Vonda Shepard - Heart and Soul

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:36
Size: 114,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:10)  1. Read Your Mind
(4:07)  2. 100 Tears Away
(3:28)  3. Someday We'll Be Together
(4:42)  4. To Sir, With Love (Duet with Al Green)
(3:13)  5. Sweet Inspiration
(3:31)  6. Crying
(2:36)  7. Vincent (Starry Starry Night)
(3:02)  8. What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted
(2:55)  9. World Without Love
(3:25) 10. Confetti
(4:41) 11. Baby, Don't You Break My Heart Slow (Duet with Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls)
(3:35) 12. This Is Crazy Now
(2:46) 13. This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)
(3:18) 14. I Know Him By Heart

Vonda Shepard's curious ascension into pop prominence on the heels of the Ally McBeal television series offers evidence that, if you just hang around Los Angeles long enough, you may finally get recognized. After years of laboring as a lower echelon L.A. rock singer/songwriter and backup singer (a second-rate Bonnie Raitt, one might say), Shepard hit paydirt of a sort playing a club singer on TV, and the quasi-soundtrack album Songs from Ally McBeal, which includes oldies covers from the '60s and '70s, was a million-selling Top Ten hit in 1998. The inevitable follow-up is more of the same, though this time around Shepard gets to pen five of the 14 tracks. Like its predecessor, however, Heart and Soul: New Songs from Ally McBeal shows that what may work on TV (or in the movies or on-stage, for that matter) a singer-actress-whatever covering old, familiar songs within the context of a plot, doesn't necessarily translate to a recording that, by its nature, has to compete with the original recordings whose emotional resonance lent the show its gravity to begin with. Put simply, who needs to hear Vonda Shepard singing "Crying" when we still have Roy Orbison's version? Even more egregious, at the behest of the TV producer, lyrics to some songs have been changed or deleted now it's "To You, with Love" rather than "To Sir, with Love"! You can understand the songwriters and music publishers acquiescing to this (a payday is a payday), but it's even more reason to disdain these threadbare covers. The irony is that, on her own, Shepard is not untalented: "Read Your Mind," the lead-off track, is a tentative acceptance of love that might as easily be directed to Shepard's unexpected (and no doubt temporary) new audience as to a new boyfriend; "Confetti" is a '60s-style rocker that seems to be attacking the kind of kids who look to Ally McBeal for fashion and dating tips; and "Baby, Don't You Break My Heart Slow" is a good romantic ballad in the currently popular Diane Warren/adult contemporary style. Such material demonstrates that Shepard is worthy of a major-label release of her own songs, and it can only be hoped that she gets one, given that the disappointing early response to this collection suggests that the Ally McBeal connection has probably run its course. ~ William Ruhlmann https://www.allmusic.com/album/heart-and-soul-new-songs-from-ally-mcbeal-featuring-vonda-shepard-mw0000254099

Personnel: Vonda Shepard (vocals, guitar, piano); Al Green, Emily Saliers (vocals); Val McCallum (acoustic & electric guitars, background vocals); Bruce Watson, Michael Landau (guitar); Greg Leisz (pedal steel guitar); Charles Bisharat (violin); Matthew Funes (viola); Suzie Katayama, Martin Tillman (cello); Mitchell Froom (accordion, piano, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond B-3 organ, harmonium, Chamberlain, Claviola, celeste, electric harpsichord, bells); Jeff Young (piano, Wurlitzer piano, Hammond B-3 organ, background vocals); Davey Faragher, Jimmy Haslip, Jim Hanson, Leland Sklar (bass); Pete Thomas, Andy Kamman (drums, percussion); Lynn Davis (background vocals).

Heart and Soul

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Julia Fordham - Falling Forward

Styles: Vocal, Pop
Year: 1994
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:43
Size: 114,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:03)  1. I Can't Help Myself
(4:08)  2. Caged Bird
(5:19)  3. Falling Forward
(4:30)  4. River
(6:17)  5. Blue Sky
(4:05)  6. Different Time, Different Place
(5:02)  7. Threadbare
(4:21)  8. Love & Forgiveness
(3:34)  9. Honeymoon
(3:55) 10. Hope, Prayer & Time
(4:22) 11. Safe

On Falling Forward, Julia Fordham proves once again that her vocal deftness and range are truly formidable forces. Fordham even supplies the background vocals on all of the songs except "River," creating a polished sound with the help of co-producer Larry Klein. The album has an even-tempered ambience to it, rarely rising above or falling below the fault line which formulates a graceful fluidity throughout the 11 tracks. While the jazzy adult contemporary-type arrangements may lack ingenuity, the versatility and layers of Fordham's angelic voice are more than enough to carry the album. ~ Erik Crawford  http://www.allmusic.com/album/falling-forward-mw0000113428

Personnel: Julia Fordham (vocals); Greg Leisz (guitar, pedal steel); Steuart Smith (guitar, mandolin); Michael Landau, Dominic Miller (guitar); Perry Montague-Mason (violin); Katy Wilkinson (viola); Mark Isham (trumpet); Bill Payne (piano, Hammond B-3 organ); Philip Taylor (piano); Larry Klein (keyboards, bass, percussion); Russell Ferrante (keyboards); Barry Kinder (drums, percussion); Carlos Vega (drums); Iki Levy (percussion); Arnold McCuller, David Lasley, Vonda Shepard, Brenda Russell (background vocals).

Falling Forward

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Jackson Browne - The Very Best Of Jackson Browne (2-disc set)

Before this double-disc dose of Jackson Browne's best came along, the influential troubadour's most extensive career summary was the 15-song THE NEXT VOICE YOU HEAR. This truly definitive anthology contains just about everything on that disc and plenty more. Browne helped define the 1970s singer/songwriter idiom, and that process is carefully documented here, as on the precociously world-weary "These Days" and the soulful, Van Morrison-like "Doctor My Eyes." The collection follows Browne through the years, as he toughens up his sound with more of a rock edge ("Running on Empty," "Boulevard") and adds a sociopolitical edge to his lyrics ("Lives in the Balance," "I am a Patriot"). Through it all, Jackson's humanity and humility, not to mention his lyrical song-craft, shine.

Jackson Browne (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, piano); David Lindley (acoustic & electric guitars, slide guitar, fiddle); Kevin McCormick (acoustic guitar, bass); Clarence White (acoustic guitar); Jesse Ed Davis (electric guitar); Sneaky Pete Kleinow (pedal steel guitar); Craig Doerge (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards, Mini-Moog synthesizer); David Paich, Elton John (piano); Benmont Tench (Hammond B-3 organ); Jai Winding (organ, synthesizer); Doug Haywood (organ, background vocals); Michael Utley (organ); Leland Sklar, Chuck Rainey (bass); Russell Kunkel (drums, congas); Jeff Porcaro (drums); Luis Conte (percussion); Vonda Shepard, David Crosby, Graham Nash, Glenn Frey, Dan Fogelberg, Don Henley, J.D. Souther, Bonnie Raitt (background vocals).

Album: The Very Best Of Jackson Browne (Disc 1)
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 77:20
Size: 177.0 MB
Styles: Rock, Folk rock
Year: 2004

[3:18] 1. Doctor My Eyes
[3:23] 2. Jamaica Say You Will
[4:11] 3. Rock Me On The Water
[3:40] 4. Take It Easy
[4:38] 5. These Days
[4:05] 6. Red Neck Friend
[5:56] 7. For Everyman
[4:47] 8. For A Dancer
[6:55] 9. Fountain Of Sorrow
[5:35] 10. Late For The Sky
[6:20] 11. Before The Deluge
[6:01] 12. Your Bright Baby Blues
[5:50] 13. The Pretender
[3:34] 14. Here Come Those Tears Again
[5:35] 15. The Load-Out
[3:23] 16. Stay

The Very Best Of Jackson Browne (Disc 1)

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Album: The Very Best Of Jackson Browne (Disc 2)
Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 70:16
Size: 160.8 MB
Styles: Rock, Folk rock
Year: 2004
Art: Front

[4:56] 1. Running On Empty
[3:54] 2. You Love The Thunder
[4:22] 3. Somebody's Baby
[4:53] 4. Tender Is The Night
[4:24] 5. Lawyers In Love
[5:46] 6. In The Shape Of A Heart
[5:38] 7. Lawless Avenues
[4:19] 8. Lives In The Balance
[4:10] 9. I Am A Patriot
[6:04] 10. Sky Blue And Black
[5:15] 11. I'm Alive
[5:39] 12. The Barricades Of Heaven
[4:55] 13. Looking East
[5:56] 14. The Naked Ride Home

The Very Best Of Jackson Browne (Disc 2)

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