Any fans of Melanie?

yes, candles in the rain is a classic album. what a great voice

 

she has a last name Safka. What is wrong with just calling your artist name one word. pretentious? i reckon your statement is pretty pretentious

 

Sadly, i rarely find her albums in the buck-bins 'round here.

 

People thyought that about Adele as well once upon a time - until she became ADELE.

 

Not much of a fan but at times I do like her voice which is unique/distinctive. I love her rendition of "Ruby Tuesday."

 

Love "Estate Sale" and "Arrow" both Cheryl Wheeler originals covered by Ms. Safka. "Arrow" is very somber while "Estate Sale" is fun...well considering someone died so she could go to the estate sale.

 

Just got Leftover Wine, looking forward to spinning it. Love her stuff. Unique to me. Cool songwriter as well as her voice is pretty but should could get down as well. Charisma i guess comes across. Different to me from the many like her in that era. Really a fun find. Love Melanie.

 

I still don't really know who that is, only vaguely.

 

She is so intreguing to me. I've gotten several of her albums and they always have a diverse lineup of songs. Poppy and light but also going deep too. Peculiar voice with folkiness and a rasp. She's got me. Her image and kind of bag seems just another singer but listening to her i really find some nuggets in there. Melanie is kind of a contradiction to me.

 

Melanie, my girl.

 

she's good

 

Fantastic

 

I dig her.

I was always disappointed that she didn't release the version of "Brand New Key" in F double-flat half-sharp though.

 

So far i have :

Born To Be
Candles In The Rain
Leftover Wine
The Good Book
Stoneground Words
Please Love Me
Photograph


further recommendations?

 

I haven't plowed through the entire thread, so I don't know how much love Melanie's debut album Born to Be has received, but those who only know Melanie for "Brand New Key" need to check this one out.

It actually got a lot of airplay on the nascent "underground" FM station I began listening to in 1968, and that induced me to buy it right out of the chute. At times it presents a somewhat different image to the flower child one she came to embody (although there are traces of this, on the very affecting "Close to It All").

My favorite is "Bobo's Party," but there are many great tracks on this LP. Not to be missed.

One other thought...it seems that in recent years there has been an enormous trend of many female artists consciously singing in a "little girl" voice. It should be noted that this is where it all began. Somehow, I find Melanie's approach to be a little more real than the many pretenders of today.

 

Article appeared in the Asbury Park Press on Melanie rregarding her first show here on the Jersey shore in close to 35 years.
Along with whats been going on with her now, it also relates her past history being a resident of the Jersey shore, and how her Mom drove her and her guitar (no case, no band, no manager, no roadie) up to Woodstock.

When traffic came to screaming halt, Melanie called the only contact number she had, and was then informed that the site of the festival had been changed, and to go meet a helicopter that would take her to where she needed to go.
Mom was denied a seat on the helicopter, and thus missed her daughter's star making performance at Woodstock.

 

I saw Melanie perform at a backyard concert for charity in the L.A. area last year. She had just finished telling this story when right on cue, a helicopter began circling over the neighborhood (probably the police searching for a suspect on the ground). She pointed up towards the sky and said as a special treat, they hired a helicopter to re-create that Woodstock moment. LOL!

 

You have excellent choices so far. To those, I would strongly recommend "Gather Me" from 1971. Sure, "Brand New Key" has been overplayed through the years. Feel free to skip that one as an example of the most popular song arguably being the weakest on the LP. (a bit of an uncharacteristic novelty, like "Short People" from Randy Newman). The other songs are where the gold is on Gather Me. Allmusic.com gives it a 4.5/ 5.0 rating. "Gather Me" goes pretty deep on the confessional scale.

 

AllMusic Review by Mark Deming
After the release of The Good Book in early 1971, Melanie Safka and her producer (and then husband) Peter Schekeryk left Buddah Records to form their own label, Neighborhood Records, and the new freedom seemed to do her a world of good -- Gather Me, released later the same year, is one of her most accomplished and confident albums, a set that allowed Melanie the room to indulge her lyrical obsessions while Schekeryk created superb musical accompaniment from her simple but forceful melodies. The epochal "Ring the Living Bell" is a pocket suite that takes a skeletal lyrical conceit and gives it flight through sheer belief while Schekeryk's arrangement, reinforced with gospel style vocal backing, makes this accomplishment all the more impressive. "Railroad," "Little Bit of Me," and "Steppin'" display a lyrical maturity and subtle strength that marked a real step forward for Melanie as a songwriter, and "Some Say (I Got Devil)" is an emotionally devastating tale of a pregnant teenager who clearly has no idea what she should do. Melanie's habit of overplaying her hand as a vocalist is thankfully in retreat on Gather Me, which finds her in full control of her instrument and communicating a wide palette of emotions without becoming melodramatic. And if "Brand New Key" comes across like a silly novelty tune in this context, it's a playful and engaging one, and Melanie sounds like she's having fun putting Freudian symbolism within the grasp of AM radio. Gather Me may well be Melanie's finest album, capturing her at the height of her skills as a writer and singer, and it has stood the test of time better than the majority of her work.

 

I haven’t got any of Melanie’s lps but I’ve always loved Mott The Hoople’s take on her song ‘Lay Down’.

 

Had a listen on YouTube, really good, hope to score one soon, thanks!

 

Another vote for "Gather Me".

It's my favorite album of hers.

 

You guys are a bunch of stiffs re this one. Come on--I'm giving you quality material here, and at the right price once you send me a check for ten percent of your income this year.

 

Still going at 71. I don’t think much of the jabs at her looks and voice, i’d love to see those people when they hit 71.


I must hunt up a good CD of Candles In The Rain, I really like it but the Raven three-fer i’ve got has just been played with too much - NR, big frequency dips…just too messed around with.