Customer Reviews

If Mama Ain't Happy

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tina DeVaron's hauntingly beautiful voice, with lyrics ranging from wistful to playful to baldly funny, explores the exquisite range of parental emotions. The result is overwhelming: brilliant, clever, tearful. Parents, and the children of parents, will love this CD.

Tina deVaron's CD is great for Moms (and husbands too) -- the perfect gift for so many of my friends I have lost count. It's not just the way she captures what it is to be a Mom this day and age in the lyrics; the strong, catchy music which affirms the humor and love of kids (despite and because of all that involves) embodies the soul of not just Tina being a Mom, but the universal Mom. Strong, bluesy, sometimes rock-type songs just fit the moods of the different songs perfectly. Whether your friend (or you)are hitting mid-motherhood (kids entering junior high/middle school); you cannot think of the right thing for her birthday or Mother's Day or other special occasion; or you just want to let her share the intimite joys of being a Mom with the rest of the world (it is so nice to know you are not alone), this is the way to do it and keep on doing it. Thanks to Tina for capturing this neglected part of life so realistically and with such grace. It is a treasure.

Tina deVaron has a fantastic blues-y voice and a talent for writing songs that speak the truth in a (often) funny way. ANY Mom would love this CD.

It is a rare artist that reaches across gender, age, politics, musical preference, and, yes, even how you're feeling about your mother at the moment, and makes you feel like the song is actually your own. Last week a group of young friends spent an evening with me. They are high school students at the LaGuardia School for the Performing Arts. Among the things they had to share were their latest favorite songs from (!) the Indigo girls. I loved feeling ageless. I then popped on my CD of "If Mama Ain't Happy" and played "the girl you might have been". They laughed, cried, and afterwards couldn't speak - just like us 40-year-olds. They listened to every cut, and when they left, took my CD with them. We all knew, like the Simon and Garfunkle we had listened to earlier, that we were sharing a classic. Every person with whom I have shared Tina's music has at least one reaction in common: at some point, they nod and say, "Yep, that's right." or "that's me." Because after all, even if we're not a mother or a father, we are some mother's child. And no matter how bitter or sweet that may be, this music gets us right there.

We heard Tina performs many of these songs in a club in New York, and had to buy the CD right then and there. We have played it for family and friends innumerable times, and it does the same thing for them as it did for us- getting rave reviews across the generations for great lyrics, singable melodies, and filling a need for "music with meaning" that speaks to us all, I think. If you are a mother, will be a mother, have a mother, had a mother, know a mother, or know how to spell the word "mother," this CD is for you. By one for yourself, and one for each of the mothers you care about.

People encountering this CD might expect it to be bouncy music for kids in the Raffi vein. Wrong! It's top-drawer singer/songwriter music that aims for surprisingly unexplored territory: how it feels to be a parent (yes, I know, and especially a mom; but it worked for me, too). Many of Tina DeVaron's songs are just plain fun. Others are deeply moving. I bought this CD for my sister, and she told me she cried. (She's not the crying sort.) I bet the tune that got to her is "I Still Breathe," a song about the joys and pain of parenthood that is just plain beautiful. The CD features a stellar cast of backup musicians, including violinist Andy Stein and jazz bassist John Patitucci. The sound is great, and the songs cover a wide range of emotion. Highly recommended.

Tina's songs capture what it's REALLY like to be a parent; I identified with each one. I'd listen and nod my head and think, yeah, she got it on that one too! There are some really beautiful songs on this CD. I especially like "The First You Stole", "Nothing but the Love", "Rocking Chair" and "I Still Breathe". Tina is a talented songwriter (and singer) who deserves lots of recognition for this CD!

Here is a great collection of songs. Even though they focus on motherhood, they're really about they way ones heart can be cracked wide open by little things, and little people. The melodies are lyrical and flowing, the instrumentation is varied and fun, and Tina's voice suits the style perfectly. The is a must buy, not just for mothers day, but for fathers day as well! The other great thing about the CD is that it's not an escapist venture, the way a lot of pop music is; instead it's about the reality of what it's like to be a parent---and it's highly entertaining at the same time. A rare combination in todays music scene.

If Mama Ain't Happy, Tina deVaron:

Tina deVaron draws inspiration from many muses - her two sons among them, and she has devoted an album, If Mama Ain't Happy, to the experiences she has undergone as their mother. Tina has assembled a stunning roster of musicians to accompany her, and the album represents a rich variety of musical styles. My particular favorites are the funky "Somebody", "Voice in the Dark", a haunting evocation of childhood fears, and the rhythm'n'bluesy "Gravity", a boisterous celebration of the aging process; "Rocking Chair" has been known to make hardened Mamas cry. If Mama... is targeted toward, you guessed it, Mamas, and if this targeting seems narrow to you please bear in mind that every mother who has ever heard it loves it. Several times when entertaining I put it, unannounced, on my CD changer, and invariably when it plays, someone looks up and asks "Who is this? What a great voice!" For anyone who wants to give or receive a mothers' day gift that really means something, that will last and last, this album is GREAT! ENJOY!

It made me laugh, it made me cry. Tina captures the essence of raising children and sets it to music that the whole family can enjoy. I need two copies of this one--one for the living room and one for the car.