Customer Reviews

Jean: Bridge Over Troubled Water

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

 

 

In the early days of stereo, Ray Conniff and his engineers at Columbia Records produced some great sounding records. Just listen to the albums 'S AWFUL NICE and SOMEWHERE MY LOVE and you'll find it hard to believe that those wonderful recordings were made in 1958 and 1966, respectively.

Unfortunately, JEAN was an exception. Several songs (perhaps just those from one recording session) sound very distorted. The Lp sounded bad and it appears the same tapes were used for the CD reissue.

Ray Conniff was such a perfectionist that it is surprising he would have allowed the Lp to be released. At a time when he was selling millions of albums each year, you'd think that he would have spent the money to re-record certain tracks for this album.

Even with the sound problems, there are a few gems to be found. Most notably "The Windmills Of Your Mind," Conniff's original composition "The Power Of Love" and his Grammy nominated recording of "Jean."

The sound on BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER is much better. Ray performed the vocal solo on "Honey Come Back" and the whistling on "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head."

I give JEAN a one star rating and BRIDGE about 2 1/2 for an overall rating of 2. Others may be slightly more generous and give it a 3. Anyone who feels this rates a 4 or 5 should listen to a few more Conniff albums. This compilation is not representative of Ray Conniff's best work.

True Conniff fans will enjoy having these on CD despite the flaws. But if you are new to Conniff and want some of his more contemporary sounds of the 1960s featuring his group of 25 singers, first buy the 2-on-1 CD reissues of IT MUST BE HIM & HONEY or TURN AROUND LOOK AT ME & I LOVE HOW YOU LOVE ME.

These two albums from 1969 and 1970 are two great gems from the Ray Conniff catalog. "Jean", was always one of my favorite Conniff albums. I have one gripe that I'm sure most of you who have this CD will agree with me on; the sound quality. "Love Me Tonight", "A Time for Us", and possibly "Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In" sound horrible! If you listen well, you will notice that the sound sounds at its worst through the left speaker with the male chorus and the trumpets (most notably on "A Time for Us". It's a shame they could not fix this, more or less, notice it back in '69 when this was recorded. I am glad though that the best version of "Jean" (Ray's of course) has good sound quality along with "Love (Can Make You Happy), "The Windmills of Your Mind", "A Man Without Love", "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", "Spinning Wheel", "Shadows of the Night" and Conniff's own composition "The Power of Love".

"Bridge over Troubled Water" is a good album with some good moments on it in songs like "Someone", "Leaving on a Jet Plane", "Midnight Cowboy", and "Honey Come Back". There seems to be some more sound problems on a few of these songs on this album too. It seems as if there is some light popping noises on "Bridge over Troubled Water" and "Everybody's Talkin'", maybe it's my CD I don't know.

Some people have the nerve to say that a lot of Conniff's late '60s and '70s work sounds dated, I for one disagree. I like the easy listening arrangements on all of the Conniff albums I have heard. Anyone who thinks these recordings are dated, should try to enjoy them a lot more.

Ray released these two albums in about 1969 and 1970 respectively. The quality and sound are first rate in these DVD's. Good solid harmony in a selection of some of the top songs of those years as arranged by Ray Conniff. I especially enjoyed the rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Waters in the typical Ray Conniff style. Wonderful sounds as always!!

I am not an impartial reviewer when it comes to Ray Coniff. We bought his records and then his reel to reel tapes. Later, we bought his cassettes and now we are buying downloads.

All were worth it. If you are older like me it brings back wonderful memories and what music used to be. If you are younger it gives you a chance to look back in time and
discover what music was like back then. Hopefully, you will get as much pleasure as we do.

Thanks to Amazon for bringing back all the old but great artists.

First, I try really hard to retain my objectivity with all reviews, especially when it involves Ray Conniff. Like Pat and several others who routinely review Ray's work, I believe Ray Conniff is one of the greatest recording artists and arrangers of the last century. HOWEVER, I never cared for either of these albums from the first time I heard them, decades ago. I have always believed that the traditional "old sound" started a slide with these two LPs. While the combination of songs selected are okay, some obviously aging voices began to emerge here, a bad sign.

I have been a very dedicated Conniff fan since "'S Wonderful" came out, but I do need to retain the objectivity mentioned above. Believe me, it is really PAINFUL to submit anything other than "Five-Star," or "Four-Star" at worst, reviews of my favorite recording artist's work. On the plus side, the overall quality of the recordings is great, and I would not discourage anyone from purchasing the collection. I own it!

What could this be categorized as, disco-jazz?

Nice album cover tho.