Shortstop

Sara Hickman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 15, 1990)
• Original Release Date: October 23, 1990
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Elektra / Wea
• ASIN: B000002H8H
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,226 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars you must buy it...., May 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Shortstop (Audio CD)

she has such a beautyful and stering voice...i wish i could put her in alittle box and bring her with me every place i go.....she really helps to calm my bad moods and strengthen my dreams....would love to meet her and sit in her world of music and laughter....thank you so much for this album and all your others...

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dancing in the middle of a crazy diamond, February 18, 2004

By 

Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Shortstop (Audio CD)

Sara Hickman's second album for Elektra Records shows the grooming that her label obviously thought her worthy of at the time. Producer David Kershenbaum (Tracy Chapman, Joe Jackson) was brought in to give "Shortstop" the full digital buff job, and Sara was given a big budget sound on the likes of "I Couldn't Help Myself" in the hopes of Adult Contemporary and VH1 airplay. (I still have the videos from her appearances on Johnny Carson's and Pat Sajak's late shows.)

The end result was her most commercially successful album. And while "I Couldn't Help Myself" did get a great deal of radio play, it is the song least indicative of Sara's talents. She is a great songwriter, given to spurts of impish humor (the title track), genuine optimism ("If We Sent Our Hearts Over Now," written about a death row inmate and a Hostage from the Iranian Crisis - remember that?), and passion with flair ("Salvador," about Dali). The instrumentation is mostly acoustic and includes a few cohorts from Joni Mitchell's bands, all given lots of place to let their passages breathe.

"Shortstop" is an album that also holds a special place in my collection and heart. Sara is the only person to ever name check me on her album. You'll see Tim at WAFL mentioned (because I programmed "Equal Scary People" way back when you could still get away with choosing what songs you played as a DJ). So you have to understand that, when it comes to Sara, I am a very prejudiced fan. If even with that admittance you may be slightly disinclined to add this to your library, I still say GET THIS CD. You can use my email address and thank me later.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why this album wasn't a smash is mystifying, April 13, 2002

By 

Marsha B. Rupe (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shortstop (Audio CD)

"Shortstop" was simply a stunning release by Sara Hickman, with power and maturity only hinted at on her wonderful debut, "Equal Scary People." The pop of "I Couldn't Help Myself," assisted by some really nice sax work, should have been a smash hit on radio, and "The Very Thing," a wry song about relationships between men and women, also richly deserved airplay. One has to wonder if this album would have fared better had it been released years later, after other folk-based artists like Shawn Colvin broke through to get airplay. I have found Sara most interesting in that she writes about subjects few other songwriters touch. For instance, the steel-stringed acoustic piece "Aurora" takes a powerful look at the issue of aging via a visit to an elderly family member, who cannot speak but taps her toes to the beat of Sara's guitar. "Don't Give Up" is an uplifting song offering encouragement to those who have given up on life. It ALWAYS leaves me with a smile. I simply love to play the song "Too Fast" for friends, Sara's tale of a not-so-shy woman who takes sexual matters into her own hands. The album opens with a nice, uptempo, acoustic love song, "In the Fields," before moving into the title tune, another of Sara's impressionistic pieces that hits the mark. All in all, album that left me puzzled: How could an album this musically rich get such poor response from radio programmers?