Mireille Mathieu- ST (Les Bicyclettes De Belsize)

DSCN5111 (1024x1014)This was three dollars.  Mademoiselle Mathieu seems to be the most constant French female that I find during my record searches.  Perhaps I should mention Claudine Longet but she was more a product of the US as compared to my favorites such as Jane Birkin, Frances Gall, Brigitte Bardot, and  Francoise Hardy.  Even if they were in the record racks, I bet they would be over $5.00.  So I take what I can get.  This is the third album of Mathieu’s that I have posted.d7f4e524821e41a08e9d6520750bca9c

This album was released self titled by Capitol Records.  A simular album with the same playlist and cover was released by Columbia in the UK in  1968 titled Les Bicyclettes De Belsize, which is the first track of both albums and a hit single for Mathieu (as well as Englebert Humperdinck).

It was the soundtrack from the British 1968 short film The Bicycles of Belsize.   This was a play on the title of the French film, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg .  A wonderful movie indeed, its soundtrack has been posted on this blog.

Link to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

Otherwise, this is a pretty decent album.  It is less swinging than the ladies listed above but it is good solid vocal work.  Highlights include the track mentioned above, “Et Merci Quand Meme”, “Un Homme Et Une Femme” and the track below.DSCN5113 (1024x1012)

For a sample, I went with  “Celui Que J’aime”, (The One I Love). It actually is pretty swinging.552880-mireille-mathieu-elysee-le-26-637x0-2

Satisfactory record.

Charlie Rich- Behind Closed Doors

DSCN1147This was 80 cents with discount.  It is Charlie Rich’s most successful record.

imagesCharlie Rich, born in Colt, Arkansas, in 1932, was able to combine elements of jazz, blues, rockabilly, gospel, and country into his own unique sound.  After a string of minor hits in the 60’s, Rich would benefit from the new Countrypolitan sound. He would hit the big time in the 70’s with this album and its two hit singles, the title track and “The Most Beautiful Girl in the World”. Both singles would hit #1 on the country charts.  Rich would win three Academy of Country Music awards, three CMA’s, and a Grammy for his work on this album.  A string of hits followed along with a decline of popularity partly fueled by self destructive behavior in the late 70’s/ early 80’s.  He died of a pulmonary embolism in 1995 at the age of 62.

Charlie’ Web Page

There are two stories about Rich that I like.  The first story, which was widely repeated by Rich and his wife, is from the early stages in his career.  When he recorded some demos for Sun Records, Sam Phillips thought they were too jazzy and had little commercial potential.  As the story goes, Rich was given a stack of Jerry Lee Lewis 45’s and was told “come back when you get that bad”.  The second story comes from the year after Rich had success with Behind Closed Doors at the CMA awards. Why tell you about it when you can see it here:

It was rumored that Rich felt John Denver was not country and did not agree with him winning the award.  It is apparent that Rich is drunk.  This performance angered many insiders and was a contributing factor in his eventual decline. At the very least, it is probably the reason Rich is still not in the CMA Hall of Fame.DSCN1148

Overall, this album is really not my cup of tea.  The songs are too slow for my liking.  This is really a crown gem of countrypolitan which is probably why I hate it.  All the songs are well crafted and Rich’s voice makes you forget that you are listing to layers of instrumentation.  That is all I can say about this.p01bqq14

I don’t normally like using the hit song from an album, but I was hard pressed to get excited about any other tune on the record so here is the title track for your approval.

Meh.  I like my country edgier and more country.  I think I would probably like Rich’s earlier work better.  And that is not to take away from the fact that this was a very successful record and started a string of hits for Rich.