Search - Petula Clark :: I'm the Woman You Need

The singer we need!

03/30/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Petula's hit "Downtown" was a decade old when she recorded this period set. Contained within are pop, country and a touch of disco. The end result is one of the more satisfying albums of her 70s career. The towering arrangements are matched by Pet's unwavering vocal determination. From the lovely cover of Kristofferson/Coolidge's "Loving Arms" to the international Mocedades hit "Eres tu", Pet proved once more her talent to be timeless. To top off this enjoyable set is her fierce vocals on "Never Been a Horse"-a disco tour de force."

Petula album with country influences

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 01/01/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The liner notes acclaim this as Petula's first foray into the Nashville sound. Not quite true as she'd recorded the occasional country-sounding track before, particularly Look at mine, recorded in 1969. Nevertheless, recording a whole album with country influences marked a departure for Petula. The album, by the standards of the time is not especially country sounding, but is a fine pop-country album. Petula's traditional fans were not all keen on the new direction but new fans were not forthcoming. Then, as now, any outsiders that wished to ingratiate themselves with the country music community had to prove themselves. Petula never did that, so her pop-country records never had much impact.The songs themselves were nearly all originals with the title track coming from Petula, a vastly under-rated songwriter. Loving arms has become a standard - including Elvis Presley, Olivia Newton John and the Dixie Chicks all recorded it, while Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge did a duet version. Petula's version was released as a single and became an American top forty hit. Your cheating heart, a classic Hank Williams song, is the other famous song here. The silly sounding but brilliant Never been a horse that couldn't be rode was the only other single from the album - it also charted in America.For reasons already explained, this album did not do as well as it deserved to but it was, for a time, available on CD and I'm glad I bought it then. Petula fans will find much to enjoy here. If you can't find a copy, well, some of these tracks are available on various Petula compilations."