Search - Carol Burnett :: Carol Burnett Featuring If I Could Write a Song

Carol Burnett in laid-back mode

Philip Melling | Sydney, Australia | 01/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Carol Burnett has a fine singing voice, possessing both a distinctive sound and a great Broadway 'belt' when she lets rip. That Broadway 'belt' is subdued in this CD release of her 1972 album IF I COULD WRITE A SONG. Here Carol is presented, for the most part, in laid-back mode. But don't dispair, for Carol still has a voice to enjoy and savor in this relaxed setting. Listener's wishing, however, to experience the thrill of Carol belting out songs with verve and vitality (and volume) from musical shows should check out the excellent CD LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU, which contains Carol's two albums from the early 1960s, CAROL BURNETT REMEMBERS HOW THEY STOPPED THE SHOWS and LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU.



IF I COULD WRITE A SONG was first released on vinyl in 1972 and the arrangements and delivery are typical of the easy-listening, middle-of-the-road albums of that era. Carol offers very easy-on-the-ear covers of chart-topping songs of that period, such as IT'S TOO LATE, RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS, ROSE GARDEN, THOSE WERE THE DAYS and FOR ALL WE KNOW. Even the two show numbers included in this set, TRY TO REMEMBER from THE FANTASTICKS and SUNRISE, SUNSET from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, are songs that require a softer, more mellow delivery, and Carol delivers them well here. SATURDAY MORNING CONFUSION, an amusing song about a family and household on weekends, presents Carol in the persona perhaps more familiar to people from television's long-running THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW, which was almost half-way through its eleven-year run when this album was first released in 1972. There are no surprises in the arrangements of the songs here, but the production values are first-rate.



Three additional songs, LOVE'S THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN, YOU'RE MY REASON and THE CHRISTMAS SONG, recorded around the same time as the original album, have also been included in this CD release as a bonus.



IF I COULD WRITE A SONG is a fine competent effort that all true Burnett fans will want to include in their collection.



This listener hopes for the eventual CD release of other exciting Carol Burnett recording gems, like JULIE AND CAROL AT CARNEGIE HALL, JULIE AND CAROL AT LINCOLN CENTRE (both, of course, with her chum Julie Andrews) and TOGETHER AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME with Martha Raye - all, at the time of this review, scandalously gathering dust in the vaults of recording companies.

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What's Not To love?

W. Schultz | Detroit | 10/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Anyone who is looking at the possibity of buying a Carol burnett lp/cd knows just what they are buying. and what's not to love? This lp released in her hay day covers songs that are still loved today and done in burnett style. Carol Burnett is a national treasure and I am pleased they chose to release this cd."