though, has to count as one of the highlights of his post-'60s work, with memorably haunting passages and strings that just about manage to enhance the drama rather than deaden it. The CD is filled out by three unremarkable additional tracks from the mid-'70s. ~ Richie Unterberger
had firmly shed his former skin as a '50s and early-'60s
rock
teen idol
for
singer/songwriter
clothes by the time he made these two albums in the early '70s. That was a welcome development, as demonstrated by the strength of his prior work in the late '60s and the early '70s. However, by this time he -- like many
singer/songwriters
-- was sliding into laid-back production and material that couldn't help but be inferior to his best efforts in the genre. He sounds like a somewhat bluesier
James Taylor
on the studio cuts of 1971's
Sanctuary
. It might not be accurate to accuse
of imitation here, as it's possible
Taylor
himself borrowed from
, but that doesn't mean the songs are outstanding. They're only OK, sometimes rising a bit above that, as on
"Sunshine Lady,"
which like many of his songs of the period has the sense of a man prone to extreme self-reflection after going through the worst of his hard times. Some nice female harmony vocals boost
"Harmony Sound"
but, overall, the production (with lead guitar and dobro by
Dave Bromberg
) is too complacently tasteful. A slow
folk-blues
rearrangement of his old hit,
"The Wanderer,"
can't measure up to the original, but at least provides a new take on an old warhorse. The inclusion of three acoustic songs done live at
the Bitter End
in New York, including versions of two other old hits (
"Ruby Baby"
and
"Abraham, Martin and John"
), contribute to the sense of a record running on lower than full inspiration. Released in 1972,
Suite for Late Summer
is likewise the work of a
with a very above-average voice but average songs, with
Russ Titelman
's production on the lush side. There's a sluggish introspection to most of the tracks, and the occasional injection of melodic melancholy, as on
"Soft Parade of Years"
or the
classical
string arrangement embroidering
"It All Fits Together,"
does it quite a bit of good.
"Jennifer Knew,"
though, has to count as one of the highlights of his post-'60s work, with memorably haunting passages and strings that just about manage to enhance the drama rather than deaden it. The CD is filled out by three unremarkable additional tracks from the mid-'70s. ~ Richie Unterberger
Shop Similar Products
