Search - Merrilee Rush :: Angel of the Morning

Songbird behind the one-hit wonder

hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 04/02/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Like so many one-hit wonders, Merrilee Rush had a deeper music career than could be surmised from her brief intersection with popular taste. Though she had only one major chart hit and two albums (this one and a self-titled release in 1977), she's continued her involvement with music to this day with tour spots and regular gigs in her native Pacific Northwest.



In contrast to studio-manufactured artists who hurry an album to milk a freak hit single, Rush was a bona fide musician who'd spent time in a number of bands before finding chart success. Her good fortune to cross paths with Chip Taylor's enduring composition, "Angel of the Morning," gave her the chance to record an entire album for Bell Records, reproduced here with nine bonus tracks.



There's nothing here that matches the ephemeral radio-readiness of "Angel of the Morning," but there are plenty of songs that capture the same Summer of '68 vibe. There's still a helping of the previous summer's glowing optimism, but freckled by the blanched heart of growing social turmoil. Highlights include a waifish cover of "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)," the dramatic Poppy Family styled lost-love of "Sandcastles," and the quiet isolation of Chip Taylor's "Working Girl." The arrangements are sophisticated, with production by Chips Moman that deftly mixes rock, pop, country and folk.



This deluxe CD augments the original album with bonuses that include "Reap What You Sew" (the original B-side of "Angel of the Morning"), a towering Vanilla Fudge like cover of The Four Tops "Reach Out" (and its country-inflected flip, "Love Street"), and follow-on singles "Everyday Livin' Lives," "Sign on for the Good Times" and "Angel on My Shoulder," as well as their B-sides. Closing the disc is Rush's final recording for the Bell label, a Quincy Jones produced cover of "What the World Needs Now" that was featured on the soundtrack album for "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" in place of Jackie DeShannon's version.



If you love the hit single, you'll be overjoyed to find this album's worth of similarly toned material that holds to the same level of imagination and quality."

This Angel Soars

Stuff And Company | Lynnwood, WA USA | 06/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This pop classic from 1968 finally gets the reissue treatment on CD and every track on this album is a gem. Merrilee had an innocence, and a toughness in her vocal interpretation of these songs. She plays the victim on tracks like That Kind Of Woman (an affair with a married man) and Working Girl (sexual harassment in the work place.) There are songs about being the proverbial doormat in Handy and It's Worth It All. Of course one has to include tracks about being a jilted lover and there are three very good ones here. They are Sandcastles and Billy Sunshine in which it is not made clear whether Billy was just afraid of commitment or he was an activist and /or 60s radical and was forced underground. Also the excellent screw you garage style rocker in Reap What You Sow (b-side to Angel) which was for some unknown reason left of the original album but is rightfully included in this reissue. Mark Lindsay of Paul Revere and the Raiders fame penned two songs, the dream like Observation From Flight 285 (in ¾ time) and Do Unto Others. Both tracks were also featured on Raiders albums previously and Merrilee does a fine job covering them on this album. Also included is a cover of the Joe South / Deep Purple classic Hush and a country/pop treasure titled Sunshine and Roses, about a girl fighting to keep her man from the clutches of another woman. Then there is the unforgettable, million selling, international hit Angel Of The Morning. This album was recorded at the famed American Recording Studio in Memphis and was produced by the legendary Chips Moman and the late Tommy Cogbill. The session players on this album were the very same musicians who played on Elvis Presley's legendary Memphis recordings.



Besides Mark Lindsay and Joe South, the album features songs written by Mark James (who wrote Willie Nelson's Always On My Mind, Hooked On A Feeling for BJ Thomas and Suspicious Minds for Elvis), Chips Moman, Donna Weiss (who co-wrote Bette Davis Eyes for Kim Carnes), and Chip Taylor (who wrote Merrilee's Angel Of The Morning and Wild Thing for the Troggs). There is also a very sweet version of the John Phillips' flower power anthem from the summer of love, San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair). Angel Of The Morning was featured in the hit films Jerry Maguire and Girl Interrupted as well as the cult classic Fingers starring Harvey Keitel. The songs on this CD are pure sunshine with a little country-pop flavor from the fabulous 1960's. Merrilee released several non-LP singles and B-sides after the release of this album including a very cool psychedelic version of The Four Tops' Reach Out (think Vanilla Fudge), as well as a cover of Jackie DeShannon's What The World Needs Now from the soundtrack album to the film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice produced by Quincy Jones. All nine of Merrilee's non-LP singles and b-sides are included in this CD reissue If you are a fan of the Memphis sound and albums recorded there by Dusty Springfield, The Box Tops, Petula Clark, Elvis, BJ Thomas, The Raiders and others then you will enjoy this CD.



Some fans have expressed a desire for the inclusion of the track Save Me and have been disappointed in it's exclusion from this Merrilee Rush reissue. This collection focused on Merrilee's Bell Records years. Save Me was released in 1976 on UA. Another Merrilee Rush project is being shopped to reissue labels as of this writing. The plan is for the Merrilee Rush self titled album from 1977 (which included Save Me) on the United Artists label to be reissued with a bunch of buried treasure bonus tracks. So stay tuned!

"

Great item, this artist deserves more interest than she gets

R. Van Der Loo | The Netherlands ( Holland ) | 03/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Great songs, Angel of the morning of course is my favorite but

there are more songs on this album which are a pleasure to discover. Again, this artist should be more known over the world

as she is right now."