Early Carly

In the early 70s, a blend of jazz/folk/rock emerged on the East Coast. Although having folk elements, it was not part of the 60s folk revival and was distinct from both the folk/rock movement in Britain and the 'Beatles meets folk' West Coast sound. It was jazzier and more metropolitan in style. Its most famous exponents are Carly Simon and Carole King.



This album presents a good selection of Simon's early 70s work. A more comprehensive collection, spanning her entire career, can be found on "Anthology".



If you like Carole King you will probably like Carly Simon, and vice versa. (And you can add the 70s work of Neil Sedaka, King's contemporary and friend, to that list). King appears on one track here, 'Attitude Dancing', albeit that is the weakest track on the album. Simon's then husband, James Taylor shares vocals with her on "Mockingbird". Many reviewers seem to have found "Mockingbird" too quirky or 'goofy', but I say it's a masterpiece, and the album's best track by far. Although not penned by her, it is redolent of "Itsy-Bitsy Spider", that she sings over the credits in the movie "Heartburn". If you have not heard it, you should. Taylor also plays guitar on several other tracks.



Carly Simon has a great voice and is a considerable musical talent. Her lyrics lack the poetic depth of James Taylor, Joni Mitchell or Bob Dylan, and she cannot summon up the soulfulness of Joni Mitchell or Judy Collins, but the total package - singer, songwriter and musician - remains a great and unique pleasure.

The title says it all!

This collection features 10 of Carly Simon's previously released recordings from her self-titled debut,ANTICIPATION,NO SECRETS,PLAYING POSSUM and HOTCAKES. Anybody who purchased Carly's first five albums before this one will not need this. The best song is YOU'RE SO VAIN. That one features Rolling Stone Mick Jagger on background vocals. Also the song was recycled for a song on Janet Jackson's ALL FOR YOU album. MOCKINGBIRD is pretty cool. That's a duet between Carly and James Taylor who was her husband at the time of recording(1974). I like NIGHT OWL,THE RIGHT THING TO DO and (WE HAVE)NO SECRETS,from 1972's NO SECRETS. From Carly's self-titled debut are THAT'S THE WAY IT ALWAYS SHOULD BE. The title track from ANTICIPATION,Carly's 2nd album,was featured in several Heinz ketchup commercials. ATTITUDE DANCING from PLAYING POSSUM is quite awesome also. Carole King and Andrew Gold sing background vocals on that one. The other songs are good. After this album,Carly recorded her BOYS IN THE TREES album,her last on the Elektra label. Since recording BITT,Carly went to Warner Bros.,Epic and Arista.

Well, one must start SOMEWHERE!

Pop music of the 70's was so diverse that it produced a bevy of ORIGINAL artists. Simon was one of these: a prolific songwriter and a heckuva vocalist. Three of the seminal songs of the decade ("That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be," "You're So Vain," and "Anticipation), along with her duet with then-husband James Taylor (a remake of "Mockingbird") and the wondrous "Haven't Got Time for the Pain," are representative of a time when radio, and the singers it produced, ruled.



'Talk about your ATTITUDE DANCING...the decade had it.



For those that want to know about the ME DECADE, "The Best of Carly Simon" is a good place to begin.