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Rating:
Ahhh, what beauty and enjoyment it is to occasionally listen to albums like this "Dreamland" by Madeleine Peyroux from the distant 1996.
An album deeply blues but with jazz and pop nuances, sung in a velvety and incredibly sexy manner by Madeleine Peyroux, often referred to as the "living heir of Billie Holiday" for her tone, richness, and quality of interpretation. An album from 1996, as we were saying, but one that seems to belong to about 50 years prior if not for the care in sound and recordings that betray its origin.
Madeleine spent her youth in Georgia singing in the various smoky and alcohol-laden pubs of the city, and it is in one such place that, according to legend, she was discovered by Yves Beauvais, a talent scout from Atlantic Records passing through. The talented Yves would go on to co-produce this splendid gem of jazz and soft-blues (!?), enriched by contributions from Marc Ribot (on guitars and dobro) and Greg Cohen (on bass), longtime collaborators of the more famous Tom Waits. And our minds are indeed transported back to the early 'crooner period' of the Californian singer's career when he sang melancholic and desperate blues in the seediest venues of American provinces.
One is thus transported, without hesitation, by these 12 songs interpreted in, dare I say, a 'classical' yet pathos-rich manner, refreshing 40s/50s sounds with an interpretative class and vocal tone that even today, has very few equals in Europe.
A 'timid debut' performed without overdoing it, becoming at the same time both its limitation and virtue, alternating original material with classic standards of the genre (most notably the lazy and carefree blues of 'Walking After Midnight', the legendary 'La Vie en Rose' with violin, accordion, and guitar accompaniment, or the stunning 'Reckless Blues' by Bessie Smith with only piano accompanying Madeleine's splendid voice, which seldom makes one miss the original).
An album listened to at least 15 times while traveling by car through the roads of Greece (a very rare event for my omnivorous and never satisfied ears) and one that has yet to tire me out. An album terribly 'not current', 'not commercial', 'not tied to trends, current events, or any kind of chart' — an album as fascinating as few others and 'pleasantly light' that will take 8 long years before 'passing the baton' to the subsequent "Careless Love" of last year, also beautiful and already reviewed here.
An album recommended for this very sensation of 'timelessness' that rightfully places it among my 'evergreens' of all time.
Tracklist and Lyrics
02 Hey Sweet Man (04:00)
Hey sweet man
Who you give your lovin' to?
Hey sweet man
Who you give your lovin' to?
I gotta mind to love you
I'll love you through and through
Hey momma's child
Ain't you been waitin' for me?
Hey momma's child
Ain't you been waitin' for me?
I've gotta mind to love you
And my love won't leave you be
Hey sweet woman
I see you're searchin' too
Hey sweet woman
Ain't no man that love you
Hold on, pretty momma
Someday he'll be searchin' too
Well we need some lovin'
We need it oh-so-bad
We need some lovin'
We need it oh-so-bad
'Cause it's bad lovin', momma
It's the only thing we ever had
04 (Getting Some) Fun Out of Life (03:13)
When we want to love, we love
When we want to kiss, we kiss
With a little petting, we're getting
Some fun out of life
When we want to work, we work
When we wanna play, we play
In a happy setting, we're getting
Some fun out of life
Maybe we do the right things
Maybe we do the wrong
Spending each day
Wending our way along
But when we want to sing, we sing
When we want to dance, we dance
You can do your betting, we're getting
Some fun out of life
Maybe we do the right things
Maybe we do the wrong
Spending each day
Wending our way along
But when we want to sing, we sing
When we wanna dance, we dance
You can do your betting, we're getting
Some fun out of life
05 La Vie en rose (03:21)
( Edith Piaf )
Des yeux qui font baisser les miens
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche
Voilà le portrait sans retouche
De l'homme auquel j'appartiens
Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas
Je vois la vie en rose
Il me dit des mots d'amour
Des mots de tous les jours
Et ça me fait quelque chose
Il est entré dans mon coeur
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause
C'est lui pour moi
Moi pour lui dans la vie
Il me l'a dit, l'a juré
Pour la vie
Et dès que je l'aperçois
Alors je sens en moi
Mon coeur qui bat
Des nuits d'amour à plus finir
Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place
Des ennuis, des chagrins s'effacent
Heureux, heureux à en mourir
Quand il me prend dans ses bras
Il me parle tout bas
Je vois la vie en rose
Il me dit des mots d'amour
Des mots de tous les jours
Et ça me fait quelque chose
Il est entré dans mon coeur
Une part de bonheur
Dont je connais la cause
C'est lui pour moi
Moi pour toi dans la vie
Il me l'a dit, l'a juré
Pour la vie
Et bien quand je t'aperçois
Alors je sens en moi
Mon coeur qui bat
06 Always a Use (02:41)
Always A Use
(Madeleine Peyroux)
Maybe ain't no use in sayin' what I want it to be
Maybe ain't no use in playin' a tune
Maybe ain't no use in singin' my blues
But there's always a use in you and me
Maybe ain't no use in watchin' through the window
As the towns and our lives roll on by
Maybe it ain't worth all the trouble in thinkin'
But there's always use in you and I
We can make it true
We can work on it too
We can be what we want it to be
We can be together
As two or as three
'cause there's always use in you and me
Maybe ain't no use in sayin' what I want it to be
Maybe ain't no use in playin' a tune
Maybe ain't no use in singin' my blues
But there's always a use in you and me
We can make it true
We can work on it too
We can be what we want it to be
We can be together
As two or as three
'Cause there's always use in you and me
Maybe ain't no use in watchin' through the window
As the towns and our lives roll on by
Maybe it ain't worth all the trouble in thinkin'
But there's always use in you and I.
07 A Prayer (02:36)
Lord
I must be strong now
I don't belong now
In this world anymore
I'll say a final prayer for
Those I care for
Who've kept my company
My need is clear
I'm dying to have you near
To me
Lord
I don't belong now
If you are waiting
I am not afraid to die
I'm prepared to go
Divide my body and soul
Won't you
Lord
I don't belong now
If you are waiting
I am not afraid to die
Have mercy
Lord, I'm told it's paradise
To have and to hold you
Lord
I must be strong now
I don't belong now
In this world anymore
Lord
I won't be long now
If you are waiting
I am not afraid to die
08 Muddy Water (03:32)
( Bessie Smith )
Dixie moonlight, Swanee shore
Headed homebound just once more
To my Mississippi delta home
Southland got that grand garden spot
Although you believe or not
I hear those breeze a-whispering
"Come on back to me"
Muddy water 'round my feet
Muddy water in the street
No God don't shelter
Down on the delta
Muddy water in my shoes
Reeling and rocking to them lowdown blues
They live in ease and comfort down there
I do declare
Been away a year today
To wander and roam
I don't care it's muddy there
But this is my home
Got my toes turned Dixie way
'Round the delta let me lay
My heart cries out for muddy water
Been away a year today
To wander and roam
I don't care it's muddy there
But this is my home
Got my toes turned Dixie way
'Round the delta let me lay
My heart cries out for muddy water
10 Dreamland (03:31)
Dreamin'
Makin' my way
Dreamin'
Won't let me stay in your arms
In your warm
In your love
Sleepin'
Away the day
Hopin'
That we two could stay
All alone
On our own revelries
Let's make a pact for our lives
And our homelands
Built on the bricks that we bathed
In my dreamland
Home sweet dreamland
Always a dreamland
For the two of us,
Together,
We'll stay
Let's build a homeland together in the sand
We have forever right here at hand
In dreamland
Home sweet dreamland
Always a dreamland
For the two of us,
Together,
We'll stay
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