Entertainment For Lively Minds
Minnie Riperton
Well, there's another gap in my musical knowledge identified.
Saturday Live on R4 a couple of weeks back featured Alison Goldfrapp's Inheritance Tracks (if you haven't heard it, think of Desert Island Discs reduced to 2 tracks with the subject talking over them).
Her "what I'd pass on" choice was Expecting by Minnie Riperton
Sublime, no? You can see why the Ooh Laa Laa Hitmaker likes it.
After a quick visit to itunes it's been fairly prominent on my ipod ever since - and I've just spotified, and then purchased, the rest of Come to My Garden, the 1970 album from which this comes. I've also learnt of Minnie's tragic life story thanks to last.fm, and twigged from a search on this very website that she's also responsible for Lovin' You, so nobody's perfect.
My point? Oh I dunno. Funny how songs work their way into your life these days, innit?
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Come To My Garden
Wonderful album. The later material I've heard by her is a bit sugary for my tastes, but if you like CTMG check out also the Rotary Connection (which Minnie was part of), whose albums feature similarly lavish arrangements by Charles Stepney.
thanks for that
Just listening to the Best Of on spotify right now. Brightening up Friday afternoon no end.
Lovely
and haunting in equal measure. In addition to the OLL hitmaker Minnie Riperton can be heard in the wonderful music of Chungking (who covered Miss Riperton's Les Fleurs).
The track Following is the closer to their album We Travel Fast. Heartbreakingly beautiful
Here's another track, Making Music
Jessie Banks has one of those voices (like Minnie, Dusty and Karen Carpenter) that retains a wounded quality no matter how upbeat the material. It makes for some of the most affecting vocal performances I find.
what is wrong
with "Loving You"? it is a fantastic track!
Sorry, I should have said…
… 'except Loving You' :-)
Loving You
Possibly just overfamiliarity - one of those songs I'd known for ages but not known the singer. Described elsewhere on this site as a candidate for worst ever love song due to its sugary sentimentality.
I wouldn't go that far, but for me it hops over from hauntingly sublime to irritatingly shrill...
2 kindsa love
"Lovin' You" is great! It describes the "hello trees, hello sky" side of falling in love, while "Inside My Love" describes the bedroom stuff.
Second percussionless number one ever, of course.
Minnie and friends sing Hendrix
Just thought I'd post this one too…
For me this is the big one off CTMG. It's got that real epic Jimmy Webb thing going on…
Oh, yeah, and this…
… from the early 60s. Quite astonishing.
Rotary Connection
One of my favourite things in life is to slip this onto compilation CDs ... well, a man's got to have a hobby.