Customer Reviews

Up Close & Alone

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Burton Cummings has one of the most amazing and individual voices in pop music. This CD captures his vocal agility, interpretation, and power. His piano skills are top-notch, as well. This recording of Burton's voice and piano, captured live in concert, is a fine showcase of a wide range of his best-known material; pre-Guess Who, Guess Who, and post-Guess Who work. "Timeless Love" and "I Will Play a Rhapsody" suffer a bit without the layered harmonies of the original recordings, but the from-the-heart ballads of "Stand Tall," "Dream of a Child," and "Break it To Them Gently" are well-suited to Burton's solo presentation. And Burton doing Gordon Lightfoot singing Rod Stewart's "Maggie May..." is worth a giggle.

If anything is disappointing about this CD, it's that the sound quality isn't the best. I'm not a recording engineer, but the CD is rather "quiet": I need to crank it up really loud to hear all the nuances. It could've been "brighter." But other than that, it's excellent. If you're entranced by this voice, don't pass "Up Close and Alone" by.

Burton proves in this compilation that he truly is one of the best at the craft. The man has not had the stateside recognition that he deserves, and I hope he is still writing and willing to record. "Sour Suite" is alone worth the price of admission, a classic which most people have never had the pleasure of hearing. His body of work has "worn the years rather well," as he puts it himself, and his enduring songs contrast with much of the junk which passes for music today. The CD is not flawless; the sound is annoyingly "soft," as others have noted, and "Wolfman" could have been omitted (terrible song), but this is great entertainment. "These Eyes" brings me back to 1968 seeing the Guess Who perform live in North Dakota down the road from Winnipeg, just before they hit the big time. This is a "must-have" for the discriminating rock fan, a most pleasurable listen.

Most people don't realize that Burton Cummings has been singing professionally since the early sixties. His first success was with a Canadian band called the "Deverons". A few years later, he was the front-man and main songwriter for "The Guess Who". In the middle of the seventies, Cummings went on a solo career and never looked back - kind of.

This performance at the Glenn Gold Theater in Toronto is a no frills evening with Cummings voice and his piano. The sound is impeccable. He manages to capture the magic and immediacy of each some with some truly fanciful playing and clever vocal tricks. Most songs are interspersed with great stories about the time period of the song or a meaningful event, but mostly the album is just great listening.

Burton Cummings manages to rock the house with, "Albert Flasher" and some of his other oldies like, "Clap For The Wolfman" and "No Sugar Tonight". Those Cummings ballads are real tear-jerkers, like, "Timeless Love", "Break It To Them Gently" and the insurmountable, "Stand Tall". Of course, no concert is quite like a one man show that ends with a rousing "These Eyes" and a hearty goodnight to all.

Burton jumps on the "unplugged" bandwagon, but the result is absolutely amazing. Up Close And Alone is subtitled The Voice - The Songs and really, that's all it is. Just Burton and his piano and some of the best songs ever written. Burton does not shy away from his old Guess Who material and even visits his pre-Guess Who roots. It is stunning to hear how every one of these songs can stand alone without a band or harmony vocals. If I have one complaint, it would be that this is not a double album. Burton's always informative and entertaining between-song banter is sadly cut to a minimum and some of the other gems which he did on his Up Close And Alone tour ("Rain Dance", a medley of bits and pieces leading up to "Your Backyard" and the unreleased song "Dream") have not been included. One song, "Gordon Lightfoot Does Maggie May", is worth the price of the CD alone. Burton sings Rod Stewart's old hit in his best Gordon Lightfoot voice, and a totally convincing impression it is! Guitar-based songs such as "Laughing", "Undun" and "No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature" do not suffer from Burton's piano-only treatment. A completely re-arranged "Take One Away" is a beautiful addition to this set and "Ferry Cross The Mersey" and an abbreviated "Goodnight Everybody" are throwbacks to his days with the Deverons. Rockers like "Albert Flasher" and "Clap For The Wolfman" maintain their edge, even without bass, drums and guitar. Don't miss this CD!

Here's a good idea, invite one of rocks most interesting and polished singers/pianists and have him perform in a wonderful hall for a small crowd and record the show as if everybody was over at Burton's house for a cookout. Bring your own Yukon Gold and you're all set. The recording is warm and EQed so all of BC's voice inflections and "soul" comes through and you can here how good a singer and player Burton still is. Being a long time fan and a professional musician myself it was refreshing hearing the music in a way that reflects how these songs sounded as Burton first wrote them or learned them. I love the "record", The Rod stewert Maggie Mae tune is almost worth the price of the disc by itself.

From the opening boogie of "Albert Flasher" to the final "Good Night Everybody" at Glenn Gould Auditorium, this is both the best SOLO Burton Cummings CD yet and a great "unplugged" album to boot. Something for everybody, from Guess Who hits cheerfully served up by The Voice to gold from his solo work, put in a context where each song shines brightly. Cummings has never sounded better; he's obviously having a good time (as is the audience) and it makes for a stunning collection. High points: "Take One Away," a gem of a song lovingly rendered; "Laughing," "Share The Land" and "Clap For The Wolfman," which do their Guess Who origins proud; and if you ever wanted an idea of what Gordon Lightfoot would sound like doing Rod Stewart's "Maggie Mae," that's here, too, and funny as hell.

This CD is the next best thing to taking in a live show of Burton and his piano. Yeah, the sound is a little distant, but it's still wonderful to own and enjoy this "up close and personal" side of Burton Cummings in the 90s. The pictures in the booklet are worth the price of admission for any true BC fan.

this is a tour de force for cummings, the best singer in rock,period. cummings has a huge ego, but somehow it's disarmingbecause he's so sincere and funny. from dream of a child to albert flasher to sour suite, this is filled with amazing music and some insight from burton - really sorta like VH1 storytellers. enjoy it!

An era of powerful lead vocals is recaptured for one more night with this CD. Cummings is a performer that commands your attention. I'm disappointed it left off "Nothing Rhymed". His first solo album is a must.

Although a lot of others have successfully unplugged and gone the acoustic route, only Burton Cummings had the courage to do it all by himself. With only his voice and keyboard as ammunition, Cummings has recorded a collection of tunes that would be a very solid effort if the result of extended studio work. The fact that it is a live recording makes it all the more impressive. If you've never had the chance to see Cummings in person, this disc does a good job of recreating the passion which is always evident in his performance. The song selection is excellent-material is split almost equally between the major Guess Who hits and his strongest solo material. Share The Land has to be considered the strongest of the Guess Who material, if for no other reason than the fact that the song works so well without Kurt Winter's lead guitar. Burton also does his normal excellent job with Undun, Sour Suite and the No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature medley. Of the solo material, I Will Play A Rhapsody was always a beautiful song, but anyone who hears this version will never again be able to appreciate the original from the Dream Of A Child lp. This version simply is gorgeous. Timeless Love, Dream Of A Child and I'm Scared are all older tunes that still seem to stand up well. My personal favorite on the disc, though, is a cover of Gerry & The Pacemakers' Ferry Cross The Mersey-it makes me long for an entire collection of Cummings 60's cover tunes. For laughs, there's also Burton's impression of what might happen "if Rod Stewart were Gordon Lightfoot's favorite singer". It's an-all-in-fun, near-perfect imitation of Burton's fellow Canadian. Keep in mind that Cummings was almost 48 years old when this album was recorded-vocalists half that age would kill for the range and vocal strength that he displays on this album. If you're a fan of great music, this is a disc that you simply must have in your collection!