Mid-70s MOR pop from songwriting legend

Early on, the world of pop music developed a division of labor that typically separated writing from performing. With the advent of the folk revival, the arrival of self-contained groups like the Beatles and the emergence of the singer-songwriter movement, many talented singers were afforded the opportunity to step out from behind their songwriting desks. DeShannon fits into this history as a writer whose songs became hits for others (“When You Walk in the Room,” “Come and Stay With Me,” “Break-a-Way,” and others), and whose hits as a singer (“What the World Needs Now is Love” and “Put a Little Love in Your Heart”) only raised her performing profile in short bursts of stardom.

DeShannon wrote and recorded throughout the 1960s and 70s, scoring her last major songwriting hit with Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes.” Her original version of that song, in a strutting, swing-styled arrangement is included on this 1975 album, her last for a major label. Produced by Michael Stewart, who’d worked with John Stewart, Billy Joel and Kenny Rankin, the music sets sail for the middle of the road, with studio pros like Waddy Wacthel and Larry Knechtel laying on the slick mid-70s sounds. Brian Wilson and then-wife Marilyn join the backing chorus on the lazy dream “Boat to Sail,” a song that caught Richard Carpenter’s ear for a cover on the Carpenters 1976 LP A Kind of Hush.

Blues and soul influences are heard in the flute and vibes of “Sweet Baby Gene,” gospel tinge of “I Wanted it All,” and horn chart of “Over My Head Again,” and steel guitar legend Buddy Emmons adds some real Nashville twang to “Bette Davis Eyes” and “Queen of the Rodeo.” The latter suggests a fruitful road DeShannon might have travelled (and one Kim Carnes’ later traveled herself) to Music City. Aside from the pair of country tunes, the most effective track is the closing cover of William Smith’s ballad “Dreamin’ as One.” Intimately produced with a quiet guitar and choir-like backing vocals, the track has aged better than its album-mates.

Collectors’ Choice’s reissue adds five bonus cuts to the original eleven, highlighted by the soulful session track “Pure Natural Love.” Also included are the non-charting 1976 single “All Night Desire” and its flip side “Fire in the City,” and a pair from the same session, with the love song “Deep into Paradise” besting the mid-tempo dance number “Somebody Turn the Music On.” On her last album for a major label DeShannon continued to prove herself a compelling writer and vocalist, but Stewart’s arrangements often fail to ignite these performances. [©2009 hyperbolium dot com]

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