Customer Reviews

Postcard

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think the 60s and folk music are probably good things, even though I wasn't born until 1989. I hope readers will take more heed to reviews that show an open-mindedness to both than to reviews that clearly idolize some other music form, such as jazz, soundly dismiss folk music, and equate the 60s with inescapable immaturity. This disc provides a rare and diverse selection from a most underrated singer. Mary Hopkin is not one of the big names in either 60s music or folk music, but her songs on this disk sure win my heart. Those Were The Days, I'm told, was her one biggest hit, and it begins this disk, and what a lovely and haunting start. She even ends the disk with lovely versions of that song in Spanish and Italian. In between is an amazing variety of songs, including some in two more languages other than English. Y Blodyn Gwyn, the one in her native Welsh, is particularly hauntingly beautiful. Other reviews have mentioned other beautiful entries such as Lord of the Reedy River and Lullaby of the Leaves. In addition, one I've not seen mentioned in other reviews, but which I find particularly lovely is Voyage of the Moon. Although the 1960s and the folk era indeed produced bigger names in music, this is a contribution that no one with a liking for those times should miss. Listen to it, and Mary Hopkin can have as big a role as many a bigger-named artist in convincing you that indeed those were the days.

I think the 60s and folk music are probably good things, even though I wasn't born until 1989. I hope readers will take more heed to reviews that show an open-mindedness to both than to reviews that clearly idolize some other music form, such as jazz, soundly dismiss folk music, and equate the 60s with inescapable immaturity. This disc provides a rare and diverse selection from a most underrated singer. Mary Hopkin is not one of the big names in either 60s music or folk music, but her songs on this disk sure win my heart. Those Were The Days, I'm told, was her one biggest hit, and it begins this disk, and what a lovely and haunting start. She even ends the disk with lovely versions of that song in Spanish and Italian. In between is an amazing variety of songs, including some in two more languages other than English. Y Blodyn Gwyn, the one in her native Welsh, is particularly hauntingly beautiful. Other reviews have mentioned other beautiful entries such as Lord of the Reedy River and Lullaby of the Leaves. In addition, one I've not seen mentioned in other reviews, but which I find particularly lovely is Voyage of the Moon. Although the 1960s and the folk era indeed produced bigger names in music, this is a contribution that no one with a liking for those times should miss. Listen to it, and Mary Hopkin can have as big a role as many a bigger-named artist in convincing you that indeed those were the days.

Out of all the Apple reissues that I purchased back when they were released in 1991, Post Card was my very first selection. As a toddler, I was fascinated with Mary Hopkin's vocal delivery of Those Were the Days. Many years later, I found out that one of my aunts shared this particular fondness, for I discovered that she had a 45 RPM version of the song with the B-side as Mary Hopkin's arrangement of the Byrd's Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season). By then, the single was worn out, and the connection between the stylus and the vinyl didn't quite cut it.

Fortunately, with time, I would obtain these two songs on this CD, and the sound quality was infinitely better. Included in Post Card are other delightful remakes. Among them we have: Lullaby of the Leaves, Young Love, Love Is the Sweetest Thing, and Someone to Watch Over Me, which is perhaps my favorite.

In addition to containing the renditions of these old favorites, Post Card has Donovan pitching in two contributions for Ms. Hopkin, namely Voyage of the Moon and Lord of the Reedy River, both of which finely suited her voice. As another plus for Post Card, The Puppy Song, a lovable track that was almost released as a follow-up single to Those Were the Days, was provided by singer/songwriter Harry Nilsson.

Also in this release are Y Blodyn Gwyn and Prince En Avignon, two tracks not sung in English. So far as anything else to say about them, the instrumentations of echoing strings are reminiscent of the musical arrangements present in Claudine Longet's 1968 album Love Is Blue.

All in all, if Paul McCartney had planned to create a wholesome, pure, and sweet image for the Apple label, then his decision to select these songs exclusively for this young, eighteen-year-old woman hit the jackpot.

I would certainly say that "Those Were The Days" is not the greatest track on this album, no matter what language she sings it in. It is the most famous, and it is well-done, but the other tracks on this album deserve more attention. I'm not sure what the reason was for the diversity of musical styles across this album. I don't really care. Everything is excellent and suberbly recorded. There is no better example of how to record a female vocalist, period. It was a little troublesome to listen to this album at first. After we put a tall chair in between the speakers for her to sit in, it was more listenable. For those who are fans of George Martin's sense of balance and proportion, this album is ear candy. The heavy MCartney influence is pleasant, not overbearing or silly. The vocals are like a dream on a windy, fall day. There is no right or wrong about the musical selections on this album. All are handled with seriousness and charm. This is not a Beatles album with a female vocalist. It has the production and influence, but is it's own. There is much depth and beauty, every track can be enjoyed. The musical diversity makes the album fresh. The sexyness of the vocals, recorded with so much heart and detail makes this album one of the best there is. I enjoy albums like this one. full of suprises, and occasionally hypnotizing. This album is fully worth the distinction of being on such a special label.

One of the first artists to be signed to The Beatles' new found Apple Records in 1969, soft, quivering folk artist, Mary Hopkin, scored an international hit with a song derived from an obscure Eastern European ballad; "Those Were The Days", was an elaborate, five minutes-plus hit record, recalling a German folk pop nostalgia, an unlikely Top 40 sound that was ultimately accused of anti-Semitic sentiment with its Euro-tavern, post war, alcohol fueled longings:, "Those were the days, my friend, we thought they'd never end, we'd sing and dance forever and a day, we'd live the life we'd choose, we'd fight and never lose, for we were young and sure to have our way." Paul McCartney produced this first Hopkin album which includes songs penned by, Donovan, (Lord of The Reedy River, Happiness Runs, Voyage of The Moon), Harry Nilsson, (The Puppy Song), and Beatles' producer, George Martin, (The Game), plus some unfortunate McCartney choices in the likes of show tunes by Gershwin, and the no surprise, "There's No Business Like Show Business". In her element as a folk artist, Hopkin possesses a strong, lilting, mermaid with a lair vocal delivery, rooted in traditional European folk, that seduces like a cross between a warm vodka and a cold lemonade. She's a fairly fine guitar strummer as well. The bonus tracks are an Italian and Spanish version of "Those Were The Days", (the Italian version sounds particularly fine and genuine), and the 'B' side of "Those Were The Days", an acoustic version of The Byrds' "Turn,Turn, Turn".

Never mind the pundits, and the all too hipsters...Mary Hopkin's "Postcard" is a folk album that is hauntingly beautiful. Don't be persuaded by snot-nosed critics... Think for yourself, listen for yourself and enjoy for yourself.

Mary was a mere 17-18 years old when she recorded her debut LP. Lush voice, with lush and appropriate producing by Paul McCartney. Listen for Donovan helping out quietly in the background on "Lord of the Reedy River" and "Happiness Runs." Harry Nilsson wrote "The Puppy Song" for Mary and George Martin (famed Beatles producer) also offered one of his few vocal compositions, "The Game." Superb recording/engineering/mixing. Mary is an extradordinary artist and if you have never heard this much over-looked talent, consider "Postcard" a sampler that will have you begging Amazon.com for "More Mary, PLEASE!" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink!!)

I missed this album when it was first released but it has been a pleasure to discover this mixed bag of delights and surprises on CD. The main delights for me are the Donovan tracks "Lord of the Reedy River" (ethereal, haunting, gorgeous and althogether wonderful...Donovan himself providing guitar and quiet-as-a-shadow support vocals) and "Voyage of the Moon" which is every bit as good. Mary's singing is sweet and assured, with freshness which gives these songs an ageless quality. "Happiness Runs" suffers by comparison from a rather more fussy arrangement (more reminiscent of the Bridget St John version than Donovan's own), but these, along with "Turn, Turn Turn" and the traditional Welsh song are by far the best of the bunch. Elsewhere, she gamely tackles McCartney's broad choice of popular songs: "No Business Like Show Business"? Well it might have seemed like a good idea at the time..."Inchworm"??? I like the song because my mother used to sing it to me when I was a kid, but it has to be a weird choice for a folk-type album. It is to Mary's credit that she sings every song beautifully and with apparently equal convinction, but if only she had been allowed to stick with the simple arrangements and folkie material which suited her so well, this could have been a landmark album rather than the interesting curio which it has become.

While most people in the United States know Mary Hopkin's work now only as the few pop hits she had here, most notably "Those Were The Days," her talent was much more wide-ranging, from the serious and stirring "Fields Of St. Etienne" to the playful Harry Nilsson work "The Puppy Song." Much of her recorded work has a timeless, sepia-toned edge, as if it's been unearthed from a vault sealed in the 1920s and dusted off for CD. It often has little to do with "pop music" of the mid-to-late 1960s, and thus only rarely displays the cliches of the time -- the "big beat" rhythms are completely absent, the pop-py backups can't be found on this collection, and there's amazingly little psychedelia considering her close involvement with several Beatles and the fact most of these were released on Apple during the late 1960s. An excellent, very representative collection you can listen to over and over.

Produced immaculately by Sir Paul McCartney, resulting in a bit of overly mawkish fluff, it still can't take away the basic charm and beauty of the-then-19 year-old folk singer whose vocal gifts stand out all on her own. Hopkin had the kind of simple, beautiful voice that was sorely needed in a decade of Grace Slicks and Janis Joplins; one of purity, honesty, and gentility.

Sure, "Those Were the Days" is some of that retro-showbiz early 1900s stuff that made some people cringe, but how many of you ended up singing with it in an unguarded moment? "The Honeymoon Song" is undoubtedly a McCartney arrangement through and through, but you can't turn it off, can you? "Love is the Sweetest Thing" is the stuff 30s musicals are made of, but it's sung beautifully and enhanced with George Martin's classic strings, but you have to hand it to McCartney for the delightfully updated version of "Young Love," which totally rocks in a Beatleriffic way.

This is a charming folk rock album that has the incendiare production of my favorite Beatle--excessive as we all know he and George Martin can be--but her voice is a true diamond in a glass heap, filled with sweetness, savvy, and depth. My favorite songs are the beautifully penned George Martin tune "The Game," which will make veteran Judy Collins fans turn their collective heads, and "The Puppy Song" which I have adopted for me and my one year-old puppy Boomer. I admit it, this is an album for sentimental fools who love good, simplistic melodies and gorgeous, timeless arrangements. If you love your pop pure and polished in any decade, you will find Postcard a delight with each repeated listen.