SINGER/SONGWRITERS THAT SET THE RULES....

THE VERY BEST OF CAT STEVENS : The name Steven Demetre Georgiou will certainly not ring any bell to anybody but mentioned Cat Stevens, bulbs will definitely light up. To most people, Cat Stevens have only 'Morning Has Broken'. to his name. That is a gross injustice. A great song it may be but it wasn't even written by him. Cat Stevens was one of the most successful singer/songwriters in the first half of the seventies. Clearly, I first heard his song before I knew the man. His 'Here Comes My Baby' was a hit for The Tremeloes. And then there was the most recognisable Rod Stewart's song of all, 'The First Cut Is The Deepest'. Bet you thought Rod Stewart wrote that, well he didn't, Cat Stevens did. Did I forget to mentioned ‘Wild World' too.  My favourites here are 'Where Do The Children Play', Lady D'arbanville', 'Moonshadow, and 'Father & Son'. Yeah, make no mistake about it, this is one cool cat. Cat Stevens converted to Islam in 1975 and changed his name toYusuf Islam In 1979, he auctioned off all his guitars and gold records and donated them all to charities and then left the music world. What the Islam world gain was our loss. He later returned to pop music in 2006 but then his time has already passed. DOP : 2nd December 1991.

JOSE FELICIANO. LIGHT MY FIRE : Jose Feliciano was born blind, but as with Stevie Wonder, this did not prevent him from developing his musical talents at a young age. In fact, it probably spurred him on. I first heard Jose Feliciano through the song 'Old Turkey Buzzard' from the movie “Mackenna's Gold " and it's flip side, the Bee Gees' album track, 'Marley Purt Drive. I loved both songs but they are obsolete now. There are not on this collection and I only have them on MP3. Jose Feliciano may not be a prolific writers but the few songs that he wrote were definitely keepers. 'Rain', the Christmas standard 'Felix Navidad' and 'Angelina' a beautiful love song but alas this was a remake and was not the one that I've encountered years ago. All in all I was rather disappointed with this CD. Other tracks includes 'Light My Fire', his take on 'La Bamba' and 'Jealous Guy' I remember seeing him once on TV, this guy can actually played the guitar with one hand. DOP : 22nd June 1997.

THE VERY BEST OF JIM CROCE : I knew nothing about Jim Croce when I bought this CD. I bought it based on his reputation. Died in a plane crash in 1973 just as his star was rising, that's the least I could do for the man. Popular songs includes the ever popular 'I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song', I Got A Name', the timeless 'Time In A Bottle', the rocking 'Bad, Bad Leroy Brown' and 'You Don't Mess Around With Jim'. Jim Croce have a nice voice but the rest of the songs are, well pleasant but not memorable. Ah well......DOP : 19th April 1992.

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JAMES TAYLOR. CLASSIC SONGS : James Taylor was the archetypal 'sensitive' singer/songwriter of the Seventies. Peter Asher, one half of the popular 60s' duo, Peter & Gorden convinced Paul McCartney to sign him to The Beatles' Apple label. He left the label soon after due to the much documented disarray within The Beatles circle and signed with Warner Bros. While there he released his second album "Sweet Baby James", backed by Carole King and his fame was sealed. One of the songs that he recorded while with Apple, 'Carolina In My Mind' was released and became a hit. This song boasted a then uncredited bass backing from Paul McCartney. One of my favourite,together with ' Something In The Way She Moves', a line George Harrison borrowed which in turn inspired George to write one of his most famous and beloved song. 'You've Got A Friend' was of course the Carole King's song, 'Sweet Baby James', and 'Handy Man', a song I shamefully only got to know from this CD, and of course the bittersweet 'Fire & Rain'. DOP : 2nd January 1993.

THE BEST OF DON McLEAN : " Starry, Starry night, paint your wagon blue and grey....". such beauty, such grace. Who can not love this song. Funnily enough, I hated this song when I first heard it. Too out of sync I supposed but it grew on me eventually. Although Don McLean had the occasional subsequent hits, he is chiefly remembered for 'American  Pie', his 8 1/2 minutes opus inspired by the death of Buddy Holly. His second hit was 'Vincent' a musical homage to the tragic artist, Vincent Van Gogh. Don McLean was never to repeat this success again. Perry Como have a hit with his 'And I Love You So' while songwriters Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox made him the subject of the song 'Killing Me Softly With His Song', made popular by Roberta Flack. Other delights here are ‘Castles In The Air', 'Winterwood', 'If  We Tried'. 'Fool's Paradise' and Mountain Of Mourne' were great too and his rendition of the old Roy Obison's track 'Cryin' is the icing on an already tasty cake to say the least. DOP : 10th January 1993.