Reposting of Kat's latest album review:
Kat's Korner: Seasoned entertainers (Dolly Parton, Ann-Margret and Cher)
Kat: 2023 saw many trends in music. I guess the one we're left with is seasoned entertainers. Dolly Parton just released a new album, before that Cher released one and before that you had Ann-Margret. All three are singers, all three are actresses, all three began their careers in the sixties.
What are the results?
On
ROCKSTAR, released last Friday, Dolly Parton tries to make a rock
album. Does she succeed? Not really. She makes a strong Dolly album
but whether it's her singing or her arrangements, no, it's not a rock
album.
It's not a bad album.
At
30 tracks, it may be overly lengthy. It may not be -- it may grow on
you with repeated listening -- the way the Rolling Stones' BIGGER BANG
did with me. Where it works best?
"Wrecking
Ball" performed with Miley Cyrus is one of the best tracks. Maybe
because Miley and Dolly have known each other for years (Dolly is
Miley's god mother). "What Has Rock and Roll Ever Done For You" works
because Dolly and Stevie Nicks seem to have a mutual love and respect
for one another. Despite THE NEW YORK POST critic telling people this
is a Fleetwood Mac song, it is not one. Stevie has tried to get the Mac
to record it and release it repeatedly. Including during the recording
of TANGO IN THE NIGHT. Since I'm mentioning that album, let me note
that MUSICIAN magazine wrote about how Stevie wanted the track on that
album -- it was the same story where they detailed Lindsey Buckingham
quitting the band -- and throwing Stevie against the hood of a car and
choking her before Mick Fleetwood and John McVie were able to pull him
off her. Why mention it? There's a push among revisionists to whine
about Lindsey not being the band anymore and to blame Stevie. Because
Christine McVie talked about it and because it happened on stage, they
can't dismiss Lindsey kicking Stevie repeatedly onstage during a
concert. But they're trying to use his epilepsy as an excuse for that.
Epilepsy, sorry fan bois, has many symptoms; however, beating women
isn't one of them.
On her own, Dolly does an amazing version of Prince's "Purple Rain."
It's right up there with Etta James' cover -- which is high praise.
And
she's never off in her singing. But some voices mix better than
others. Dolly and Miley work, Dolly and Stevie work, Dolly and Sting
work ("Every Breath You Take"), Dolly and Debbie Harry work ("Heart of
Glass"), and the voices on "You're No Good" should work. The song made
most famous by Linda Ronstadt finds Dolly reteaming with Emmylou Harris
-- she and Harris and Ronstadt recorded many times together as a trio --
but Sheryl Crow is added to the mix and it doesn't work. I think
Sheryl and Dolly could have worked as a duo but as a trio, it just
doesn't cut it.
The artists that work best are
the ones who meet Dolly where she's at. Simon Le Bon (of Duran Duran)
is amazing effective singing Dolly's "My Blue Tears" with Parton, for
example. Ann Wilson bends and shades to meet Dolly on the cover of
"Magic Man." Steve Perry seems to forget that "Open Arms" is supposed
to be a duet and a blending.
If you need a
letter grade, I'd go with A. Not A+. But, again, repeated listening
may result in a higher grade and it's a rich album that I plan to listen
to many times over. It's a great Dolly album, it's a great album for
2023. There's speculation on how Dolly follows this up? Some are
saying a soul album or a pop album. POPSTAR, SOULSTAR. If she does
another album of duets, she needs to include a song with her former RCA
label mate Diana Ross. Diana and Dolly's voices can blend and meet --
and as ROCKSTAR reminds (but shouldn't have to), that's how you get a
good duet.
BORN TO BE WILD is Ann-Margret's
first pop album to chart in the top 100 on the BILLBOARD album charts
since her album with Al-Hirt, 1964's BEAUTY AND THE BEARD. The thirteen
track album finds Ann-Margret teamed with many artists -- including Joe
Perry, Canned Heat's Harvey Mandel, the Oak Ridge Boys, the Yardbirds'
Jim McCarty and Paul Shaffer.
Vocally, she
works best with Mickey Gilley on "Splish-Splash." In fact, I wish the
whole album had been like that. Ann-Margret was 'the female Elvis' to
many. It would have been great to her exploring some hard rocking
fifties rock. Imagine her laying down "Jail House Rock" or "Heartbreak
Hotel."
As it is, she succeeds on "Can't Take
My Eyes Off Of You" where she and Cliff Richard make vocal magic
together, on "Rock Around The Clock," "The Great Pretender" and "Born To
Be Wild."
On
this album, she sings a slew of songs from the fifties, sixties and
seventies that often don't need to be sung. For example? In 1981,
Diana Ross covered Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall
In Love" and made it her own. Ann-Margret doesn't do that. She sings
it nicely. But does it mean anything to her? I had the same question
when listening to her version of "Earth Angel" cover. It's pretty
enough but are there any feelings behind it? With her cover of "Son Of
A Preacher Man," I wondered, "Why did she even bother?"
The
best and the worst song on the album are one and the same. She covers
"Teach Me Tonight." Now she's 81, I'm not expecting vocal marvels. Nor
am I expecting her to sound like she did when she performed on her
first album back in 1961. But she finds a way to sing it that is
engaging and passionate.
"But you
said it was her worst!" It is. Not because of her. Because of her
partner, Pat Boone. Not a fan of Pat's but even I was surprised to hear
him sounding like Pat Buttram's Mr. Haney on GREEN ACRES. The final
track is "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" which she does a fine job
with. As an album, I honestly give it a B-minus. As an Ann-Margret
album? This may be one of her top three albums. Fans will love it.
As
I just noted, she concludes BORN TO BE WILD with a seasonal song.
Cher's latest album is all seasonal and is entitled CHRISTMAS. Darlene
Love joins her for the Phil Spector classic "Baby, Please Come Home" --
Darlene sang lead on the original version. In 1967, Stevie Wonder
recorded "What Christmas Means To Me" and he joins Cher on her cover of
the song. She also covers "Run Rudolph Run" and "Santa Baby." The rest
of the songs are largely new or from the last two decades. Largely?
She rescues the British sixties band The Zombies' "This Will Be Our
Year."
Helping her out? Besides Darlene and Stevie, Cyndi Lauper, Tyga and Michael Buble also join her.
The
album's made it to number 32 on BILLBOARD's top 200 album sales chart
and to number one on BILLBOARD's Christmas album chart.
How come?
Because it's a great album. I'm not a fan of Christmas albums (see my "Cher and Christmas albums"). But this is a great album.
Why?
Cher doesn't care.
She's
made the album she wants and what didn't work didn't make the album.
It's her album and it's her vision. And it works 100%.
Which
is why CHRISTMAS is the album for everyone, while Dolly's ROCKSTAR is
for fans of popular music and Ann-Margret's BORN TO BE WILD is for fans
of Ann-Margret.
