Customer Reviews

Very Best of

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This collection is different from most Elliman "Greatest Hits" cds. It includes an extended dance remix of "Love Pains" as well as a Jesus Superstar prologue before her hit "I Don't Know How to Love Him." Those extra additons alone make this CD worth owning.
But more importantly, it contains her hits "Hello Stranger" and "If I Can't Have You" with her impeccable voice. Her rendition of "Moment to Moment" is incredibly sexy, and "Somewhere in the Night" is haunting and unforgettable.
A good companion to her "Greatest Hits" collections!
TRACKS: 1) Everything's Alright (Prelude)/ I Don't How to Love Him 2) Everything's Alright 3) I Can't Explain 4) From the Inside 5) Somewhere in the Night 6) Love Me 7) Hello Stranger 8) If I Can't Have You 9) Moment by Moment 10) Love Pain (Extended dance mix)

Born in Hawaii, Yvonne Elliman started her career as Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar, garnering her first big hit, "I Don't Know How To Love Him" in 1971. She also won a Golden Globe for this role. Later in 1973, Pete Townshend helped Elliman prepare her second album and the hit "I Can't Explain". She ended up with RSO records and sang backup to Eric Clapton, ("I Shot the Sheriff") and stayed with him for five years. 1976 brought her next big hit via Barry Gibb and Robin Gibb who gave her "Love Me". Continuing with the Gibb Brothers, Elliman had her biggest hit yet with "If I Can't Have You" from Saturday Night Fever - a huge #1 hit. Following in the disco era, she finished with her last big (dance) hit, "Love Pains", before disappearing into rock/pop oblivion.

Yvonne Elliman is one of the most underrated British singers. For whatever reason, she had few hits and is not as well-known as Dusty Springfield, for example. Yet Elliman has a great voice with tremendous power. Give her a listen and see what you think!

Yvonne Elliman has a beautiful pop voice, ...it's also clear that she had a crack at some great songs and created some definitive versions: Everything's Alright, I Don't Know How To Love Him, Love Me, etc. Although this collection is now out of print it's worth chasing for the excellent sound quality and mastering and the faaaaaaabulous extended mix of Love Pains, previously only released on initial 12" promos in 1979.

Taragon's "The Very Best of Yvonne Elliman" was the first such collection of her work on the market back in the 90s, and as such, it was a great, but not definitive, representation of Ms. Elliman's work.

Essential because of the tracks unavailable on other Elliman comps (the dance mix of "Love Pains" and the "Everything's Alright" prelude to "I Don't Know How to Love Him"), there are more complete collections on the market.

But this one does give a great, if incomplete, overview of Ms. Elliman's shining moments.

The disc also makes you want more, such as the later Universal "Best of", which is 16 tracks, but does not contain the above rarities.
(That disc is out of print, but available for download).

I'd say get both discs, one for the rarities, one for the more rounded picture of Ms. Elliman's career. If you love her beautiful voice, you certainly can't go wrong.