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Songs from the Last Century
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CD Review by Jack Nichols
Sure, I've always liked George Michael's music. But this is the album
that, for me, at least, has put him over the top—that allows me, without blinking,
to call him one of the greatest of pop crooners.
The name of this new album—Songs from the Last Century-- immediately piqued my curiosity. Which ten titles had Michael chosen to represent the past one hundred years? Here are some truly exquisite love songs, torch songs and evocations of the blues, including some of the best accompanying instrumental arrangements extant. Michael's deliveries come across not only as pure and smooth but, in some instances, they're the very best treatments these songs have received. They range from the 1930s to the early 1990s. Two of the cuts, "I Remember You" and "Where or When" have always been among my own favorite last-century choices. Previously, the best version of "I Remember You" had been sung by Dinah Washington. It contains references–like "stars that fall like rain out of the blue" and "angels"—that make Michael's unusual choice for an instrumental background, a single harp, uncannily sufficient. His voice, with its fine range, lends this song's stunning lyrics their due: When my life is through And the angels ask me to recall The thrill of them all Then I will tell them I remember you.
It's the wrong time And the wrong place Though your face is lovely It's the wrong face… There's also a tribute to Roberta Flack's early 70s hit, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face". Those who loved the first version will celebrate this one too. A standard that gay folks in the 1950s claimed for their own—one that was perfectly sung then, oddly enough, by Doris Day—was "Secret Love." I remember how a New York friend of the composer's told me in 1956 how Broadway barons had been privately shocked by the gay undertones in this song. George Michael resurrects it with such perfection that it may, to some, become a favorite once again. I hope so. As the new century arrives, this song's poignancy strikes home. What does today's secret 21st Century lover, no longer in his or her closet say now that the suffocating 50s are behind us? Now I shout it from the highest hills Even told the golden daffodils At last my heart's an open door My secret love's no secret anymore. Among the earlier hits of the last century which Michael has interestingly chosen are "Brother Can You Spare a Dime?" and "My Baby Just Cares for Me". The first, which seems somehow current the way Michael treats it, recalls the Great Depression of the 30s. It reminds too how people in high places can unexpectedly tumble. Those faces of the homeless that we see today on city streets—on which rich thrones did they once comfortably sit? We can only wonder.
"My Baby Just Cares for Me" is clearly about Michael's male lover. How do we know? Because George
has refused, thank goodness, to placate ignoramuses and has used the pronoun "he" as blithely
as one could wish. Because he sings with such happy gusto, this pronoun usage is hardly noticeable,
and, upon reflection, seems eminently right.
"You've Changed," a Billy Holiday hit, and a blues number that's truly tough to beat, may become one of the best-loved cuts on Songs from the Last Century. But no matter which of the melodies stands to draw public attention most, this album in its entirety is a masterwork, one that belongs in the collection of every sophisticate who's tetched with a yen for romance. |
© 1997-99 BEI