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| | Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day | | | Music Artist : | | Nellie McKay | | Music Style : | | Cabaret | | Record Label : | | Verve | | Release Date : | | 2009-10-13 | | Store Price : | | $13.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $11.99 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Very Thought of You
2. Do Do Do
3. Wonderful Guy
4. Meditation
5. Mean to Me
6. Crazy Rhythm
7. Sentimental Journey
8. If I Ever Had a Dream
9. Black Hills of Dakota
10. Dig It
11. Send Me No Flowers
12. Close Your Eyes
13. I Remember You
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 Normal as Blueberry Pie: A Tribute to Doris Day
Submitted on: 2009-11-22 |
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| I heard this CD reviewed on NPR and immediately fell in love with the singer's (Nellie McKay's) voice and musical style. The CD did not disappoint. The music is gorgeous and refreshing. I highly recommend it. |
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 Straight into the Wastebasket!
Submitted on: 2009-11-16 |
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| My usual listening is to Classical. Some of it recorded decades ago. "Normal" has production values so low that the mass of delighted listeners must have been taught to expect a diet of garbage. Whatever the truth of its production may be, it sounds like each part was recorded separately and assembled by a compete amateur. Each sound source has it point-specific origin and neither blends with nor seems to belong with the other sounds. Ms McKay's much lauded voice, meanwhile, sounds on this album like she went to singing school and chose the voice she would pretend is her own from a menu. What a waste! I saved the plastic box. The only thing of value in my purchase. |
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"Gem" doesn't capture it
Submitted on: 2009-11-04 |
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I have spent some time with this album and now feel somewhat qualified to comment.
God this pains me, I am a 100% all-American male, so it's tough for me to use "foofie" little French terms, but the definition of "bijou" fits this record nicely: "a small, dainty, usually ornamental piece of delicate workmanship," or "something delicate, elegant, or highly prized."
Nellie brings us that eternal touch of delicacy, grace and elegance lost in most modern music, and especially - sadly - in modern takes on the classic jazz modes. She just "gets it."
Nellie's best by far is still "Get Away From Me" - a garrulous, madcap big-bang of long-brewed genius, in my opinion easily one of the very best records of the "00's". This would be her second best, in qualitative terms, to my mind and my taste.
It is rare for an artist to cover a song as good as or - even rarer - better than the original. For the "equals," "They Won't Go When I Go" by George Michael (covering Stevie Wonder), and for the "betters," "Nothing Compares 2 U" by Sinead O'Connor (making a silk purse out of Prince's plodding, lackluster original sow's-ear version) come to mind. Point is they breathed enough life into and wove enough of themselves throughout a given piece to hit or exceed the mark, which is super rare. Usually it's some starry eyed artist in love with a tune, feeling the reflexive need to spit it back out, when they don't realize their attraction and even obsession over it was due to it's already-there extreme high quality. And then they miss the mark. And I hate that.
This whole record is quite in that vein of improvement or high quality deviation from the original. This is an artist who can take the bones of material and weave her own beauty around them.
My exposure to standards is extensive; my exposure to Day is limited to like one record ("A Guy Is A Guy" being one stuck-in-my-head anti-highlight/minor guilty pleasure) and Pillow Talk. In other words, limited. But it's so cool to see a jazz geek getting geeked up about their niche fandom. Because I have one or two of those, too. Oh and Nellie is the hottest nerd alive. Mmmmm...hot nerds.
Finally, the feather-pillow beating in the liner notes regarding vegetarianism...it didn't work. ;) Sorry, the stuff is just too tasty.
- Matt Jackson
p.s. I can admit to being a serial music thief on torrent, but this is one record I never once considered not paying for. It's just too tailor made for my tastes, and I must encourage more records and artists like this one. |
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 Still waiting for Nellie to fulfill her promise
Submitted on: 2009-11-02 |
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I'm an early fan of Nellie. Nothing like her energy and in-your-face assertiveness can come close to her. She is a brilliant instinctive songwriter and singer. She's not nearly at that celestial level on piano (she's good, only not like Judith Hill, closer to pop divas Alicia Keyes and Imogen Heap). She is determinedly idiosyncratic - she has a particular affinity for conservative 50's swing. She is a charismatic performer (honed, like Bette Midler, at gay nightclubs). Her earlier albums were full of clever music ideas and witty hooks, and her growth as an artist in the past has included distinguished undertakings in theater and film, while her songwriting has not matured. But it's been a stressful passage, and she's feisty and brave; like the Dixie Chicks, she took on Columbia Records and won...sort of.
1) This album was a very good idea. Nellie's kind of played out the role of intimidatingly brilliant ingénue, and this showcases her vocal talents better, I think, than most of her own songs do (maybe because in her own songs, you have to keep a close eye out for irony, word-play, and acerbic sarcasm...and here, she doesn't need either).
Doris Day is a great choice for a retro album, partly because she, like Nellie, was smarter than most of the girls, and had to play the roles of big band girl singer, dumb pretty blonde, and undergo all the sexual harassment that was endemic for women in that era and industry. She sued her corrupt management, and won.
Underneath the 50s veneer, Day was a magnificent stylist in both big band and mainstream pop - "Sentimental Journey" and "Secret Love." Nellie's style evokes Doris Day without imitating her. Unfortunately "Secret Love" is not on this compendium. There's a reason for this, I think: McKay has chosen to do a kind of, well, consciously *jazz* version of the songs. That's unfortunate, because while she has great vocal instincts, the songs are poorly accompanied (e.g., "Mean To Me" has a delicious vocal, but is overpowered by gratuitous, busy guitar fills). In other words, she has bad taste.
2) If she was going to do this album, I wish she had gotten an arranger, a la Linda Ronstadt and Nelson Riddle, rather than getting studio musician odds and ends together and improvising head arrangements in the studio. (If her accompanist were Les Paul or Joe Pass or their ilk, that would be different. But then she would have had to trust herself to a real producer and/or arranger.)
And it seems Nellie won't let anyone have any creative role in her records. It has to be PLAYED by her, ARRANGED by her, and PRODUCED by her. In other words, she has bad taste, doesn't appreciate the value of a good arrangement or top studio musicians, AND insists that everything be done her way. Here, that way seems to be low-budget jazz combos.
Doris Day would have demanded strings, or maybe just a better producer. Nellie McKay seems determined to have neither. Reluctance to collaborate with better, more experienced musicians is not a sign of maturity.
When Nellie grows up, she will be a powerful presence in pop music.
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A beautiful personal tribute that will have you tapping your toes
Submitted on: 2009-10-31 |
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You can't help falling in love with Nellie McKay.
Every album, every song, and every expression sparkles with personality and intention. While I am constantly impressed by her original music, it's remarkable how smoothly Ms. McKay manages to inject her own wry wit into this collection of classic American standards. Never shy about the distinctive twang of her own voice, Nellie McKay belts and croons with a playful joy that's rare, accompanied by appropriate arrangements and some clever instrumental performances.
The artwork included in the CD case is also a delightful surprise, simultaneously reflecting and transforming the popular image of the fresh and wholesome ingenue Doris Day embodied in her youth.
How does this young woman manage to be so many things at the same time? |
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