Search - Toni Price :: Born to Be Blue

Fairweather Love

Lee Armstrong | Winterville, NC United States | 01/17/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

""I want to live in a beautiful garden, I want to lie where flowers bloom, I want to sing what the birds are singing, I want to fly just like they do," Toni starts on a folky hippie tune complete with acoustic guitar on a track that is as gorgeous as it is retro. Toni throws Blue into jazz gear on the sweet shuffle "Black & Blue Heart," "It seems like I just give up, but maybe I ain't very smart cause I keep on falling in love and breaking my poor old black & blue heart." "You Don't Love Me" turns back the clock to the 1940s with its Billie Holiday light jazz feel. The title track written by Mel Torme would be at home with the last call at the Starlight Lounge. "Sad as It Seems" is a country weeper. "Blue River" (not by Eric Andersen) is a perky bluegrass hoedown with Casper Rawls doing the back porch vocals. "There's Nothing But Heartache" gives Toni's gorgeous voice a chance to float achingly around the melody on a sweet midtempo track, "There's nothing but heartache in loving you." Shelley King's "Tennessee Whiskey" sounds like a reincarnation of Bobbie Gentry. Dr. John's "Clouds" is given a great soulful reading with James Burton's loping guitar. My favorite track is the bluesy midtempo "Rain Down Tears," "When you're out there in this world alone, there'll come a day when you'll miss this happy home," she sings about a fair-weather love. Gwil Owen's "Not Coming Home" has a lovely melody with the soft acoustic guitar backing Toni's aching vocal. "Get the Hell Outta Dodge" is pure Texas swing. The CD concludes with another slow Gwil Owens' tune, "One of These Lonely Days" with the gorgeous Tosca String Quartet bringing it to climax. There's no real addictive toe tapper like "Thank You for the Love" from "Midnight Pumpkin" on this set. Toni is taking her time. This is a great tear-in-your-beer set by one of our great female vocalists. Enjoy!"