Apparently trying to tap into the same well of
public goodwill that Pickwick were drinking from with their 'Top Of The Pops'
compilations, the appropriation of the 'Family Favourites' title on this is a
clear nod to BBC Radio 2's request show that dominated Sunday afternoons in the
sixties and seventies. Made up of children's songs and easy listening
heavyweights, none of the songs on this album would have been out of place on
any of its playlists, and as for this playlist then I'll say one thing for it - it's got no fear in going straight to the top
drawer for its material.
George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers - these are not exactly songs for beginners and each comes with it's own pre-existing albatross of what could be regarded as an already cut definitive version - Frank Sinatra's 'My Funny Valentine, Ella Fitzgerald's 'Evry Time We Say Goodbye', Tony Bennett's 'It Had To Be You', Otis Redding's 'Try A Little Tenderness'; only a fool would try to better any of these and, to their credit/our relief, Hush (billed on the back cover as 'eight of the best young voices of today') don't break out the carbon paper and try to deliver a faithful replica of any of them and instead go at everything with a fresh pair of lungs. A wise move perhaps, but it's where the problems start to pile up too.
On the face of it, 'Hush' seem to be an act cut from the same cloth as other seventies ensembles like 'Guys N Dolls' or 'The Young Generation' - i.e. purpose built ensembles who would rock up as the guests turn on chat and comedy shows in the seventies to do their thing before disappearing again. These eight 'best young voices of today' don't exactly gel as one though, and instead of interacting, harmonising or playing off each, they're the sound of eight lead vocalists in waiting and each strives to hog the spotlight and elbow the others into the shadows.
Thus, songs that were written to be delivered solo are split into multi-lead affairs or duets where each vocalist in turn is all too apt to forsake all melody and harmony in order to milk their lines for all their worth. Vowels are rolled, individual words are elongated or randomly emphasised and a rubber band vibrato puts in a regular appearance to the extent that the craftsmanship inherent in the songs beneath are reduced to a shapeless mess of unset jelly that the backing musicians gamely try to keep in at least some kind of order.
Rather than an easy listen, the discord born from eight squabbling strangers means there's an undercurrent of tension that's off-putting. Dropping 'White Christmas' in the middle of side one doesn't help smooth the journey either and the overall impression is of an end of term show at a low rent stage school where all are out to impress the judges and try every precocious trick they know to get themselves noticed.
And perhaps that's to be expected - 'Hush' don't appear to have any independent existence outside this one album an so maybe each member knew a shot at the title when they saw it. But for all their mugging, there's nothing here that's going to replace any of the established versions of these songs in your affections. To be honest, I never expected them to, but the distance they actually fall short is eye watering and leads me to wonder why anyone bothered. The 'family favourites' tag may have reeled in the unwary, but you'd need to set your personal bar of quality pretty low to want to sit through any of this a second time, and things would have been better all round if everyone involved regarded 'Hush' as a verb rather than a noun. Cheap, but not at all cheerful this one.
George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers - these are not exactly songs for beginners and each comes with it's own pre-existing albatross of what could be regarded as an already cut definitive version - Frank Sinatra's 'My Funny Valentine, Ella Fitzgerald's 'Evry Time We Say Goodbye', Tony Bennett's 'It Had To Be You', Otis Redding's 'Try A Little Tenderness'; only a fool would try to better any of these and, to their credit/our relief, Hush (billed on the back cover as 'eight of the best young voices of today') don't break out the carbon paper and try to deliver a faithful replica of any of them and instead go at everything with a fresh pair of lungs. A wise move perhaps, but it's where the problems start to pile up too.
On the face of it, 'Hush' seem to be an act cut from the same cloth as other seventies ensembles like 'Guys N Dolls' or 'The Young Generation' - i.e. purpose built ensembles who would rock up as the guests turn on chat and comedy shows in the seventies to do their thing before disappearing again. These eight 'best young voices of today' don't exactly gel as one though, and instead of interacting, harmonising or playing off each, they're the sound of eight lead vocalists in waiting and each strives to hog the spotlight and elbow the others into the shadows.
Thus, songs that were written to be delivered solo are split into multi-lead affairs or duets where each vocalist in turn is all too apt to forsake all melody and harmony in order to milk their lines for all their worth. Vowels are rolled, individual words are elongated or randomly emphasised and a rubber band vibrato puts in a regular appearance to the extent that the craftsmanship inherent in the songs beneath are reduced to a shapeless mess of unset jelly that the backing musicians gamely try to keep in at least some kind of order.
Rather than an easy listen, the discord born from eight squabbling strangers means there's an undercurrent of tension that's off-putting. Dropping 'White Christmas' in the middle of side one doesn't help smooth the journey either and the overall impression is of an end of term show at a low rent stage school where all are out to impress the judges and try every precocious trick they know to get themselves noticed.
And perhaps that's to be expected - 'Hush' don't appear to have any independent existence outside this one album an so maybe each member knew a shot at the title when they saw it. But for all their mugging, there's nothing here that's going to replace any of the established versions of these songs in your affections. To be honest, I never expected them to, but the distance they actually fall short is eye watering and leads me to wonder why anyone bothered. The 'family favourites' tag may have reeled in the unwary, but you'd need to set your personal bar of quality pretty low to want to sit through any of this a second time, and things would have been better all round if everyone involved regarded 'Hush' as a verb rather than a noun. Cheap, but not at all cheerful this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment