🎵 AotW AOTW: Tim Curry - READ MY LIPS (SP-4717)

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LPJim

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Tim Curry
READ MY LIPS

A&M SP-4717

sp4717.jpg


This is the 1978 debut solo album by the British Singer and Actor who gained fame portraying Dr. Frank-N-Furter in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

SIDE ONE

Birds of a Feather (Pope-Staples) 4:07
Wake Nicodemus (Henry Clay Work) 4:37
I Will (Lennon-McCartney) 3:41
Brontosaurus (Roy Wood) 4:38
Alan (Tony Koznic) 4:25

SIDE TWO

All I Want (Joni Mitchell) 4:24
Sloe Gin (Ezrin-Kamen) 5:25
Harlem on my Mind (Irving Berlin) 3:51
Anyone Who Had a Heart (Bacharach-David) 3:41

Bob Ezrin - producer, keyboards, percussion, vocals
Tony Koznic, Dick Wagner, John Tropea, Robin Miller (mandolin) - guitars
Charles Collins & Allan Schwartzberg - drums
Donny Brook - harmonica

Bob Babbitt - bass
Jimmy Maeler - percussion
Ernie Watts - sax
Max Kiminsky - trumpet
Joe Venuti - violin

For biographical information, please see:


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000347/bio


JB
 
Accordion - Nils Lofgren
Acoustic Guitar - Tony Kosinec
Bass - Bob Babbitt
Drums - Allan Schwartzberg, Charles Collins
Lead & Rhythm Guitar - Dick Wagner
Guitar - John Tropea
Guitar, Mandolin - Robin Miller
Harmonica - Donny Brook
Keyboards - Lee Michaels, Michael Kamen
Keyboards, Percussion, Backing Vocals - Bob Ezrin
Lead Vocals - Tim Curry
Percussion - Jim Maelen
Producer - Bob Ezrin
Associate Producer - Michael Kamen
Saxophone Solo - Ernie Watts
Trumpet - Max Kaminsky
Violin - Joe Venuti



Dave
 
I'm assuming this was not a successful album as I've never heard about it, but he had such a huge following coming off of "Rocky Horror" - did the record make any impact at all? What was the musical style?
 
It's a typical "shock-rock" type of concept, by a "shock-meister" such as Curry, no less...

Maybe Mr. Bill can give us more insight; this is really more o' his type o' thing...

I haven't had this LP (nor any of Tim's other stuff--really just his SECOND ALBUM--in my stash) for some time, so it would be good to obtain more info, such as Recording Studios (in New York, LA & Toronto) & the Bagpipes (supposedly the Canadian Musicians Union # or something to that effect, gets credited) on "Wake Nicodemus"...

-- ... :help:



Dave
 
Richard (Dick) Wagner also played in The Bossmen, The Frost & Ursa Major. In 1978, he recorded an album for Atlantic Records that went nowhere but it is finally reissued on his website. Dick also played with Peter Gabriel (car cover) first solo album from 1977, Lou Reed "Rock And Roll Animal" (live album) from 1974, Alice Cooper "Goes To Hell" (1976), "Lace And Whiskey" (1977) & "From The Inside" (1978) among others that he has performed. I met Dick back in July of 2002 in Freeland, Michigan doing a free concert with his friends including 60's rockers The Cherry Slush. Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
Well, like Dave said, I'll weigh in here.

I really like this album and the follow up (Fearless) and Dave is right -- it's not so much the songs as the way Curry delivers them. Curry's three A&M albums deserve to be on CD.

This one features Curry's unique voice in a variety of styles. I can't pick a favorite but the first three tracks on side one probably sealed teh deal for me in appreciating Curry's singing beyond what was previously heard on stage in his Rocky Horror performance. This album tried to prove he was more than campy stage performer. Indeed his onscreen turns in subsequent movies have shown his versatility as a multi-faceted performer.

"Birds of a Feather" was the single chosen, and could've been a hit (I believe) if promoted properly. One must remember this came at a time when the pop music world was watching disco enter its death throes and punk/new wave was trying to bust in to the mainstream. This sort of music along with the type A&M/Horizon was transitioning to were trying to get a foothold with the public; a public that the music industry seemed unsure unable to figure out wha tthey were looking for at the time.

The next track, "Wake Nicodemus" has a terrific bagpipe band intro/outro. I'm still not sure what the song is about, but A&M ruined it when they released The Best Of Tim Curry in 1990 (which goes for huge $ on eBay). They ruined it because on Read My Lips it segues nicely into Curry's cover of "I Will." Instead of including both songs on the Best of... they include several seconds of fading bagpipe marching music before the calypso-esque cover of "I Will" begins.

So, "I Will" is (again IMHO) one of those songs that is better here than in the original version. Of course, I became a Beatles fan late in life so that's why I feel that way.

"Brontosaurus" is a creepy dirge-like number about abuse and/or abortion. It creeps me out whenever I hear it, while "Alan" (which is included in the aforementioned Best Of... in a live version) is about a young writer beaten almost or literally to death for, it is implied, being gay.

Side two starts off wiht a JOni mItchell cover. Not being a Joni fan I can't compare to the original, but Curry's version is spirited and moving.

"Sloe Gin" is my favorite on side two. Come with me, you know the way. She said it's down, down down... the dark ladder. Co-written by Bob Ezrin who produced this album and a "pre-soundtrack scoring/producing" Michael Kamen (who produced Curry's 2nd and 3rd A&M LPs).

The album wraps up with typically flambouyant Curry renditions of standards by Irving Berlin ("Harlem On My Mind") and Bacharach/David (Anyone Who Had A Heart").

Well worth a listen and ranks in my top 100 A&M albums.

--Mr Bill
 
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