THE EMERGENCE OF THE FEMALE COMPOSERS

 JONI MITCHELL : HITS :  Joni Mitchell was one of the most respected singer / songwriter in rock and she was also one of the most daring and uncompromising innovators. Her early songs were hits for other artists such as 'Woodstock' ( Crosby, Still, Nash & Young ), Both Sides Now ( Judy Collins ) and Circle Game which was a hit in Hong Kong by Agnes Chan. 'Chelsea Morning' was recorded by Neil Diamond while she have a minor hit with 'Big Yellow Taxi'. All these are included here but I find her style of singing a bit too far out for me. DOP : 17th October 1996.



CAROLE KING. A NATURAL WOMAN. THE ODE COLLECTION 1968 - 1976. Music lovers who doesn't know who Carole King is cannot claimed to be a true music lovers. Starting out as a writer at the legendary Brill Building, with her then husband Gerry Goffins, they churched out a staggeringly long lists of hits.  If you still haven't a clue, think 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow', 'Take Good Care Of My Baby', Crying In The Rain', 'Half Way To Paradise' and 'Up On The Roof'. She even wrote a hit for her babysitter, Little Eva, called 'The Locomotion', for crying out loud. The Beatles was inspired by her, saying on record that they wanted to be the Carole King / Gerry Goffins of Britain. If that's not high praise, I don't know what is.

Pitifully shy, Carole King loathed touring but with the encouragement of James Taylor, she started recording solo again after an unsuccessful first attempt.. The first album "Writer" wasn't so well received but it did contained 'Up On The Roof' and 'Child Of Mine' which was covered by The Drifters and The New Seekers respectively. Her second album "Tapestry" was a monster hit that went through the roof. It heralded the arrival of female artists who wrote their own songs. I first heard this record when my brother's friends brought it to our house. There really wasn't a bad track here. One of those albums where you don't have to press the skip button. My favorites are 'I Feel The Earth Move', a song I don't like too much initially but it grew on me eventually, ‘So Far Away', 'It's Too Late', 'Home Again' and 'Way Over Yonder'. On top of these, there's also her own version of 'You've Got A Friend' which was a hit for James Taylor, but I was more familiar with her version. This CD contained the entire "Tapestry" album, which hindered me somewhat from buying the "Tapestry’ special deluxe CD pack.

The second CD contained 'It's Gonna Take Some Time' which I bet you've only heard the version from The Carpenters. My favorites here are 'Been To Canaan' and 'Goodbye Don't Mean I'm Gone', a song I recalled when I was a small kid from the album " Rhymes & Reasons". Another song that I like from that album. 'Fergeson Road ' is not here but ah, well, you can't have everything. There's also a live version of 'You've Got A Friend' with James Taylor. Of the two discs, I prefer the first CD. DOP : 18th December 1994.

REFLECTIONS. CARLY SIMON'S GREATEST HITS : If  Carly Simon and Carole King have started out making music together at the same time, they could well have been on equal footing but since Carole started out her career on Brill Building a decade earlier, she have the upper hand. But then, Carly Simon is no push over either when it comes to writing her own materials. She came into prominence with her first smash 'You"re So Vain', a song that I just can't get tired of. Her version of 'Nobody Does It Better' from the James Bond's movie "The Spy Who Loved Me"  have been said to be the sweetest of all the James Bond's songs. My personal favorites are 'The Right Thing To Do', her duet with James Taylor 'Mocking Bird' and 'Jesse', a song I have been searching forever for but ended here. Not bad coming from someone who was once the least expected to be successful from her musically gifted family. And oh, did I mentioned that she was once married to James Taylor. DOP : 12th April 2005.

TRACY CHAPMAN : COLLECTION :  Tracy Chapman caught my attention with her 'Give Me One Reason' which was one of those songs that any female pub singers who wants to get attention have got to sing. The hook and the riff is that hard to resist. Since her sudden burst to fame with that song, nothing much have been heard about her I'm afraid so I am left with this. Other tracks of interest are 'Fast Car', 'Baby, Can I Hold You', 'The Promise' and 'Bang, Bang, Bang'. Every now and then I can still heard 'Give Me One Reason' on the radio. DOP : 13th August 2005.





SUZANNE VEGA : NO CHEAP THRILL : I got this mini CD 'cos of her monster hit 'Luka'. Like Carly Simon's 'You're So Vain', this one just hit you and leave the melody lingering in your memory for days. 'Luka' is a sad tale of child abuse but made with an irresistible and infections beat that remains to be Suzanne Vega's finest moment. Interestingly, 'Luka' in Malay means wounded. The other tracks are ' No Cheap Thrill', 'Marlene On The Wall' and 'Tom's Diner' which is the other gem on this mini disc. Sang with zero instrumental but Suzanne's fine vocal conquered all. DOP : 24th September 1996.


RETROSPECTIVE : THE BEST OF SUZANNE VEGA : As I've said earlier, 'Luka' remains to be Suzanne Vega's finest moment and there's nothing here that can top that tune. Consisting of 21 tracks, with all the songs from the mini disc included here which pretty much rendered that disc non essential, except for 'Tom's Diner'. The version there was instrumental-less while the one here was remade as a dance track by a British Production Team called DNA and it's pretty good too. That gives me an excuse to keep the mini disc. Other tracks includes 'Caramel' '99.9F', Solitude Standing' and 'Woman On The Tier' Maybe it's my age or maybe I cannot take on the music of the generation but the tracks here just couldn't get on to me. All the more better for it 'cos I bought this CD on discount.. DOP : 2nd July 2011.