Customer Reviews

Two's Company: The Duets

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

 

 

With more records than most artists can count and the looks of Dorian Gray, Cliff Richard has finally put out a complete and concise duets album. Ranging from the rockin', "Move It" with Brian May to the sublime `Sinatra -like', "Let there Be Love" with Matt Monro. The choices are perfect. Barry Gibb have a nice gentle touch on, "Fields Of Gold" which compliments Sarah Brightman's signature song, "All I Ask Of You". Elton John weighs in boldly and sincerely with a great rendition of, "Slow Rivers" and the evergreen Olivia Newton-John shines with, "Suddenly". The whole piece is finished with a gutsy rendition of "Reunited" with tenured Lulu. It's a classic collection.

It is clear from reading other reviews on Amazon and elsewhere that people have mixed feelings about this collection. Some would have an album of entirely new recordings (and maybe more original songs and fewer covers) while others would have preferred an album comprising entirely re-issues. Perhaps it was decided that this compromise would suit everybody. Certainly, I'd been expecting a compilation of Cliff's duet hits ever since the release of his 6-CD boxed set The Singles Collection, which contained every British solo single that Cliff had recorded up to that point, but noticeably avoided all the duets. In my review of that collection, I pointed out that there were enough of those duets to occupy a seventh CD. I was therefore a little disappointed that this duets album, when it was finally released, omitted a lot of the minor hits. However, it contains all the hits that really matter except Cliff's duet with Van Morrison, Whenever God shines his light. Even that only just made the top 20 in the UK chart, so maybe the compiler felt it wasn't essential.

A lot of argument surrounds Throw down a line, which became a UK top ten hit in 1969. I don't think this is a duet but it was omitted from the boxed set so I expected to find it here. When originally released, it was officially listed as being by Cliff and Hank, rather than being credited as a Cliff Richard solo track. We should therefore blame whoever made that decision back in the sixties, if we are to blame anybody for classifying it as a duet. Another hit credited to Cliff and Hank, The joy of living, didn't make this compilation, nor did it make the UK top twenty. It was the theme to a similarly-titled TV series but I don't remember either the song or the TV series.

Of the other tracks here, She means nothing to me (with Phil Everly), All I ask of you (with Sarah Brightman) and Suddenly (with Olivia Newton-John) were all top ten hits in Britain. Slow rivers (with Elton John) is also included although it was a very modest hit in Britain. It originally appeared on Elton John's album, Leather jackets. Reunited (with Lulu) first appeared on Lulu's duets collection, Together. Miss you nights (with G4) originally appeared on G4's album, G4 and friends. The duet with Matt Monro must have been produced by technological wizardry, because Matt Monro had already been dead for twenty years by the time this recording was made.

The remaining recordings were newly recorded for the album although there are no original songs among them. I'm not entirely convinced by the new recording of Move it (and it's the only track on the album that I say that about). Perhaps Cliff wanted to prove that he could still rock, but his own original version is a hard act to follow nearly half a century later. Like Throw down a line, this is not a genuine duet as Cliff is the only singer on the track. I was amused at one reviewer's puzzlement regarding Cliff's duet with Dionne Warwick. As Dionne was the original singer of Anyone who had a heart (and she was very disappointed that Cilla had the big British hit with the song) it is perfectly reasonable that Cliff should record this song with Dionne, although nobody would have been surprised if he'd chosen to record it with Cilla instead. Cliff's duets with Daniel O'Donnell (Yesterday once more), Barry Gibb (Fields of gold), Anne Murray (Up where we belong) and Helmut Lotti (Danny boy) all work well and complete a mainly excellent album.

If EMI had released an album exclusively compiled from previously released material, they could have included Cliff's remaining duet hits. Apart from the two I've mentioned (Whenever God shines his light, The joy of living), they include Drifting (with Sheila Walsh), his Comic Relief version of Living doll (with the Young Ones), All I have to do is dream (with Phil Everly), Had to be (with Olivia Newton-John) and The wedding (with Helen Hobson). They could also have included other duets that didn't chart and maybe weren't released as singles, featuring singers such as Tammy Wynette, Jackie Lee and Cilla Black. Some of these tracks can be found elsewhere but others may be very hard to find.

These days, Cliff has plenty of critics but his longevity shows that he still has plenty of fans who appreciate his music - and not just the old stuff. I suspect that most of Cliff's long-standing fans will love this album. Even despite my reservations about the new version of Move it, I am among Cliff's long-standing fans who love the album.

There are some strange combinations to sing with Cliff but all in all they mostly work. The one that I found strange was to sing with Barry Gibb but not to a Barry Gibb song. To sing with Barry Gibb on a Sting song was weird but it worked. Some of the duets are not new and I already have in my extensive Cliff collection but it is always wonderful to get anything new of Cliff!!! I still think that he is one of the best singers and always will be!!

OK, this is not a bad version of Move It, but it hardly rates as a duet. Neither does Throw Down A Line. In fact, there is precious little harmonising in any of the songs. Cliff sings and then the 'friend' sings. Contrary to the above review, Brian Bennett was not the original Shadows drummer. That was Tony Meehan.
Overall, this is a pleasant album, but I don't know if it's worth the price of admission for the six new duets. Cliff sings well, but his fairly recent albums "Real As I Wanna Be" and "Something's Goin' On" are much more enjoyable and entertaining.

Cliff Richard may not have the following here that he does in England, but he has worked with some of the best. On this disc you get Olivia Newton-John, Phil Everly, Barry Gibb, Sarah Brightman and many more talented singers. Some of the tunes date back to the 1970s, but if you haven't collected his albums, you'll want this CD for its hits and shoulda-been hits.

While a few of these duets are quite wonderful (Slow Rivers, She Means Nothing to Me, Move It, and Danny Boy), the rest of this disk consists of overly tired "chestnuts" (Suddenly, Anyone Who Had a Heart, and All I Ask of You) and--dare I say it--schmaltzy drivel (Up Where We Belong and Reunited). Now I like Anne Murray and Lulu as much as the next middle-of-the-road music listener, however, these arrangements belong on a 1970s variety show. If you can get this CD for about $5.00 like I did, go for it. Otherwise, you're not missing much.