This single CD compiles
Greenwich's
two solo LPs,
Composes, Produces, and Sings
(1968) and
Let It Be Written, Let It Be Sung...
(1973), with one single and a bonus cut.
Composes, Produces and Sings
came about after a
Bob Crewe
-produced single,
"I Want You to Be My Baby,"
which had a solid mid-'60s girl-group sound, did well. The sound of the entire album, which
Greenwich
admits was arranged, recorded and mixed in less than a week, is upbeat, highly melodic, post-girl-group, like a more mature amalgam of
the Dixie Cups
and
the Shangri-Las
. Given the speed with which it was recorded, the first
Ellie Greenwich
album was a promising start, but then it took her five years to entertain another offer to record. The 1970 single
"I Don't Want to Be Left Outside"
is a more mature work that reveals the limitations of
voice, which is not pretty but very expressive; the B-side,
"Ain't That Peculiar,"
actually works far better as a more animated number that avoids too much focus on her limitations.
, cut for
Verve
in 1973, was an attempt to do with
classic girl-group songs what
Carole King
had done with some of hers -- recast them as a the work of a serious singer-songwriter, with lots of '70s embellishments, including guitar solos and slightly jazzy arrangements, sometimes featuring horns. Unfortunately, there was room for only one
in the pop culture of the era;
wasn't a good enough singer to carry the project on its own terms. Having said that, however, it should be added that the whole album is extremely attractive, and within the limits of
voice (which is not bad, especially in these surroundings -- just not great), it's gorgeous. The CD has been processed using
Sony
's Super Bit Mapping system, which imparts more presence than one remembers this music having had. As a bonus,
Raven
has thrown on
1962 single
"Big Honky Baby,"
which is one of her funniest and most passionate early performances.
music with the
Raindrops
is still her most accessible work, but these tracks stand on their own as a document of her music and her own maturing sensibilities about song. ~ Bruce Eder