Customer Reviews

Listening Booth: 1970

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have to disagree with some of the reviewers. I think Marc Cohn was trying to take songs from his childhood, and make them his own. He's not trying to top Cat Steven, Paul McCartney et al. Marc has a remarkably warm and soulful voice, and it comes through on this album.

If Mr. Cohn was trying to just "cash in", he would not have selected such an eclectic collection of songs and then recorded them with such different arrangements. Instead he puts his stamp on these songs.

If you are looking for straight covers, than I think you missed the point. But if you are looking for cool and emotional versions of some brilliant 1970's songs, this is for you.

I have been a fan of Mr Cohn for a while. I lived in Memphis in the earl 70s and his first hit took me back. This new collection was great cover of other works. I enjoyed Mr. Cohn's interprutation of these tunes, in may ways more then I enjoyed the originals. It's hard for an artist to do this kind of thing and not sound like a poor second. In this case this album makes these tunes new again. But like candy, I sure could use some more.....

Wow.

This record is awesome. I got it my local Starbucks this morning and have been playing it all day long. I had no idea who Marc Cohn was when I bought the CD. It just looked like a CD I had to buy. Then I Wiki'd him and read that he did "Walking in Memphis", and thought "I like that song", but it never stuck with me who the artist was even after hearing it on the radio a million times.

I think this CD is fantastic. The liner notes say it all. I am Marc's age and am also a musician and this is the project that I would love to do if I had the time and money.

I was the same age as Marc when I heard these songs. God bless him for being to able to document his artistic tipping point and having the resources to do this. This is very good. I especially like his arrangement of "New Speedway Boogie."

Thanks Marc.

It turns out this is a really gutsy thing to do, making a record of covers of 40-year old pop songs. Cohn opens with the weakest track by far, Wild World by Cat Stevens. Now, I have a lot of Cat Stevens on my Ipod, and some of his songs are more easily covered, but this particular song needs to be heard in the voice of Cat Stevens.

When Cohn picks songs that are not still all over the oldies stations (Look At Me, No Matter What), it works better for me. When he invites comparison to iconic renditions that are still heard today, he usually suffers. For one thing, he sings them SOOOOO slowly. It reminds me of how my spouse always feels that Happy Birthday is sung at a dirgelike tempo and makes hand motions to speed it up through the entire song. In particular, The Letter had me screaming at the CD. I am sure that Cohn just wants to wring every ounce of emotion from these songs that mean so much to him, but that can be difficult to listen to.

On a handful of other songs, Cohn is just OK. Maybe I'm Amazed - not McCartney, but not bad. The Only Living Boy in New York - on the slow side, but tolerable. Into the Mystic - again, tolerable. After Midnight - channeling Eric Clapton Unplugged, not terrible.

There is one song on this CD that I really, really liked, and that is Make It With You, with India.Arie. I would not have guessed it. Their voices blend together really well, and they somehow manage to make this trite old chestnut sound fresh.

These are my reactions after one time through the CD. Maybe it will grow on me. It's not something I would put away and never take out again. I know these songs mean a lot to Marc Cohn. I know this is not just a throwaway album of covers. But this is a guy who has written some incredible stuff of his own, maybe the only artist with two CDs in my personal all-time Top 20 (Marc Cohn and Join the Parade). It seems unfair that he should set himself up for comparison on these iconic pop songs. Especially since, in the majority of cases, he suffers by comparison. I doubt that he was going for an inoffensive covers album, but unfortunately that's what I think of it.

Just had to chime in here -- from the first snippet I heard, I knew I'd have to buy this CD (and I rarely buy CD's these days). I am admittedly a Marc Cohn fan, and also a fan of John Leventhal; I love that man's musical sensibilities and am rarely disappointed. I actually looked forward to seeing John as much as his wife the times I've made it to a Rosanne Cash show!

Yes, these songs sound decidedly different from the originals; that's part of the beauty of covers, hearing another artist's interpretation of a song that they love. Cohn's voice is soulful and reverent, just now am hearing "Long as I Can See the Light" for the first time as I write and it is so heartbreaking it stopped me in my tracks. Now I'm looping back around to "Wild World" for a second full listen -- this is the one I was most uncertain about in my preview listening -- and the whole groove of it is making something new and fresh, while utterly, completely familiar.

This is a beautiful, fully thought out release --if you're ready to break out of the ordinary and fall in love all over again (or for the first time) with some classics, you're in for a treat!

These covers are worth a listen. The tracks on this album are reinterpreted and not just re-sung.

One small quibble, several people have said that only Cat Stevens can do 'Wild World'; while this may be true, let's not forget that the song was written by Jimmy Cliff (worth a listen for a completely different take on the song).

I've never heard much of Marc Cohn except for the song Walking in Memphis. But I never felt the urge to buy his stuff until I heard this. Maybe it's because I'm the same age and these songs all mean something to me personally but I'm a professional musician, writer and I know how difficult it is to re-interperet a classic song.
This collection is meant to be "night time" music in his own words. He's not trying to be better than the original, he's paying tribute and bringing his own style and voice to them. I think it's amazing and I'd be surprised if it's not nominated for a Grammy. So there ya go. Just my own opinion. Of course, that's what these reviews are all about. I love the Cd.

Marc Cohn, a singer of better than average talent and one I've been a fan of since his first album, and whose last album, "Join The Parade," I really enjoyed, has dipped into the covers album set with "Listening Booth 1970." It's made up of songs during a year Marc feels was crucial in his musical development, and includes artists like Eric Clapton, Smokey Robinson, Paul McCartney, The Grateful Dead, Badfinger and...Bread?!? Yes, it's eclectic. It's also a little flat.

Once things start with a promising cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World," and a following of John Lennon's "Look at Me," he hits Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed." As that one fades and Marc enters into Bread's "Make it With You, " you're struck by the fact that everything so far has been played in a slow or mid-tempo blues or folk style. Even though you'd guess that The Box Tops' "The Letter" or Badfinger's "No Matter What" would up the ante a bit, you soon discover that Marc has reined in the speed in those, as well.

James Taylor, whom Marc emulates often, took the covers route awhile back and chose to make sure that his own laidbackedness occasionally was levelled out by a couple uptempo songs. As did Rosanne Cash, on her superb "The List." Marc's "Listening Booth 1970" musically on a par with both of these other artists' CD's, but what it lacks is the variety to lift it above the average.

This CD is outstanding. I have it in my car and listen to it all the time. Marc Cohn has an amazing voice and the songs bring back a lot of memories. You won't be sorry if you purchase this CD.

If Jackson Pollock decided to paint the Mona Lisa, it certainly wouldn't look like Leonardo's, but it probably would be an incredible work of art. The same applies to this set of songs put through a funk/r&b makeover by Marc Cohn. Some myopic, windbag reviewers complain these aren't like the original versions . . . duh! Marc Cohn's musical sensibilities can be trusted to make art, not copies, and that's what we have here. Wait 'til you hear the musical arrangements - they will reverberate in your head as if the original versions were never heard by you. Listen to Cohn's vocals - the infusion of soul takes these songs beyond ever being just 'covers'. In fact, I dare to say if these versions had been released first, they would have been hits before the originals made it to the charts. Way to go Marc! After your next album of new, stunningly brilliant music (I hope, I hope), let's move on to 1971 so I can hear you do "Maggie May". I got chills already.