Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits - Simon, Carly (CD 2004)

The voice of Carly Simon is one I grew up with, and her hits are instantly recognizable and always seem to be of love and lost or the stuff of human romance. And so I listened and enjoyed, but not enough to go out and actually purchase an LP. No, I was always content to take my Carly Simon in small pleasant doses, but when I ran across and anthology of her career (Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits) I couldn t resist the change to hear all of her hits in one place, so I picked up a copy.

Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits represents the first career-spanning, multi-label single disc compilation (20 songs) of Grammy and Oscar winning Carly Simon, and includes every one of Ms. Simon s 20 top Billboard charting songs Digitally Re-mastered directly from the master tapes.

Carly Simon is arguably one of popular music s most significant and respected singer/songwriters, and is certainly one of the most prolific having recorded and released over 25 albums in hr long career. Ms. Simon s gift is in taking her experiences in life, love and motherhood and weaving those into her music producing several of the most memorable hit songs ever recorded.

Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits includes and extensive CD booklet with introduction by Carly Simon. The booklet contains rare and updated photos of the admittedly uniquely beautiful Ms. Simon as well as a complete essay by Stephen Davis on Carly s illustrious career.

I bought Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits not knowing many of the 20 songs contained therein, but I knew enough of them to make this CD enjoyable. And of course the very first track is Ms. Simon s great hit the You re So Vain, released in January 1973 right after she married James Taylor. There was wide speculation at the time as to who Carly was referring to, which one of her past lovers had jilted her so. Was it Mick Jagger, Cat Stevens, Warren Beatty, or perhaps Kris Kristofferson? All of these men had been romantically linked to Ms. Simon. Who could forget the opening lyrics(music and lyrics by Carly Simon):

You walked into the party
Like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf it was apricot
You had one eye in the mirror
As you watched yourself gavotte
And all the girls dreamed
That they'd be your partner
They'd be your partner, and....

The song is such a classic it has become part of American pop culture as Ms. Simon who has never stated in a straight forward manner is questioned endless about which of her past paramours the song is about. My money is on Warren Beatty.

From this august beginning the CD careens on as Carly belts out song after heartfelt song which, quite frankly, would get very little if any air play on today s capricious, repeat prone radio stations, where real talent need no longer apply. Admittedly Simon s voice is not the most pristine I ve ever heard; it lacks depth and range, but she makes up for these shortcomings with more than a touch of spirit. This is probable due to the fact that she writes her song from the stuff of her life, adhering to the number one rule of writing: write what you know.

Of course I have my favorites, namely: Anticipation, Coming Around Again, Let the River Run, Haven t Get Time for The Pain, Nobody Does it Better, You Belong to Me, Jesse, and Mocking Bird are all memorable to me, only because I grew up hearing them on the radio, and they have all become pieces of American pop-culture in their own right. Nonetheless, I know the words to these songs and I sing gleefully along lost in the simplicity of the instrumentation and the richness of the lyrics. Do they make songwriter like Ms. Simon anymore? Babyface (who just released a new album) and Carol King (currently on tour) come to mind, but their talents and those of Ms. Simon are no longer the norm in American music. How sad. It is just further evidence of our society s continued slide into mediocrity.

If you long for real heartfelt music that harkens back to a by-gone age, a period of time when American music was still blissfully mature and not subjected to the messy minds of adolescents who must have all the money give this anthology a listen. Reflections: Carly Simon's Greatest Hits is a soothing musical oasis (one of the few) in the otherwise burning tortured aural desert that has become the America music scene.

Track Listing:

1. You re So Vain
2. Anticipation
3. Nobody Does It Better
4. That s The Way I ve Always Heard It Should Be
5. Coming Around Again
6. Right Thing To Do
7. Let The River Run
8. I ve Got To Have You
9. Mockingbird
10. Legend In Your Own Time
11. Why
12. We Have No Secrets
13. Haven`t Got Time For The Pain
14. You Belong To Me
15. Jesse
16. Boys In The Trees
17. Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of
18. Give Me All Night
19. Love Of My Life
20. Touched By The Sun