Customer Reviews

Torch

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

At first glance Carly Simon would seem an unlikely talent for a collection of 20th Century pop classics--her unique vocals, that mix the quality of speech with music, would seem at odds with the strictness of the material. But instead of approaching the music with the full orchestrations of Bette Midler or Linda Ronstadt, she offers a stripped down interpretation, and the resulting music has the feel of a smoky, almost-empty nightclub, where the singer sits on a stool surrounded by a bare-bones band and sings not for you, but very powerfully for herself.

1981's TORCH is an incredible recording. Opening with "Blue on Blue" and continuing through such classics as "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good," "Body and Soul," and "Hurt," Simon demonstrates a range of emotion that transcends her more typical off-the-cuff sound, a combination of fire and ice that recalls the great jazz singers of the 1940s and 1950s but which somehow never sounds less than absolutely contemporary. This is classic torch at its slit-your-wrists best, a bonfire of dying emotions.

It is impossible to select a favorite from the material Simon offers on this recording, but if I were pressed, I would likely pick the closing "Not a Day Goes By"--curiously, the only greatly then-contemporary piece in the collection, written by Broadway's Stephen Sondheim for the play MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. Again, Simon and Sondheim are not a combination that you would think would work... but with this recording Simon makes it her own, and it is difficult to imagine any other singer who could best her. Strongly recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Carly Simon released this tour de force as she was going through her public divorce with James Taylor. Needless to say things were not going her way at this time, and if you can not feel the pain in her soul from the recordings on this album, you have no emotion!

I remember first listening to this on vinyl back in the late 70's when it was first released, on a snowy night, alone at the then very deserted off season Jersey Shore. If I could get through a listen under those conditions, anyone can.

Her gut renching read of "Body and Soul", "I Got It Bad", "Hurt" and others give early Blueswomen (Lady Day, Ethel Waters and the like) a run for their money.

The mosy haunting track to me is "What Shall You Do", that song had me yearning to call child protective agencies.

This album is that haunting.

The closing song on Torch is Sondheim's Not A Day Goes By - at the time a relatively new song which, in some ways, puts pay to the notion of Torch as an album of 'standards'. When it was released, Torch was something quite new - an album which mined the past (and the present) for the passion and heartache Simon was clearly experiencing as she recorded the songs here, but which was orchestrated with elegant modernity. This modernity is perfectly expressed in Hoagy Carmichael's I Get Along Without You Very Well which is underlined by the use of a sythesizer adding a suitable sense of the sombre. Simon sings the song straight and without theatrics but with plenty of passion. Torch is a more than suitable tittle for this album - Simon has never sung with as much passion or fluidity and she seems to be able to do anything she wants with her voice, none of those off key moments that have crept into her latter day singing. Its easy to imagine her in the studio giving it her all and then some. Perhaps Simon's phrasing is not as masterful as on the later album, My Romance, but that is a tame and almost too tasteful outing by comparion with Torch.

This is as much a plug for (...) as it is for Carly Simon's "Torch". I bought the vinyl when it was first released, and fell hard - I didn't realize the connection between her artistic expression and the breakup of her marriage to James Taylor, but in retrospect, it makes a sad kind of sense.

After it's initial release, it just kind of disappeared, dropped below the radar, and I couldn't find a copy of this for nearly 20 years. Then I found it here, on (...) and only then icked up my copy of the CD, and boy, am I glad I did.

Each cut gets better than the last, and to not be affected by the time she sings "Not a Day Goes By" indicates to me you're very possibly made of stone. The emotion is genuine, the technique is flawless. This album was the first time I ever heard Carly sing anything but her own material, and it was a revelation.

This CD is a must-have for anyone who's got a taste for the standards, for a great set of performances by one of our top singer/songwriters, or a soundtrack to a flawless romantic evening. I haven't stopped listening to this disc in days, and don't expect to stop now.

This woman is incredible! In each disc she surprises us with a special selection of gorgeous songs and sings them with her impecable interpretation. In "I'll be around" she's unique. "Hurt" is simply marvellous. "What shall we do with the child" is the best song and really made me cry. What a talent! I'm glad I have almost all her discs.

As you might have guessed from the title, Carly Simon's 1981 album "Torch" has her covering some pop standards from the past, such as "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)," "I Get Along Without You Very Well," and, most impressively, "Body and Soul." There are also a few of her own compositions thrown into the mix and ends with a superb version of "Not a Day Goes By" from the Stephen Sondheim musical "Merrily We Roll Along." After having regained her songwriting touch with the 1978 album "Boys in the Trees," Simon had suffered an onstage collapse in 1980, which would see her confined largely to the studio for many years. During that time Simon would show that she could sing the songs of others as if she had written them herself. The songs of Ellington, Carmichael, Rodgers & Hart, and the others were well suited to Simon's singing at this point in her career, where her voice was starting to fully mature. Producer Mike Mainieri was also able to bring in some pretty good "sessions" players for "Torch," such as David Sanborn playing alto saxophone on the opening track "Blue of Blues." A lot of other contemporary pop singers would go into the studio to cover old standards, but Carly Simon is pretty much acknowledged to have been ahead of the curve on this one.

Before Linda Ronstadt, Patti Austin or (ugh!) Rod Stewart mined the "Great American Songbook" for inspiration, there was Carly Simon's "Torch." A gutsy move, coming right off her hit single "Jesse" and album "Come Upstairs" for a new label, "Torch" still stands above all the others that came after (including two other Carly Simon standards albums, "My Romance" and "Film Noir").

Simon's voice has an inherent melancholy, and this combined with her emotional rawness following her divorce from James Taylor created an immediacy of interpretation that couldn't be fabricated. Carly's reading of Hoagy Carmichael's "I Get Along Without You Very Well" or her own composition "From The Heart" or Rodgers & Hart's "Spring Is Here" will break your heart with their honesty. Mike Mainieri's production (in my opinion, he was her most sympathetic and adventurous producer) approaches each song with the respect of a classic but with the freshness of an innovative visionary. This may sound heavy-handed for a pop album, but such is this album's loveliness.

Try this out - listen to the above mentioned songs, plus the fabulously understated "I'll Be Around" - you'll see what I mean. Future standards albums failed to capture the immediacy of this one, mostly because Carly's emotional fragility of the time resulted in an album her fans could relate to unlike any other.

If I had to choose items to take on a deserted island. . .this recording would be at the top of my list. The songs from "Torch" got me through most of my college years, and more often than not, brought much comfort for hard times. Every single cut deserves attention, beginning with the haunting "Blue of Blue." It starts with a soulful riff on sax, and Carly responds in kind. This is the epitome of the classic torch song . . "So kick me. . .I won't feel a thing." The second cut is "I'll Be Around" a song from the 30s that again exemplifies what "Torch" is all about. . . the agony of unrequieted love. Third comes one of Duke Ellington's signature pieces, "I've Got It Bad and That Ain't Good." Rarely has a pop singer shown the versatility that Carly shows here. Not only does she feel the "blues" inherent in this classic, she makes the listener feel it to. Next is a Hoagy Carmichael song "I Get Along Without You Very Well" with its tongue-in-cheek/heart-on-sleeve lyrics. The beat is gently but driving. . a very attractive "modernization" of this 40s tune. From the 1920s comes "Body and Soul", one of the greatest standards ever written. Her version is dramatic without becoming maudlin, a sheer joy for those who love sad songs! The next is a song from the 50s. "Hurt" tells it like it is. And with Carly's voice, she, unlike other singers who have revived songs of this era, lets you hear the hurt in her rendition. "From the Heart" is pure Carly, "One of us slipped last night and said I love you in the middle of the madness between the dark and the light." There is no wonder who this song is referring to. Rodgers and Hart fans will love "Spring Is Here", with its beautiful violin solo introducing the seldom-heard verse. Jazz fans will recognize the lyricist of "Pretty Strange". Jon Hendricks, of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, has written some very tight lyrics to a very "cool" song. "What Shall We Do With the Child" chronicles a short-lived relationship. . . and the final cut is a brilliant version of Stephen Sondheim's "Not a Day Goes By" from the musical "Merrily We Roll Along." Carly's tribute to the torch song precedes the slew that came in the 80s and 90s. And she manages to be stylistically perfect throughout. This is a gift from someone who truly loves the torch song genre. She also does a great service with a follow-up album, "My Romance." Make sure both of these CDs are in your library.

I played out a couple of vinyl copies of this album, back in Fall of '81. It was one of a few albums released that year that made a huge impression on me. I don't remember if Rickie Lee Jones' "Pirates" album came out just before Carly's LP, or vice versa. They made a killer combo for this young, closeted romantic.

I think this album presents Carly in the prime of her voice, and she sings these pre-rock tunes with pride and subtlety. The songs, arrangements and general charm of this album usually elicits a list of superlatives from me, so here are my extremes:

1. "Body & Soul" should have won Carly a Grammy. 2. "Hurt" is a great song, but a bit strained in this recording.

I hate to put this crassly, but if your main interest in this album is Carly herself, you should own it already. And if the sound of authentic, "modern" torch appeals to you, check out Miss Jones' "Pirates," which complements "Torch" nicely.

Simon released this phenomenal work of art way before the "cover" album became the norm. Her voice has so much range and emotion that it's almost a little too heartbreaking to listen to. Two songs in particular: "I Get Along Without You Very Well" and "What Shall We Do With the Child" evoke a sadness that becomes so haunting you wonder who the hell hurt her so badly. All the songs are sung as if she is in an empty theater, her voice echoing in solitude. But these songs with this kind of singer doesn't happen very often. Don't let another day go by without it. By the way, does anyone know who the gorgeous blonde/brad pitt before his time actor Carly is clutching to on the album cover? I know, and i'd be singing songs like these if he passed me by too.