September Songs

Mary Margaret O'Hara | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 29, 2009)
• Original Release Date: August 19, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony Classical
• ASIN: B0000029WM
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,930 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE SHARK HAS PRETTY TEETH, October 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: September Songs (Audio CD)

If you're looking for an introduction to the music of Kurt Weill you might be better off starting with a Lotte Lenya album. But if you're not a purist this album holds just as many goodies as Hal Wilner's landmark tribute, LOST IN THE STARS. It's a pity you can't combine them for what SEPTEMBER SONGS lacks STARS makes up for and vice versa.

Most notable is Nick Cave's irreverently violent stab at the oft covered "Mack the Knife". True, Ella Fitzgerald, Bobby Darin and Sinatra all left their mark but Cave recklessly pulls the rug out from under them. Though he's taken some liberties with the translation of the lyrics, lines like " and the childbride in her nightie/ who's assailant's still at large/ violated in her slumbers/ Mackie how much did you charge" hold the knife right up to the throat. Though the kid gloves are certainly off, he masterfully keeps the song's spirit alive with a tuneless growl. Sting's cutsey version off LOST IN THE STAR'S pales in comparison.

Another highlight is Elvis Costello's charming rendition of LOST IN THE STARS. Betty Carter's stirring take on "Lonely House" also fares well as does Mary Margret O'Hara's weird but intruiging "Furchte Dich Nicht". Lou Reed also makes a welcome return with a stellar re-working "September Song" from the Wilner tribute. He nearly stole the show on that record and this new version is right at home here.

Less successful is the perfuctory "Alabama Song". Next to Lotte Lenya or Jim Morrison's rousing version with THE DOORS, David Johanson's take is somewhat unremarkable. I can't help thinking how great Shane MacGowan of THE POGUES would of been on this one.

PJ Harvey's "Soldier's Wife" is suitably mournful but I can't seem to get Marianne Faitful's LOST IN THE STARS version out of my head. Harvey's has darkness to spare but Faithful found the humor. The Persuasion's "O Heavenly Salvation" suffers from a same problem, being a little too close to Arron Neville's version off the Wilner.

Comparisons with the Wilner are inevitable unfortunately, but SEPTEMBER SONGS has the presence of Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya to recommend it. It's great to hear Brecht's original (albeit German) version of "Mack the Knife" and Charlie Hayden provides fitting accompaniment to Kurt Weill's haunting singing on "Speak Low". I'm a big fan of Lotte Lenya and her classic turn of "Pirate Jenny" is far more welcome thant Teresa Stratas' overblown "Youkali Tango".

To sum up, if you liked the Wilner tribute there's enough here to make it worth your while. True, William S. Burrough's version of "What Keeps Mankind Alive" isn't quite as good as the Tom Waits version but appearences of Nick Cave, Costello and many others more than make up for it.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IN THE SPIRIT OF CABARET..., March 29, 2002

By 

Old Hippy "avamac2" (PORTLAND, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: September Songs (Audio CD)

Plenty of Lenya,some Brecht, some Weil...I expected to love those cuts. I was surprised by how effective the Teresa Stratas pieces were. And I was KNOCKED OUT by the Alabama Song, far preferable to me than Morrison's take, which was so unusual for the time that it commanded far more attention than it deserved. The whole album deserves to be listened to front to back as a unified composition. It's far closer to the spirit of the original than any other tributes or prettified performances of Weil/Brecht I've heard elsewhere.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE GENIUS AND HEART OF KURT WEILL, May 28, 2000

By 

no longer a customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: September Songs (Audio CD)

Do yourself a favour and get this shining gem of a CD in tribute to the genius of Kurt Weill, (God how he is missed...) Nick Cave does one of the better renditions of "Mack the Knife" in recent memory,(certainly better than Sinatra and -gasp- Bobby Darrin. How Mack the Knife EVER became part of the Rat Pack repertoire is one the Great Mysteries of the Western World, right up there with Bigfoot.) Teresa Stratos gives beautiful performances of "Youkali Tango" and "Surabaya Johnny". The old recording of Lotte Lenya singing "Pirate Jenny" is touching and moving. Elvis Costello gives an amazing performance of "Lost in the Stars". People will either love or hate Lou Reed's interpretation of "September Song", (personally I would pay good money just to hear Reed sing the names from a phone directory). And the Venerable William Burroughs' spoken word rendition of "What Keeps Mankind Alive" is biting satire. But but, if anything else, get this CD to hear Betty Carter sing "Lonely House"...what a classy Lady. Your jaw will drop open at Her supernatural performance. Betty Carter singing Weill...how I picture heaven....