Customer Reviews

What Color Is Love

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When i first heard this music many year's ago, it left a lasting impression. i have not forgotten it. believe it or not, i was in love with a woman at the time. the day i walked away, i left this album on her door step. it was my only copy. i am new to this internet searching, for the hell of it, i looked this up. i was shocked when i found it. this man can sing with the best of them. for all the music that is offered today, very few artist's can really get to the inner soul of a song. if you want to hear a man sing a love song, i highly reccommend terry callier.

This was my first taste of Mr Terry Callier. I remember putting the CD on and being mesmorised for nearly 9 minutes listened to the majestic 'Dancing Girl'. This is a truly epic piece of music which takes you on a musical journey into the sublime. The CD is worth buying just for this one track.

Then comes another Terry Callier classic 'What Color is Love'. These two tracks have become 2 of Terry's most played during his musical pilgrimage around the world.

This man is a true talent, buy this CD and try to go and see him live. This CD will never leave your collection

If you like Terry Callier (TC), then this is a "must have" CD. I have the original LP (released in the 1970's) and I've waited a long time hoping it would become available on CD. This CD exemplifies what the 1970's and folk/soul/R&B music were during that period. It also demonstrates the many talents of TC. From his acoustical guitar playing to his thought provoking lyrics. One of the true "great" singers/songwriters (along with Curtis Mayfield) of our time. Now waiting for the re-release of "Fire On Ice".

Thanks to the wonderful institution of Amazon's "Listmania" and my relentless search thereof for great 'lost' 60's and 70's rock, folk, country and soul music, I was recently helped into discovering this unique genre-bender of a classic album from Terry Callier. After researching him a bit, I found that this is one of his three most highly-recommended 70's albums, sandwiched in between 1972's Occasional Rain and 1975's I Just Can't Help Myself. Since What Color Is Love was the first I heard about, and has such a classic, evocative cover (yeah, occasionally you CAN judge an album by its cover art), I decided to pick it up first. What a great purchase--I can confidently recommend this album to fans of jazzier folk, more "out-there" folk that is influenced by more wide ranging musical styles than just American roots and blues, as well as more adventurous fans of R&B legends like Marvin Gaye and Al Green who don't mind if their soul is cut with a bit of folk and jazz.

The album opens with the spacey "Dancing Girl," in which Callier displays his novel combination of acoustic folk guitar with his soulful, yearning voice that seems to evoke all the best characteristics of 60's/70's black soul, but at the same time transcend the structural trappings of the genre. On first listen, I was immediately impressed with Callier's lyrics--meaningful, mysterious, and thought provoking, on "Dancing Girl," he lays out some mind-blowers ("You'll surely come to harm/With that needle all up in your arm") and some lines that, combined with the power of the music, transcend the words alone ("Anyway you want to do/Boogie, bop, or boogaloo" is priceless in Callier's husky whisper). The song's structure is pretty progressive, with multiple movements and clocking in at over 9 glorious minutes.

"What Color is Love" and "Just As Long As We're In Love" showcase Callier's strengths as an interpretive singer and his gentle side, backed by female background singers, horns and strings in a delightful blend. "You Goin' To Miss Your Candyman" is one of the album's greatest tracks, with the funkiest soul bassline since Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)," and showcasing Callier's uniformly tight, gnarly rhythm section, which often includes some sick bass lines and bongo drums. "Ho Tsing Mee" is a contemplative protest song, deceptively gentle at the beginning, building to a barnstorming climax with Callier's plaintive scat/howl elevating the song to great heights. "I'd Rather Be With You" is the album's closest thing to a typical "on the road" folksong, and the closer is a groovy Bacharach-like blend of horns and background singers repeating "You Don't Care" for a tranquil, meditative end to a real trip of an album.

Terry Callier is one of the greatest relatively unknown artists I've discovered lately, and I can't help but recommend him as highly as I can. I'm looking forward to checking out his other classics, and maybe some of his newer music, which I heard is also excellent. Take a chance--I think you'll find Callier rewarding.

One day about thirty-five years ago.I was browsing in a record store.Not looking for anything in particular.When my eyes hit upon this ablum cover.Partly because I guess the woman was naked (Yeah).Now I must admit I did not know a thing about Terry Callier,and had never heard of him.But the album caught my attention so I brought it. Once I got the album home I begin to wonder what the woman was thinking about.She had the most thoughtful look on her face.As she sat in the chair in a almost fetal position with a cigarette in her hand.Was she thinking about a current lover or an ex-lover or maybe a love that will never be.As Terry Callier says"A heart cannot live if a heart isn't giving".And that statement really does apply to love,and the lady on the cover.What Color Is Love a 1972 effort by Terry Callier is one of the best albums I've ever brought.Terry Callier is not only a great singer but he is also a great songwriter.He wrote songs in the 70s for the Dells on the old Cadet label.On What Color Is Love Terry Callier with the help of a few friends like his long time songwriting partner Larry Wade and arranger,producer Charles Stepney have put together a classic album.The musical journey begins with Dancing Girl-With a great arrangment,the song takes you on a dream trip that ends with a hard look at drugs and prostition.The title track What Color Is Love-Is not a love song,but a song about love.The song tells us that love can be wrong or right,can be as simple as black and white but it can also be complicated it can be strong,deep,giving,rise to great heights,can be hard to find and when it's over it can leave you with feelings that may last a lifetime."Yougoin"Miss Your Candyman-Is like a folk and blues song.And maybe the best arrangment on the album.Just As Long As We're In Love-I love the words to this song and the female background voices sound great.HotsingMee(A Song Of The Sun)-Another good song dealing with war and it's aftermath and the human conition.I'd Rather Be With You-I really love this song.A great love song,and I just love the harmonica playing in the background.You Don't Care-Is a little instrumental and a little vocal,and a very pleasurable tune.With this song the musical journey comes to an end.I highly recommend this album. '

At about 1:58 into the astonishing "Dancing Girl" (the opening nine-minute track of "What Color Is Love") it gets very quiet and the acoustic guitar holds the speakers alone - then Don Myrick's tasteful sax work floats in followed by keyboard flourishes and some wickedly arranged strings by Charles Stepney... The effect is absolutely magical...

And after you've put your jaw back into place, you're left standing there with a genuine incomprehension... how has something this lovely and genuinely soulful been forgotten? Why isn't this huge??

"What Color Is Love" was released on LP in March 1973 in the USA on Cadet CA 50019 and is the second of three albums Callier made for the Chess offshoot label Cadet in the Seventies - the first was "Occasional Rain" in 1972 (see separate review) and the third was "I Just Can't Help Myself" in 1975.

Both "What Color..." and "Occasional Rain" are part of Universal's "ORIGINALS" series - Jazz, Soul, Fusion and Latin LPs reissued and remastered onto CD from a multitude of labels under the Universal umbrella. All use generic artwork (the originals name and band on the left of the sleeve as pictured above) and are gatefold card digipaks issued at mid-price. Although the card digipaks are aesthetically pleasing as mini-repro LP sleeves, unfortunately most come without booklets - this album's recording credits on the inner flap for instance are barely legible. Which is a bummer because if ever an album deserved fresh liner notes, history, photos, a new interview - but alas...

The good news however is the beautiful remaster (40:44 minutes). The tape transfers for the whole series in general have been done in the late 2000's to superb standards by top engineers like Gavin Lurssen and Erick Labson - and in this case by KEVIN REEVES. So mellow, so lovely... a great job done.

As well as the wonderful breath of "Dancing Girl" (lyrics above) - highlights include the huge build up on Side One's closer "You Goin' To Miss Your Candyman" (co-written with Phyllis Braxton), the "I-must-hit-the-road but I wanna..." soft-soul of "I'd Rather Be With You" (co-written with Larry Wade and Jerry Butler) and the so 5th Dimension girly vocals of Kitty Haywood, Shirley Wahls and Vivian Harrell on "You Don't Care" - a song so up with hippy-love-and-harmony that it may have some of you going to work in a sunny disposition on the drizzliest of Monday mornings...

PHIL UPCHURCH features on Guitar throughout, while another soul-hero associated with the album is CHARLES STEPNEY who arranged, conducted and produced the project to such sweet effect (also played keyboards). He was involved in The Rotary Connection with Minnie Riperton, produced four albums with The Dells and even twiddled the knobs on the iconic and now much-vaulted psych-blues-fusion album "Electric Mud" by Muddy Waters. I'd personally scour down anything he had a hand in - a genius...

Like Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", Donny Hathaway's "Extension Of A Man", Stevie Wonder's "Innervisions" and Callier's predecessor to this "Occasional Rain" - this is a proper soul album - a gem all the way through and still beautiful and inspiring to this day - some 30/40 years after the event. Why isn't the LP artwork of this masterpiece on someone's t-shirt somewhere as the ultimate street-cool - who knows? But you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Of late Terry Callier has morphed (like Richie Havens) into a sort of elder statesman of soul still spreading his gospel of love and understanding - check out "Timepeace" from 1998 - unbelievably good and relevant to the now and not just past glories.

I've warbled on a bit I know, but this album and its predecessor "Occasional Rain" both deserve it.

Buy it, cherish it, enjoy it - and I envy you the journey...

PS: For those interested in delving a little deeper - I've posted a full list of the 120+ titles in the "ORIGINALS" CD series in the 'Comment' section attached to this review (Oct 2009)

WELLLLLLLLLL,

Another WONDERFUL talent "rescued" from the scrapheap of obscurity by the English acid jazz/ dusty soul fans, TERRY CALLIER, Chicago's finest, seems to be enjoying the same career revival as Brasilians Marcos Valle and Joyce, and more recently here in USA, Shuggie Otis-------- izza 'bout time-a, ya thinks??

I used to see Mr Callier at the old QUIET KNIGHT club at the Belmont Ave "EL" train stop lightyears ago, and was always taken by his incredible vocal frasing, syncopated jazz time over his alternately folk/soul and post doowop compositions (TC composed many doowop soul tunes as a staff writer at Brunswick records, if I remember clearly............

TC's more stripped down accompaniment on the live dates was augmented on these older Cadet record recordings by the wonderful arrangements of Charles Stepney(Earth Wind & Fire) and the great jazz arranger Richard Evans, and featured alla the stalwart Chicago soul/ jazz session "cats" of the time, "What Color is Love " and the even better"Just Cant Help Myself" were for me , Mr Callier's finest recorded moments until his recent "Time Peace" cd, which is only BRILLIANT .

Only 7 tracks here, but each is of a very reasonable length.

The sound of the recording will satisfy the novice fan to Mr Callier, as it compares to the jazz folk sounds of Shawn Phillips and the recently cannonized Nick Drake both in conception and the EXCELLENT quality of lyrics.

Re; Tc's lyric conception,I feel most lyricists here in the USA lack the poetic flow -the "jeitinho"(knack??) to spin a nice melodic lyric that both sounds good AND means something. (maybe Jimi Hendrix, I think....). Mr Callier uses words in the same way a soloist chooses frases from the scales he's gonna run on the changes, Pure poesia, not "Baybee I Loves ya BS........"
There's no Vinicius de Moraes, Cae Veloso or Aldir Blanc here in USA as lyricwriting goes.(Im not a Dylan fan, so I must keep him out of the mix.......)

Mr Callier's folkier sounds were never my favorites, I always dug the jazzy and the doowop stuff. The doowops are fabulously represented with "Just as Long as We are in Love" and "You Dont Care"--straight up "Brunswick records " sound.
"Dancing Girl" is that dreamy quality that the Drake and Phillips sounds represent-
it is a lovely "suite".
What Color is Love title track simply a jazzy ballad, with the feel of all the timeless "standards". A lovely arrangement for sure!

The record hardly sounds dated, it's as fresh as anything recorded these days.........

And TC's vocals just soar, he frases like a jazz horn!

I'd review ALLA Tc's cds, ya have to say the same words for all of them-------- the word of gypsy origin, "duende" applies....DEEP PROFOUND "SOUL" from a fine musico, BRAVISSIMO< Terry Callier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Terry Callier's music is subtle, and takes a few listens to make its full impact.

But that is an asset. You would think soul and folk are antithetical, but Callier's arrangements are like orchestrated folk, yet he sings like a soul singer. Play this a few times, and more secrets reveal themselves. When he incorporates Spectoresqiue production, it adds explosive charges to this already dynamite music.

Completely worth warming to.

If you love simple acoustic soul, you'll love this! "I'd Rather Be With You" is one of the most romantic songs you'll ever experience.

This cd by Terry Callier is extradordinary. Everything you think about the cover is revealed in song by the cd. The music isand thoughtful, sad, happy and mysterious. The cd becomes your friend. It's something you can listen to over and over and over again and never tire of the music. I have been listening to this cd as well as all of his music for over 35 years. This cd is a classic.