Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The First Step Of A Romantic Journey, January 28, 2001
This is a re-release of the album originally titled, simply, "Bobby Caldwell." It was released with little fanfare on the Clouds label. But the album had a major crossover success on board. Thus, the change in title. "What You Won't Do..." was like a bolt out of the blue. No one had really heard of Bobby Caldwell before that (just as no one had heard of Boz Scaggs before "Silk Degrees"). The song became a staple of Old Skool and Quiet Storm radio stations. What's really nice about this album is that all of its songs are of high quality. "My Flame" was a fine follow-up, which deserves to be played during Quiet Storm hours, but is sadly overlooked. I also really liked "Take Me Back" and "Love Won't Wait" especially, but as noted, these are all quality efforts. There is a lot of soul in Bobby's voice. On this album I could clearly hear the influence of both Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder. He can really sing. And that's the other refreshing thing about him: Bobby Caldwell is a singer's singer. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the magic of "What You Won't Do..." would be hard to duplicate, especially for a singer without major label support. It was not Bobby's style to rest on his laurels in this fashion. He has continued to grow as an artist, expanding his approach and his reach, as he's gone. Today, Bobby Caldwell is a jazz-styled singer of pop standards. He packs them in at his concerts, and he has become such a good singer, he doesn't even have to perform his biggest song, anymore. That is what I'd call success: when you have gained the freedom to sing what you want to sing (as opposed to what you are MADE to sing). This album was his first big step. For Bobby Caldwell (and his fans), the romantic journey continues.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Blue Eyed Soul, December 29, 2001
What You Won't Do For Love is arguably one of the most memorable and slickest slow jams to have come out of the 70's. Heaven knows it's been the subject of countless remakes from hip-hop to mindless elevator muzak for a number of years. I always pictured Bobby Caldwell as a jingle singer with a novelty voice - meaning, that other people could probably do a far better treatment of his songs than he could. But, somehow the original still remains the best. The vocals are very simple, the melody is tight and the refrain is so haunting that you find yourself lost in it long after the last "What I Would Not Do" is sung. I always wondered why this song never made it to number one on the R&B charts. People speculated it was due in large part to the Blue Eyed Soul syndrome, a similar fate that stifled Hall & Oates' "Sarah Smile".... The real reason is; a great album had the misfortune of being released on a tiny label (Clouds) with more than likely, an equally diminutive marketing budget. Clouds did release a heart shaped 45 of the song on red vinyl - I guess to coincide with Valentine's Day.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
some great stuff here, but simply not enough, November 21, 2004
This 1978 album was Bobby Caldwell's first--I believe it was originally a self-titled effort, and that the title was changed to "What You Won't Do for Love" when the song of the same name became a hit. There is some great stuff here, but unfortunately, it seems that Caldwell just didn't have enough material and/ or was in a hurry to meet a deadline, because there is a considerable amount of blatant filler, including overlong fades, & the album runs less than 35 minutes in the first place. Also, the lyrics are often very slight. He's clearly in disco territory on a couple songs--the album opening "Special To Me" is way too sugary, but the wonderfully melodic "Love Won't Wait" is an irresistible, somewhat jazz-flavored tune. The smooth, wistful soft rock ballad "My Flame" is captivating with great hooks, but there are a couple really weak ballads as well with the ridiculously sappy "Come To Me", and "Take Me Back To Then" which is a song about wanting to be a kid again and has a very annoyingly overblown lead vocal. Plus, the funk-flavored love ballad "Can't Say Goodbye" is really let down by the overwrought vocals, lame lyrics, & the excessive, overlong fade. The super mellow album closer "Down For The Third Time" has cool, jazzy guitar, & it's an infectiously catchy tune, but it has a fade that's really long, really repetitive, and really dull. He also slips in an instrumental fragment "Kalimba Song"--it's less than a minute & 1/2 long & fades out so abruptly that it leaves you with an undeniable "What, that's it?" feeling. There's no denying though that the soulful title track is a classic--it's got a great horn riff, cool orchestration, an ultra-catchy melody, & Caldwell's vocals on it are terrific--he sounds quite similar to Stevie Wonder, but without the annoyingly overdone 'show-biz' mannerisms that Wonder has a tendency to indulge in; this song also has a very long fade, but this time it's to nice effect--it's got a nice contemplative, atmospheric feel to it. In the end, the album is a heck of a mixed bag--it's a shame, because the best stuff demonstrates that Caldwell was capable of a masterpiece. As it is, this is still worth getting if you see it for a low price--there is some must-have material on here that makes the album worth having.
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~ Bobby Caldwell
~ Bobby Caldwell
~ Bobby Caldwell
~ Bobby Caldwell
~ Bobby Caldwell
by Bobby Caldwell 
