Doris' third (and last?) album is pretty far from her previous efforts... First of all. it's all over the place! Sometimes it sounds like something coming from Motown (not just the H-D-H penned Love Is Here And Now You're Gone), and then she skips to more of a grittier Stax sound. Throw in a pinch of Atlantic plus some mid-seventies schmaltz and there you have Woman. The only decent songs on this are those bookending the album: Woman Of The Ghetto is an 8-minute epic with socially aware lyrics, while Full Time Woman is a soft ballad which could have been on A Legend In Her Own Time. Doris sings wonderful throughout the album of course, and she does the best of the sub-standard material. It's worth a listen or two, but not much more...
Doris Duke - Woman
nice job with the blog! looking forward to checkin out these albums
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
ReplyDeleteI played the album all the way through and I like it. I think it's worth more than a listen or two as stated in the review you posted. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI've changed my feelings about this album though... while it fades in comparison to her earlier efforts it is a worthwile deep soul album in its own right :)
ReplyDeletethank you so much graet blog
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you changed your mind. This album and I go way back, and I had the same initial reaction. So I was going to suggest giving this album a few more spins. :)
ReplyDeleteI think the tenderness and depth she brings to "Full Time Woman" and "Love is Here..." are revelatory. I will never hear those songs the same way again.
And though "Please Come Back" could have used a little more work, the pathos she conveys in the first verse takes me there--walking down that street--every time.
"Grasshopper" and "Pick Up The Pieces" (which had to grow on me) are my other faves. And of course "Woman of the Ghetto" is simply awesome.