Neil Sedaka - Sedaka Live in Australia at the South Sydney Junior Leagues Club
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Track List: Sedaka Live in Australia at the South Sydney Junior Leagues Club
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Album Details: Sedaka Live in Australia at the South Sydney Junior Leagues Club
- Release Date:
- 01/01/1976
- UPC:
User Reviews: Sedaka Live in Australia at the South Sydney Junior Leagues Club
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live in australia
, February 1, 2004Reviewer: noel_aparejo - See all noel_aparejo's reviews
read all (1) user reviews for Sedaka Live in Australia at the South Sydney Junior Leagues Club
Pro Reviews: Sedaka Live in Australia at the South Sydney Junior Leagues Club
| EXPERT RATING: From AMG Reviews While Neil Sedaka's career was having a second life on the Top 40 charts in 1976, Don Kirshner and RCA Records released a performance from the archives, Sedaka Live in Australia. With an orchestra conducted by Lionel Huntington, this album finds this major talent at, of all places, the -South Sydney Junior Leagues Club. The material includes standards, Neil Sedaka hits from the '60s in medley form, covers of Creedence Clearwater, the Archies, Simon and Garfunkel, as well as Ray Stevens, and other surprises. The absence of the artist's number one hits from 1974 and 1975, along with the fact that the four major covers all hit number one in the various trades around the end of 1969 and early '70 would indicate that this is from that era. With his dynamic voice, he shows Ray Stevens how to sing "Everything Is Beautiful," and it becomes a rare and wonderful moment for fans. Rather than treat us to "Workin' on a Groovy Thing," which he wrote for the Fifth Dimension, and which hit the Top 20 mid 1969, or previewing "Puppet Man," which hit Top 30 for both the Fifth Dimension and Tom Jones, he artfully blends the classic "Danny Boy" with "Bridge Over Troubled Water." It's not a perfect segue, but what amazes is Sedaka's vocal proficiency on a tune which allegedly took Art Garfunkel many takes to perfect. The opening of Sugar Sugar is actually a lot of fun, despite its presence being suspect. The Archies, after all, were manufactured by the man releasing this record, Don Kirshner. The version is certainly not what Wilson Pickett gave us, but, again, it is a treat to hear this major songwriter interpreting the hits of the day. He pulls it off. The medley of his hits is essential Sedaka, but the real treasure here is a terrific performance of "My World Keeps Getting Smaller Every Day," a title written specifically for Eydie Gorme. It makes up for the truncated "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Calendar Girl." It's hard to understand why artists insist on giving less of the material that brought them their fame -- and undoubtedly attracted the audience to this performance. Before singing "The Father of Girls" he tells us that Dara Felice Sedaka is seven years old, and that his son, Mark Charles Sedaka, is four. That gives a firm point in time as to when this concert was recorded. There is a "History of Rock Roll" written by Bruce Morrow, and it enables Sedaka to put Mary Hopkins' 1968 hit "Those Were the Days" around "Shake Rattle and Roll," "Blueberry Hill," "Great Balls of Fire," the Beatles' "She Loves You," and Tom Jones' "Delilah." Given the historical importance of this music, Kirshner could have given us some liner notes and more background information. What we do have is Sedaka performing Chopin's "Polonaise in A-Flat," working with an orchestra and giving evidence of why he and his music endure. Contrasting this big production with the stripped down performance that is Polydor's 1977 release, Neil Sedaka and Songs, is a good way to see how the talented composer gives consistent A performances through the years. Amazingly, a free outdoor concert in Boston in the summer of 1996, two decades after the release of Live in Australia, drew one of the biggest crowds of that year, and had Neil Sedaka in commanding form, as powerful vocally as he appears on this and the aforementioned Neil Sedaka and Songs. Despite being put on the market alongside his '70s output, Live in Australia is something the artist can be very proud of. - Joe Viglione, All Music Guide |
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Neil Sedaka Biography
If Neil Sedaka had been born a bit earlier, he probably would have felt quite at home as a straight Tin Pan Alley tunesmith. Rock and roll had taken over by 1960, though, so he made a niche for himself as one of the Brill Building's most pop-oriented...Full Neil Sedaka Biography
-- ©2008 All Media Guide, LLC
Pros: easy to remember
Cons: none
best album ever produce