🎵 AotW AOTW: Lani Hall - SWEET BIRD (SP-4617)

[LPJim]

Lani Hall
SWEET BIRD
A&M SP-4617

Produced by Herb Alpert

TRACKS:

1. Send in the Clowns (Sondheim) 2:21
2. That's When Miracles Occur (Pratt) 3:07
3. Early Mornin' Strangers (Manilow - David) 3:40
4. Mr. Blue (Misty Blue) (M. Franks) 3:29
5. Too Many Mornings (Quateman) 4:40
6. At the Ballet (Hamlich - Kleban) 6:27
7. The Moon is All Alone (Like Me) (M. Colombier, L. Hall & French Lyrics by E. Colombier) 3:22
8. Dolphin's Lullaby (R. Roberts) 4:17
9. Sweet Bird (J. Mitchell) 2:53

Arranged by Lani Hall, Herb Alpert and Michel Colombier

All Keyboards - Michel Colombier
Guitars -- Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Dennis Budimir
Bass - Chuck Domanico, Stanley Clark (1)
Drums - Jim Keltner
Percussion - Jim Keltner & Milt Holland
Trumpet Solo - Herb Alpert (4)
Synthesizer Programing - Michael Boddicker
Microphone - Bruce Swedien.

JB

 

[Mike Blakesley]

There are a number of good tracks here, with the funky take on "Send in the Clowns" and the spooky "The Moon Is All Alone (Like Me)" being my personal favorites. Overall, a pretty good effort....it's no SUN DOWN LADY, but then nothing else is either.

This is one of my favorite Lani album covers.

 

[A&Mguyfromwayback]

I remember seeing Herb and Lani on the Dinah Shore show when this album came out!! She sang "That's When Miracles Occur" and "Early Morning Strangers" and they had an extended interview.......

 

[Captain Bacardi]

And Herb has an uncredited brief trumpet line on "That's When Miracles Occur".



Capt. Bacardi

 

[Dave]

A very sophisticated outing by Lani... And every track she seems to do fairly well at... Herb supports her every step of the way...

All of the songs are favorites here: "Send In The Clowns" (though mostly beacause it features Stanley Clarke on Bass) "That's When Miracles Occur" (though Andy Pratt's original version is just as good, while Ms. Hall seems to give this a modest, but spiraling piano-driven Hello, It's Me-type of ascension, the Bill Quateman-penned "Too Many Mornings" (which she does pretty great at) and "At The Ballet", putting a very forward-moving Marvin Hamlisch composition to a "singing dance step" and the smart take on Michel Colombier's "The Moon Is All Alone", while Michael Franks "Misty Blue" gets transformed to "Mister Blue" for gender purposes, getting a tasty reading of as well... While "Early Morning Strangers" by Barry Manilow gets a suave treatment and "Dolphin's Lullaby" and "Sweet Bird" are also well done...

No, I agree that this is nothing like Sundown Lady, but it still does well for good, easy, eve'nin' listening...!

I bought my copy Still-Sealed; which was going for the same price as a Used One at the same store... Funny how after I brought it home, the price tag on it was covering one for "$1-more", beneath it; pulled it off and revealed what the "New Copy" price really was...



Dave

 

[toeknee4bz]

Overall, a pretty good effort....it's no SUN DOWN LADY, but then nothing else is either.
This is one of my favorite Lani album covers.

I agree that this is one of Lani's better covers, despite the implication of 'flower power' with the whole tie-dye thing...

Also, I particularly liked her reading of Michael Franks' "Mr. Blue", or as she sings it, "Misty Blue".

Tony

 

[Stephen Vakil]

I actually think this beats Sundown Lady and runs a close second to Hello It's Me. That's When Miracles Occur must be one of the best tracks she's done. And those pictures!

Stephen

 

[Harry]

Good stuff here, and a good followup to not only SUN DOWN LADY but HELLO, IT'S ME too.

One of my favorites has to be "Dolphin's Lullaby". It's not a song that grabs you right off, but after hearing the album a few times, the song reveals itself as both "pretty" and "powerful," and Lani's reading of it is right on.

Harry

 

[Mr Bill]

Where's the poll for favorite track? I've alway been partial to "At The Ballet" despite one (slightly) bad note in the finale....

--Mr Bill

 

[Harry]

Updating an old thread to:

- 1 - add the requested poll. We can do that now!
- 2 - mention that this album has been remastered in 2015 and is available as 320 kbps mp3 files at Herb Alpert Presents

Harry

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Are there any other recent "releases" on Herb's site? I've looked through it a couple weeks ago and it didn't look like there'd been anything (musicwise) since In The Mood.

 

[Harry]

Just spotted that one yesterday, so I guess they really are working on this stuff.

 

[Bobberman]

I bought copy originally in 1985 sealed in the budget lp section at a Musicland store during the christmas season it was $1.99 and i instantly Loved it i voted for "That's when miracles occur" with the trumpet solo by Herb at the end. The entire album is Perfect from start to finish. And thankfully( as with every vinyl lp i ever own) i made a needledrop cd of it. And my fondest memory of the music was i had this album playing when a Girlfriend of the time showed up at my door just after i started playing the opening track of side A . It was one romantic evening and the Sweet Bird album was the musical soundtrack for that wonderful evening. Enough said.

 

[Harry]

I'm seeing this on eBay: It's supposedly a LaserDisc of Lani Hall's SWEET BIRD. Without a working LD player anymore, I won't be buying it - and I wonder just what would be on a Lani Hall SWEET BIRD LaserDisc video? Link will likely expire at some point.

SWEET BIRD LANI HALL Laser Disc | eBay

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www.ebay.com

 

[rockdoctor]

I do not remember when I bought this album but it was in a cutout bin at a local department store. I had never seen it in the regular bins at the time so it was a nice discovery and I have enjoyed this album ever since. I really like Dolphin's Lullaby.