Various Artists – Greatest Love Songs (2001)

And here is one of these countless compilation albums with “Greatest Love Song” …

… Compilations of this kind are part of the music industry to earn a little more money with low budget productions.
Many of the songs are actually “sad love songs” and I think there is something for everyone on these two CDs.

My favourite songs are “Morning Has Broken “, “Island In The Sun”, “The Air That I Breathe”, “Light My Fire”, “When A Man Loves A Woman”, “Pretty Woman”, “Wonderful World”, “My Girl”, “Only You”, “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and “Brown Eyed Girl” … they touch my soul.

Enjoy your sentimental side.

Tracklist:

CD 1:
01. Al Martino: Spanish Eyes (Kaempfert/ingleton/Snyder) 2.49
02. America: Sister Golden Hair (Beckley) 3.21
03. Art Garfunkel: Bright Eyes (Batt) 3.59
04. Barry White: You’re The First, The Last, My Everything (White/Sepe/Redcliffe) 3.26
05. Bellamy Brothers: If I Said You Have A Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me (D.Bellamy) 3.12
06. Cat Stevens: Morning Has Broken (Stevens/Farjeon) 3.19
07. Chicago: If You Leave Me Now (Cetera) 3.54
08. Commodores: Three Times A Lady (Richie) 3.38
09. Dean Martin: Everybody Loves Somebody (Lane/Coslow/Taylor) 2.46
10. Diane Warwick: Heartbreaker (B.Gibb/R.Gibb/M.Gibb) 4.18
11. Eric Carmen: All By Myself (Carmen) 4.54
12. Everly Brothers: All I Have To Do Is Dream (Bryant) 2.24
13. F. R. Davids: Words (Fetoussi) 2.51
14. Gary Pucket: Young Girl (Fuller) 3.08
15. Gary Wright: Dream Weaver (Wright) 4.18
16. Harry Belafonte: Island In The Sun (Belafonte/Burgess) 3.23

CD 2:
01. Hazlewood/Sinatra: Summerwine (Nayer/Mercer) 3.39
02. Hollies: The Air That I Breathe (Hammond/Hazlewood) 4.03
03. Jose Feliciano: Light My Fire (Morrison/Manzarek/Densmore/Krieger) 3.04
04. Leo Sayer: When I Need You (Hammond/Sager) 4.07
05. Pat Boone: Love Letters In The Sand (Kenny/Coots) 2.08
06. Paul Anka: Put Your Head On My Shoulder (Anka) 2.37
07. Percy Sledge: When A Man Loves A Woman (Lewis/Wright) 2.49
08. Righteous Brothers: Unchained Melody (Zaret/North) 3.37
09. Roy Orbison: Pretty Woman (Orbinson/Dees) 2.59
10. Sam Cooke: Wonderful World (Cooke/Adler/Alpert) 3.00
11. Temptation: My Girl (Robinson/White) 2.41
12. The Platters: Only You (Ram/Rand) 2.36
13. Them: It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (Dylan) 3.48
14. Tom Jones: She’s A Lady (Anka) 3.36
15. Van Morrison: Brown Eyed Girl (Morrison) 3.03
16. Walker Brothers: The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Any More (Crewe/Gauido) 3.01

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Leo Sayer – Silverbird (1973)

Leo Sayer’s debut album introduced a singer/songwriter (actually he wrote just the lyrics; David Courtney did the music) of some talent, though not remarkable talent. The production screams 1973, with its mainstream pop and hard rock beds and some overlays of symphonic strings, and Sayer sometimes strongly echoes Elton John’s early-’70s work, with some hints of David Bowie as well. He didn’t have the monster hooks of Elton John and certainly not the quirky originality and edgy experimentalism of Bowie, but actually this is a better album than many would remember. For one thing, Sayer was a good, versatile singer with an impressive range and an ability to summon the lung power and also go wispy and tender (as he does at various points within a single track, as on “Goodnight Old Friend”).

Certainly the album is most remembered for “The Show Must Go On,” which gave Sayer his first British hit, though Three Dog Night had the smash with it when they covered it for the American market; Sayer’s version is less ham-handed and more idiosyncratic, particularly in the extended instrumental circus intro. He usually played the part of the sympathetic, slightly confessional singer/songwriter, with a more straightforward keyboard-dominated rock base than many soft rock confessional singer/songwriters had, sometimes tilting toward one side more than the other. “The Dancer,” for instance, is a wistful piano ballad with impressive near-soprano singing, while the far less impressive “Oh Wot a Life” is an awkward attempt at throat-stretching party rock. [The 2002 CD reissue adds “Living in America,” the A-side of the sole single by his pre-solo career group, Patches, and “Quicksand,” an early solo Sayer non-LP B-side; both of these are harder-charging mainstream rock than his usual stuff.

Personnel:
Russ Ballard (guitar, keyboard)
Max Chetwyn (guitar)
David Courtney (piano)
Michael Giles (drums)
Robert Henrit (drums)
Leo Sayer (guitar, harmonica, vocals)
Henry Spinetti (drums)
Dave Wintour (bass)

Tracklist:
01. Innocent Bystander 3.02
02. Good Night Old Friend 2.51
03. Drop Back 3.29
04. Silverbird 1.12
05. The Show Must Go On 3.32
06. Dancer 4.30
07. Tomorrow 4.12
08. Don’t Say It’s Over 3.15
09. Slow Motion 1.46
10. Oh Wot A Life 2.53
11. Why Is Everybody Going Home? 4.14
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12. Living In America 2.47
13. Quicksand 2.46
14. Let It Be (Lennon/McCartney) 3.40

All songs written by Leo Sayer + David Courtney , except where noted

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