What A Voice...Too Bad There's Not More of It!
Jef Fazekas | Newport Beach, California United States | 07/06/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Even if you're not sure of who Valerie Carter is, you will recognize her voice the minute you hear it. Though the almost twenty-year-gap between 1978's "Wild Child" and 1996's "The Way It Is" has never really been explained, Carter has spent a good portion of the 90's working her way back onto the scene as a much-sought-after back-up vocalist; her distinct sound has been heard on recent recordings by Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and Don Henley. So a full album by Ms. Carter is usually a good thing. "Find A River", however, is a mixed bag; while Valerie is in great voice throughout, this is an awfully pricy EP that, taken as a whole, has a tendency to sound all the same. That's not to say that each of the songs don't merit some attention on their own. For instance, the opening track, a cover of Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush", is one of those songs that's so closely identified with it's original singer and/or writer that it's usually musical suicide to attempt a cover version. Carter, however, succeeds in giving the song an ethereal treatment that alternately bleeds emotion, wonderment and resignation. The second track, "Crazy You", shows, once and for all, that Prince could be a great songwriter when he wasn't trying to be too cool for his own good or cranking out too many albums too soon, thus raising his shlock quota. Jazz-tinged and sensual, Carter makes the song both playful and seductive. Next up is "Tomorrow Morning", an aural ray of hopeful sunshine. It features a vocal that, no matter what it goes thru, will always end up looking at the bright side of things. "Tomorrow Morning" is followed by "Happiness", which is almost chilling in it's sense of yearning, reverence and piousness. Wrapping up the CD is the title track, the only song that really doesn't do Carter justice. She gives it her all vocally, and sounds great doing it, but the song has a been-there-done-that quality to it - sort of a country/soul hybrid that has worked so well for Carter in the past but now seems dated. That said, what's it about "River" that doesn't work? Well, there's a .....gauziness...that hangs over the CD; it's like listening to the album thru a large mosquito net or miles and miles of bandages. What's missing is the harder edge of such songs as "I Wonder Why", "Who Is She" and "I Say Amen" from the last album. Such a balance allows Carter to show more of what she's really capable of. Soooo....if you really love Valerie Carter (the artist)pick this CD up; it's worth having in your collection. If you're more of a new fan of Valerie Carter (the voice)you would probably be better off checking out "The Way It Is" (my Album of the Year for 1996) or 1978's classic "Wild Child". Either way, you'll come out ahead!"
Track Listings (5) - Disc #1