With Love, Legacy
In celebration of Valentine’s Day, here’s a quick rundown on six of the latest releases from Sony/Legacy’s Love Songs series with Heart, Regina Belle, Dolly Parton, John Denver, Phyllis Hyman, and Etta James.
Heart
Fans are skipping a lot of the work when buying compilations, but, ironically, they don’t want to be offended in the process. Heart’s entry into Love Songs seems to go out of its way to do so, including a whole five live versions among the paltry 12 inclusions. Even worse, except for “What About Love,” the biggest hits are tepid stage performances. Perhaps it’s all the same; the Seattle band’s songs haven’t aged well, especially “These Dreams,” “Sweet Darlin’,” and “Lighter Touch.” An unbearable cover of “Unchained Melody” exposes how out of touch the Wilsons have become, but the real surprise is Chuck Prophet’s “No Other Love,” a precious gem from 2004’s largely overlooked Jupiter’s Darling.
Regina Belle
There are no live versions on Regina Belle’s segment, though Legacy does take liberty with the title. Based on “One Love,” “I Dream In Color,” and “A Whole New World,” this Love Songs is built for anyone who gets their swerve on during Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love” — and if that describes you, we don’t want you visiting our Web site anymore. Actually, if it’s you, you probably visit only a handful of Web sites, and we’re proud to have you. But what could have been a new argument for the vitality of urban adult contemporary music from the ’80s (where did they get those awful keyboards?), I was more than ready to argue you have to be approaching 30 to appreciate Belle. Again, though, she’s such a master of losing (“The Whole Town’s Laughing At Me”) these songs are best enjoyed alone. But I’m just too creeped out right now to discuss it.
Dolly Parton
People are continually surprised to learn Parton could actually sing. In the early ’80s, when my generation came of age via TV, she was the large-chested, surly blonde of 9 To 5 fame. That you could frequently catch her duetting with Kenny Rogers didn’t mean much, because he was always making TV movies as The Gambler. Love Songs doesn’t entirely do Dolly justice (“Love Is Like A Butterfly” is stereo-destruction material), but some of her and ostensibly country music‘s best tracks are here, including “Islands In The Stream,” “Here You Come Again,” “Heartbreaker,” “Please Don’t Stop Loving Me,” and the immortal “I Will Always Love You.” That Dolly — damn she had some big hits.
Phyllis Hyman
If there is such a thing, Hyman could best be described as a cult lite contemporary soul singer. Her status among urban radio and some lite-FM playlists is unquestioned, but in the MTV era she was far too unexceptional to stick out, even when Sade and Kenny G were thriving. Frequently underused by producers, Love Songs consistently finds her struggling under the weight of studio musicians. Each song in this baker’s dozen could adequately fill air while the credits roll to any of a thousand bad romantic comedies, and Hyman fails to distinguish herself in any of them.
John Denver
Denver is the reason we pay attention to lyrics, as he’s a domino that can lead to the dismissal of Jim Croce, then James Taylor, and the rest of the ’70s singer-songwriters. Simultaneously about everything and nothing, his ultra-accessibility is why critics discredit his work, ironically making the case for a disc such as this. As a loverman Denver is as white as the sun is bright, but his sentimentality seems less dubious. Love songs are generally full of cutesy little pecks on the cheek, perfect grazing for “I Remember Romance,” “My Sweet Lady,” “Leaving On A Jet Plane,” and “You’re So Beautiful.”
Etta James
James could have retired after releasing “At Last,” and she’d still be etched in pop music history and regarded almost as dearly as Billie and Aretha. The definitive first-dance track at weddings, its timelessness belongs almost entirely to the barely contained lust in her vibrato. Where that skilled interpretation scampers off to on the rest of Love Songs is unknown. Her way with a pair of Otis Redding standards (“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” and “Try A Little Tenderness”) is acceptable at best, and she sounds tipsy on “There Is No Greater Love.” James does have a fine catalog, just little of it’s here.
— Steve Forstneger
