Oh, how it used to be. Marshall Chapman used to deliver hard-edged rock and roll back in the late '70s and early '80s. Now I guess she's become, according to the title of the CD, mellow. This is Marshall Chapman light. If I had a copy of Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller (2003), the autobiographical book, by Marshall, maybe I'd know why.
They're nice little songs with a bouncy little beat. You can decide for yourself whether that's good or bad. Depends on your tastes. Most of the arrangements and backing tracks sound as if they are straight from Band-In-A-Box. There are no smoking solos, pounding pianos, screaming guitars. Call me a voice of doubt and doom if you want, but gently strumming guitars and introspective lyrics just don't do it for me.
I predict a lawsuit a la "My Sweet Lord" style regarding the song "I'm Just Pitiful That Way." If I owned the copyright to 1957's "Love Is Strange" by Mickey Baker, Sylvia Robinson, and Ellas Otha Bates McDaniel I would be on the horn to my lawyer immediately.
It's a great CD for what it is. I'm positive many will love it. I urge you to go out and buy it just because Marshall Chapman deserves every good and gracious thing that comes her way.
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