🎵 AotW AOTW: Michelle Phillips - VICTIM OF ROMANCE (SP-4651)

LPJim

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Michelle Phillips
VICTIM OF ROMANCE

A&M SP-4651

sp4651.jpg


Michelle Phillips, born June 4, 1944, was a member of the Mamas & Papas. On A&M she appeared on the MOTHER, JUGS & SPEED Soundtrack and on Cheeck & Chong's "Basketball Jones."

TRACKS:

Aching Kind 3:16
Let the Music Begin 3:53
Victim of Romance 3:41
Trashy Rumors 4:01
There She Goes 4:15

Paid the Price 2:38
Baby as You Turn Away 3:54
Lady of Fantasy 3:25
Just One Look 2:45
Where's Mine 4:02

Jack Nitzsche - piano, electric keyboards, percussion
Scott Free - drums, percussion, guitar, steel guitar, accordion, piano, background vocals

John Moon Martin - guitar, vocals
David C. Allen - guitar
Tim Drummond - bass
Steve Douglas - sax solos, woodwinds, percussion
Gregory Lee - bass on "There She Goes"

Don Randi - piano on "Trashy Rumors"
Ron Nagle & Gene Estes - percussion
Ben Benay - guitar, mandolin
Jerry Donahue - guitar solo on "Aching Kind"
Mike Boddicker - synthesizers

Sid Sharp - string section concert master
Jerry Jumonville, Jay Migliori, Dennis Dreith, Jack Nimitz - woodwinds
Bob Findley, Bill Peterson, Mark Underwood - trumpets

Special thanks to Tricia Johns, vocalist

Laura Creamer, Cherie English, Myrna Matthews, Maxine Willard, Kathy Ward - singers

Billy Guy, Grady Chapman, Jerome Evans - singers for "Paid the Price"




Produced and Arranged by Jack Nitzsche
Cover Design and Art by Linda King
Front Cover Photo by Terry O'Neil
Back and Sleeve Photos by Aloma

Recorded at Larrabee Sound Studios and Record Plant
Remixed and Mastered at A&M Studios, Hollywood
Remix Engineer: Steve Mitchell and Kim King
Mastering Engineer: Bernie Grundman

Please visit her music profile on MySpace for biography and photos:


http://www.myspace.com/68295843



JB
 
This has also been available on CD from Hip-O-Select...

--Mr Bill
 
The Hip-O-Select CD adds a lot of bonus material... (Non-LP singles, previously unreleased stuff, etc.)

A good exhibition of sunny girl-group LA power pop and the LP's long been a favorite of mine, in both song selection & delivery (and somehow trading on Michelle's legacy "formerly of The Mamas & The Papas", made this over-looked gem meeting any commercial expectations, blatant, at best) and worthy of taping and playing in my car (when I had a tape deck)...

However, when I have this stuff blastin' while I drive 'round "here", the heads don't turn... :sad:



Dave
 
Kathy Ward was in the group PUNCH, signed to A&M in 1971 ("Fallin' Lady", etc...) and Tricia Johns (along with Miss Ward) were one half of SONOMA, the group PUNCH morphed into later signed to ABC Dunhill (1973) & MCA Records (1976).
 
Since finding that video of "No Love Today" by Michelle Phillips and posting it as an example of a song that could have suited Carpenters, I've been exploring the Michelle Phillips VICTIM OF ROMANCE album.

I picked up the Hip-O Select version with extra tracks, now out-of-print and fairly pricey in many circles. I'm enjoying the album that I'd never heard of prior other than a couple of mentions on this board.

Aching Kind
The opening track has a bit of an easy country-rock feel to it. It's a Moon Martin composition and Michelle does a good job with it. I think they used some stacked vocal harmonies on this one, but there are also a number of backup vocalists listed on the album. I think this was the lead single from the album.

Let The Music Begin
This one, in waltz tempo, has an oldies/soul vibe about it. Composed by Alan Gordon. Nice track. It's got one of those false ending stops toward the end, something that would confound DJs, I'm sure.

Victim Of Romance
Another Moon Martin composition, this one sounds a lot like The Beach Boys "Help Me Rhonda" right down to the male "pow, pow, pow, pow" backing vocals. Jazzy sax solo in the middle of this Wall Of Sound type production.

Trashy Rumors
A soft yet torchy ballad that is as diametrically opposed to the prior track as you can get. Michelle's soft vocals on this John Phillips song sometimes stray just a bit off key, but it's still charming. The Hip-O disc has another unreleased version of this song that was produced by former husband John Phillips.

There She Goes
A bit of a soft Latin feel on this one with castinets and marimbas. Nice harmonies on the chorus.

Paid The Price
This one sounds as if it came out of 50s Doo-Wop, but it's another Moon Martin song.

Baby As You Turn Away
A brothers-Gibb song that has a Bacharachian feel to it.

Lady Of Fantasy
Another torchy ballad, composed by Michelle herself.

Just One Look
This oldie by Doris Troy would later be a big hit by Linda Ronstadt, and it had been released by The Hollies and Anne Murray too.

Where's Mine
A really soft ballad finishes up the original album as released originally. This one sounds like it could have been a hit in the thirties or forties.

Bonus track:
No Love Today
The track that attracted me to the album purchase. It's a sumptuous Roger Nichols song written for the MOTHER, JUGS & SPEED movie soundtrack.

There are other bonus tracks on the disc that I haven't explored yet. I see that there was a Japanese release that's also out of print now that contains most of these same tracks, but also includes the mono promo version of "No Love Today".

Nice album, and a nice addition to my collection.








 
I'm seeing news that a different CD release of this album is being released by Real Gone Music with a date of June 1st, 2018. It too is an expanded edition, but different in the selection of bonus tracks.

In addition to the ten original tracks will be:
11. Guerita
12. Practice What You Preach
13. Had A Lot Of Love Last Night

"Guerita" appeared on my version but the other two did not. My copy had ten bonus tracks including the single "No Love Today", which is among the missing on the new release.
 
I would like to hear Bermuda singer Heather Nova (50 years old) do the remake of "The Aching Kind"!! Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
I'm seeing news that a different CD release of this album is being released by Real Gone Music with a date of June 1st, 2018. It too is an expanded edition, but different in the selection of bonus tracks.

In addition to the ten original tracks will be:
11. Guerita
12. Practice What You Preach
13. Had A Lot Of Love Last Night

"Guerita" appeared on my version but the other two did not. My copy had ten bonus tracks including the single "No Love Today", which is among the missing on the new release.

Harry -

The version of "Guerita" on this new reissue is an alternate version from the one included on the Hip-O Select version. The three bonus tracks appearing on this new reissue were all previously released on The Mamas & The Papas Ultimate Anthology box set from 2016. It was a PBS exclusive similar to Carpenters' The Complete Singles set.
 
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