As is often the case, I’m double-booked
with activities tonight, so I’m trying to squeeze this review in before company
arrives. By checking the time it was posted you’ll know if I succeeded.
Disc 935 is….One from the Heart
Artist: Tom Waits
and Crystal Gayle
Year of Release: 1982
What’s up with the Cover? This album is a soundtrack to a
movie, and this is the movie poster. I think that’s Terri Garr’s back, walking
away. Judging by that suitcase, I think she’s gonna be gone a while.
How I Came To Know It: I can’t remember. Sheila might
have bought me this one to round out our Tom Waits collection, or I might’ve
bought it for her for the same reason. We both like Tom Waits.
How It Stacks Up: I have 18 of Tom Waits’ studio albums. While
technically this one is a duet album with Crystal Gayle, I’m going to count it.
So where does it land? I left a spot for it at #14 but it didn’t inspire like I
expected it to, so I’m dropping it down to #17 and moving everything in between
up one.
Ratings: 2 stars
Unlike
most of the soundtracks in my collection, I’ve never seen “One from the Heart”. Consequently I had to take the music on its own terms, but really shouldn’t
every album be taken that way anyway?
In this
case, the music is a lot of early eighties lounge action, with its feet planted
firmly in the tradition of fifties and sixties musicals. I half expected Frank
Sinatra to stroll out.
Instead,
it is Tom Waits (who wrote the whole thing) and seventies pop heart-throb
Crystal Gayle. I mostly remember Crystal Gayle from duets with Kris
Kristofferson and from the tingly feelings she’d give me when I would stare at
her sexy album covers. I was a bit too young to fully appreciate it, but make
no mistake – Crystal Gayle was the bomb back in the day.
She also
had a great voice that was full and rich, with a lot of range and power
throughout it. Usually she sang in a style that mixed country and pop, but on “One
From the Heart” she sings a lounge-style jazz which works equally well for her.
The purity
of her tone is a nice juxtaposition to Waits’ whiskey-and-cigarette’s rasp, and
the best songs on the album feature them trading verses.
The songwriting
is excellent and thoughtful, which is what I’ve come to expect from Tom Waits. Here
Waits has embraced the old fifties and sixties jazz sound yet written original
songs that sound fresh and interesting. If you like to sit and listen to old
musical soundtracks from that era, you’ll probably enjoy this record a great
deal.
Unfortunately,
I don’t really go for a whole album of playful crooning, particularly when the
songs are so focused on telling a story that they don’t stand out on their own.
The story comes through just fine: boy and girl have problems and split up, or
get back together or…something. I guess it would have helped to see the movie.
But the
soundtrack doesn’t inspire me to seek it out. Listening to the story it felt
like I was trapped in an episode of Moonlighting. Will David and Maddie get
back together? Won’t they? Will I care? No, I won’t. The songs may be pretty
and well dressed up, but the narrative doesn’t hold me. Kind of like Moonlighting after about season three...
There
are Christmas songs on the album, so I am guessing the movie takes place over
the holidays, (which would also explain the fireworks on the cover). The whole
thing captures the feeling on the album cover as well: rain soaked streets,
city lights and a lot of wistful walking. Usually I’m a sucker for this stuff,
but for whatever reason I couldn’t get into it today.
There
are lots of reasons to like this record. Waits writes a beautiful song and
Gayle sings them with grace and just the right amount of playfulness. The
stripped down instrumentation serves the vibe well, so the production also hits
the right notes.
Yet, for
whatever reason this record didn’t resonate with me. I do like a few songs
quite a bit, but taken out of the context of the album they lose their punch.
Within the context of the album, I don’t have the patience to wait for them to
show up.
And so I
am going to send this album on its way to a home that will appreciate it more
than I did. It is a good record, and deserves better treatment than I could
give it. Picture me in place of Terri Garr, heading out to find a musical
relationship that works better for me and wishing “One from the Heart” all the
best for the same.
Best
tracks: Picking
Up After You, Old Boyfriends, I Beg Your Pardon
No comments:
Post a Comment