Published on Dec 3, 1999
Doing this job has been a re-education in the world of rhythm
& blues for me. I’ve discovered some wonderful music that I
missed growing up, as well as some songs from my childhood that I
haven’t heard for years… some of which I could have easily
forgotten about and been just as happy.
But there have also been discoveries of artists who I think I
knew a little something about as I’ve listened to more music the
older I’ve gotten. Such is the case with Jean Carne, whose greatest
hits disc
Closer Than Close: The Best Of Jean Carne came out earlier
this year. While Carne seems to dish up typical r&b of the time
– not necessarily bad, just standard fare – some of her songs are
bound to rings bells of recognition in your mind.
I dare say that Carne was typical of the genre because she
doesn’t really have any characteristics to her music that set her
apart from others of the time. She doesn’t try to show off a
multi-octave range, she doesn’t break out the funk, she doesn’t get
too seductive in the music. No, she chooses to walk a straight path
right down the middle of the r&b road – and by no means am I
saying that’s a bad thing.
In fact, the only thing about Carne’s music that does set her
apart was the minor row she kicked up with her song “There’s A
Shortage Of Good Men” – a song she didn’t even
write but took the heat for. Nowadays, this track is prety
tame, but the concept caused the track to lose a lot of airplay.
Carne also planted a few bees in people’s bonnets with “Free Love,”
a song about an unwed mother whose message many people seemed to
misunderstand. (It’s a funny thing, but the “controversial” tracks
turn out to be some of the best music on this disc.)
The bells of recognition went off for me on the song “Sweet And
Wonderful,” a song I could swear I’ve heard before giving this disc
repeated listens. I don’t know what it is about this particular
track, but I found myself going back to it again and again. Maybe
it’s the peppy rhythm track, maybe it’s Carne’s flawless delivery
(can anyone tell me who the male vocal accompanying Carne on this
song is?)… I just love it.
Equally as pleasant are the tracks “I’m Back For More,” a duet
with Al Johnson, “Love Don’t Love Nobody” and her cover of “If You
Don’t Know Me By Now,” a song that I don’t think I’ve heard a bad
version of yet. With songs like these, I have to wonder why more
people don’t know about Carne’s work.
But there is some rather average fare on this disc as well.
Tracks like “Was That All There Was,” “Completeness,” “Closer Than
Close” and “Together Once Again” just fail to light the fires like
the other mentioned tracks do. It’s not that these are bad songs;
rather, it’s just that they’re nothing special. Indeed,
Closer Than Close: The Best Of Jean Carne turns out to be a
bit of a musical rollercoaster.
Carne’s output shows that she’s definitely worthy of your
attention, if only to get yourself re-acquainted with her work. But
this disc is occasionally difficult to get through, especially when
the songwriting quality dips compared to the superior tracks.
Closer Than Close: The Best Of Jean Carne is worth checking
out, even if all you want to do is get her classic tracks isolated
on one disc.