Customer Reviews

Hey Now Hey (The Other Side Of The Sky)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Hey Now Hey (The Other Side Of The Sky)" may be the most misunderstood Aretha Franklin album of all time. Panned by critics for its eclecticism and lack of focus, HNH was produced by Quincy Jones and Aretha's first album for Atlantic that was not produced by Jerry Wexler. Coming off a string of ten outstanding Wexler-produced albums - "I Never Loved A Man" and "Lady Soul" were what you would call landmark albums - HNH was a bit of a disappointment. The concept of marrying Aretha's deep soul with Quincy's musical genius may have worked on paper, but the execution fell short for reasons that had nothing to do with Aretha. Vocally, she was in peak form and obviously still delivering. The clue to HNH's shortcomings may be found in David Nathan's excellent sleeve notes. It appears that HNH was originally conceived as an all-out jazz experiment for Aretha with Quincy producing at the helm but when Atlantic lost its nerve midway through the project and decided to include some more pop/soul oriented material in the album to avert the risk of potential commercial disaster, that's when the problems started. It's a shame, because cut for cut, the album is with a few exceptions difficult to fault. Collectively, the pop/soul oriented tracks are neither better nor worse than the jazz ones, just different.

HNH is worth buying just for "Angel" alone. Composed by her sister Carolyn, "Angel" is possibly the most beautiful ballad Aretha has ever recorded in her entire career. Another highlight is the Esther Phillips' inspired "Sister From Texas", a percussively cooking and bluesy soul number given a full workout treatment by Aretha. The title track is also mysterious and interesting. Using an unusual two coda song structure, there is even a hint of 70s drugs culture ("on the other side of the sky") in the lyrics and it works. "So Swell When You're Well" chugs along nicely but is unexceptional. "Mister Spain" has a moody charm about it, but "That's How I Feel About 'Cha" is a mess. Not much of a song in the first place, it is little more than an excuse for Aretha to show off while practicing her scales. The album's grand opus, Bernstein/Sondheim's "Somewhere", given a jazzy treatment with piano breaks midsong is an inventive if not altogether successful arrangement. The producer/arranger may have gone overboard on that one.

The two pure jazz tracks which close HNH (ie, not counting the excellent "Master Of Eyes" which is included as a bonus track) is impressive for Aretha's amazing vocalising but otherwise belong elsewhere with the other completed jazz tracks still sitting in Atlantic's vault.

So, what started out as a jazz album ended up only one quarter a jazz album, half a conventional pop/soul album and a quarter of a fusion album. Blame it on Atlantic if you must for the mishmash and occasional misstep but Aretha vocally more than measures up against her glorious legacy preceding this most misunderstood release. Me ? I love it.

I am sooOOOoooo glad to be reading positive reviews of this album, especially since it is one of the most difficult Aretha Franklin albums to aquire. And I agree, it is also Aretha's finest, most introspective work to date. When it was first released, I did not understand why it didn't top the charts, as I did not understand the commercial whoring of the industry yet. All I knew is that I had discovered soul, and was enveloped by it's messenger. Buy this album, and hear what true artistic nirvana is.

In my humble opinion, this lp stands as Aretha's singular greatest acheivement, the moment when she advanced light years from what was at the time the reliable hit machine she, Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin had evolved into. No female before her had created a song cycle as esoteric as this one. She seems to be speaking directly to her demons in a way I don't think her audience was willing to comprehend. Very similar in many respects to Marvin Gaye's "Here My Dear" though not as literal.
That the project was deemed a failure, almost assures it's place as a cult favorite among Aretha fans. Listening to the album in it's entirety, I think that Aretha was purging herself of the some of the pressures surrounding her at the time. There is a joy inside the melancholy of her singing. I don't know, it just feels cathartic at the end.
QJ's production doesn't overwhelm as it tended to with his later projects. Aretha gets lots of room to just sing.
And we're all the richer for it.
She'd return to a career making coda with "Let Me In Your Life" but this lp shows us her willingness to push the limits of r&b/pop/jazz and broadway to their extremes.

Aretha's experimental disc is surprisingly good. I'm not saying there's not a filler in sight - four songs run over six minutes, and I can't imagine listening to three of them ("Somewhere", "Mr. Spain", "That's the Way I Feel About Ya") ever again unless I was forced to, while "Moody's Mood" showcases extremely complex but excruciating overdubbed vocals. Thankfully, the rest is far better - the title track switches from schmaltz to funk, with great results; "Angel" is one of her greatest ballads ever, along with the Grammy-winning "Master of Eyes (the Deepness of Your Eyes)", while "So Swell When You're Well" and "Sister from Texas" are breathtaking soul shouters. But perhaps the biggest surprise comes on the extended instrumental introduction to the wonderful eight minutes of "Just Right Tonight", with some of her dirtiest lyrics ever. Certainly not the place to start - all the experimentation might blow you away. But try to find it if you're already impressed with her, and don't let the awful cover art scare you off.

In my teenage years, I stumbled across a cassette tap of the Hey Now Hey album. Clearly, it is not the typical soul, gut-wrenching music ordinarily synonymous with the Queen of Soul. But, ever since I heard the eclectic mix of songs, there was always something that kept me replaying the album. Whether it was her uptempo version of Moody's Mood, the lover's-anthem Angel, or several of the hip, psychedelica tunes, the Queen always demands "R-E-S-P-E-C-T", and thus any serious music lover of Aretha should take the time to listen to her interpretation of the early 70's R&B/Soul era. I still say "Just Right Tonight" is one of her best Blues ever recorded. Just check out the free sample track and you'll see why.

Aretha's oddest album but also one of her best. Three tracks stand out for their brilliance: Somewhere, Moody's Mood, and Just Right Tonight (with the late great Billy Preston on piano) are wonderful arrangements by Quincy Jones of three jazz standards, and Aretha sets the roof on fire with her passionate interpretations. Angel is perhaps the most successful pop soul piece on the album. The rest of the album is basically just mediocre filler. But those three jazz pieces and that one soul song are outstanding and make this album well worth getting. I just wish everything else on it could have matched the greatness of those four tracks.

Some people state this is one of her worst albums, but anybody with a heart and who was there knows Aretha hasn't touched such heights since.

It is her last best album and anyone who owns the original Vinyl needs to get with the CD. There's nothing like the real thing and HEY NOW, HEY is as "ARETHA" as Aretha gets. Jazz, soul, gospel, funk and a touch of alternate, it's all there and Aretha does it the way you always want her to --- with everything she owns, kitchen sink included...

This album will go down in history as one of Aretha's greatest yet most misunderstood album. By the time of it's release she was the undisputed Queen of Soul and one of the most successful female recording artist of all time. After the release of her two most commercially appealing albums, YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK (every song a commercial gem) and the gospel tour-de-force AMAZING GRACE, the Queen could have gone anywhere she wanted to, musically. Inspired perhaps by the male dominated concept albums of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield, the Queen decided to come off her pedestal and go down into the streets and record a concept album for all the tormented men, women and musicians of the world. Many will claim that Aretha stepped off her throne with HEY NOW HEY (THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SKY) and would find it difficult to ever reclaim her throne again, because of the albums lack of commercial appeal for her millions of fans. Many claim that she attempted to do a strickly jazz album that confused her public, simply because very few people understand what I believe she really wanted to do. Quincy Jones was not just a brilliant jazz producer but he was also one of the leading movie screen score masters as well and I believe both Aretha and Quincy set out to make a truely inspired concept album, in the same way you would a movie. Why the concept album didn't turn out as they planned is because of lack of time and the lack of interest from her company, who wanted her to continue to blast out hits every three months, but a concept album of this dimension needed more time and time was not given, neither in its compilation or promotion.

The Miseducation of Aretha was that this album was far ahead of its time and it would be decades before women artist such as Lauren Hill were able to take their time and come out with concept albums that spoke to their generation as directly and commercially as Aretha attempted to do here.

The main problem with HEY NOW HEY, is the compilation, but if you rearrange the order with the bonus track, you'll understand that this is truly a brilliant concept album, moving through every conceivable emotion and musical genre to tell the story of a woman inlove with an addictive male. A issue that is very prevelant even today and very few woman have ever tried to address it.

"Angel" one of Aretha's most beloved jewels is the perfect way to introduce the album. "I got a call the other day from my sister Carolyn... and the melody on the box will explain..." Then it becomes the story of a womans love for "Mr. Spain" (I wish she had titled it Mr. Pain). This song is so emotion it still mesmerizes and brings tears to my eyes, over thirty years later. "So Swell When Your Well," isn't that inspiring, but had she allowed more conversation between her piano and the horns, it could have been a jazz masterpiece, similar to what Aretha did with the jazz masters on her VHI Diva Special. Because of so many S's in the titles of these songs I would break the order up by using the funky "Master of Eyes" (it won her the grammy that year, although never on the original album, which is on par with the total shrew up with promoting this near masterpiece). The first half would end with "Somewhere" which I find beautiful but not the great rendention that many claim it to be.

The Second half of the project would then start with "Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky)," this is a psycadelic trip that I don't understand to this day, but at least it says "Why don't you tell us about it..." a fine way to begin the second half. The next track would be "Sister From Texas", where the sister finally reveals who she really is (a character inspired by the tortured genius of the Esther Phillips, whom Aretha gave her Grammy to that year). Then she lays it on us with "Just Right Tonight" a ten minute exotic blues tour de force. Many exectives say that Quincy might have damaged Aretha's vocal cords with all the screaming and hollering, but hey she was laying it on us like no one since Bessie Smith, and stretching her voice as never before. From the blues she takes us to jazz and "Moody's Mood" ("there go, there go, there she goes again...") before she finally says "I'm through...".

There is actually no more to be said after the preceeding two unforgettable exotic journey's, and so the grand finale becomes, "That's The Way I Feel About Cha'" Aretha has taken us from the depts of the blues to jazz and then to soul. Aretha's version of the Bobby Womack Classic is equal if not better than the original (overlayed dubs like Marvin and all), a fitting way to end the concept album had it been compiled right and the song would have been her fourteenth number one hit, although not a pop smash. Atlantic could care less about Aretha's appeal to her R&B audience (eventhough that was who she was addressing) and that is probably why they rushed the Stevie Wonder classic "Until You Come Back To Me" out before this illconceived album had a chance to run its course.

Had the album been promoted as a concept album and compiled accordingly, it would rank with WHAT'S GOING ON as a masterpiece. Hopefully one day it will inspire a motion picture soundtrack and be acknowledge as one of Aretha most enduring classics.

I admire Aretha Franklin's work so much that listening to an unfamiliar album of hers is always an adventure for me. Whether I will like it is not the question, but rather, how good is it? How does it compare to her others? What is she doing and saying this time? Well, one listen to this CD tells me why the general public did not dig it in 1973. From the beginning it is obvious that this represents an expansion beyond normal pop and soul structure musically, and it has lyrics that are somewhat abstract and subtle, saying or implying more than the average tune about getting together and breaking up. Some of the tracks are pretty complex.

The title cut starts out hip, funky, jazzy, with prominent piano, then morphs into a slow dreamlike section with smooth strings, and then it's back to funky. Aretha's voice is in excellent form, and the back-up singers are also good, as always. "So Swell When You're Well" and "Sister From Texas" continue in a similar vein - funked-up soul, like that found on "Aretha Now". "Mister Spain" is obviously an ode to a very sexy dude. The vocal starts out low-key, sultry, seductive and drawn out for full effect; but, after a laid-back jazzy interlude, Aretha goes all out with emotional, sometimes playful, expression. "Moody's Mood" alternates between rapid-fire scatting and standard soul, back and forth. I like the track, but one like this is enough for me. For her too, I guess, because she ends the song by declaring, "I'm thru." The hit of the album, "Angel", was always gorgeous to me, and it fits in with the other tracks with its full-bodied sound, including harmonious strings and dramatic horns. "Just Right Tonight" is good, serious old-style blues musically. The vocal sneaks in with some soft humming and wailing but builds into a strong gospel piece. It also contains some sly spoken comments that only Aretha could get away with. The bonus track, "Master of Eyes", retains the prevailing jazzy feel of the CD and the effect of growth beyond regular pop and soul.

Two tracks don't work so well for me. "Somewhere", in my opinion, is not right for Aretha's voice and style. Even though the instrumental arrangement is beautiful in places, I've heard other versions that I prefer to Aretha's. "That's the Way I Feel About Cha" isn't really bad, but I find it dull in comparison to other better tracks. It just doesn't go anywhere, and the ending is too repetitious.

But, so what? On the whole, this is another Aretha Franklin album, and that in itself is reason for rejoicing. The good outweighs the bad, by far.

Aretha's most productive period was between about 1967 to 1971. This is an unfocused album--not representative of her best years. So Swell When You're Well is an absolute masterpiece and is worth the cost of the disk. For completists.