Customer Reviews

Songs From An Unmarried Housewife and Mother, Greenwich Village, USA

5 star:		(3)
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What a wonderful, entertaining CD! I had not heard of Suzzy (or The Roches), but thanks to Spinner,com. - well I have been missing out. The cuts range from humorous (Yankee Doodle)to downright emotional (No Such Thing As Love). She has the ability to cover a range of emotion extremely well - and does so on this CD. Oh and I must say that G Chord Song is nothing short of mesmerizing - I can listen to it several times at each sitting - a great commentary on the homogeneous nature of most music and life itself.

When I played this CD for my wife the first time, she was sort of perplexed - unlike most of the music I buy. But after a couple of times through she is hooked.

Suzzy most reminds me of Rebecca Pidgeon - another favorite of mine and highly recommended!

Well, it's true--everybody in folk music writes a g-chord song, and Suzzy Roche is no exception. Where she is an exception is in her musicianship, earned through her apprenticeship with her sisters as a member of The Roches.

Songs from an Unmarried Etc. is a collection of choice folk songs that cover the folk range from the jazzy to the more humble American standard "Yankee Doodle" and always come up with something unexpected, either in the arrangement or the timing. Solo, Suzzy Roche carries the music, sounding like a cross between early Indigo Girls and Aimee Mann. A capella, she treats "Yankee Doodle" with such awareness that you find yourself listening closely as if this song was new.

Roche is also an exceptional writer of lyrics. Her poetry is reminiscent of Paul Simon or Suzanne Vega--at times, the words take center stage. In G-chord song, for example, she outlines all the different kinds of songs folk singers write-- rain songs, pain songs, g-chord songs--and then concludes that as long as you're going to "sound just like everybody else's/you might as well like singing the tune."

Perhaps the most haunting song is "To Alaska With Love" in which Suzzy Roche describes the day-to-day details that make a couple's love real even while one is saying goodbye to the other. That's followed up with "Love Comes to Town" which has a country-western rhythm contrasted with Roche's full intimate jazzy voice.

I bought this cd from Kozmo.com's big clearance sale as they went out of business, and I bought it because of the title. I'd never heard of Suzzy Roche, but I was an unmarried housewife and mother, so I thought she might have something to say that I'd relate to. Well, there's nothing here that's specifically domestic-the lyrics are much more universal. I've listened to this c.d. almost every day for the last month and I want to sing along with it every time. Definitely a 5-star experience.

Suzzy Roche (of the Roche sisters) is a complete treat. This is some of the most wonderful "This is what it's like to be a human being" music that I've ever heard, and straight from the heart's center. Having seen the Roches many times in concert it's terrific to know that Suzzy is also doing fine on her own. Kudos!