Wednesday 14th December

Oh Carly, once you were up there with Carol King, James Taylor and almost as good as Joni and Neil Young.  In the incredible wave of talent emerging in the early Seventies you were riding high.  Especially after your two great albums ‘Anticipation’ and ‘No Secrets’ it seemed you could do no wrong and would carry on developing for a few albums more. But gradually you drifted into a ‘Middle of the Road’ style and slipped way off my radar.  All that edginess was lost in the gloss of overproduction and mass audience appeal lyrics.  Did you lose your muse, or get rich too quick, or just give up on being a real artist? Who knows….

But despite that it is still a joy to play those first few records.  That voice, possibly one of the very best in the music of the Seventies still sends a shiver down my spine on songs like ‘I’ve Got to Have You’ with its’ longing and desire, and oh, that brilliant saxophone solo.  She came to real fame with the song ‘You’re So Vain’ on ‘No Secrets’ and the guessing game begun as to who she was singing about; her lovers reputedly included James Taylor , Mick Jagger and film star Warren Beatty.  But it was a brilliant song, with the cleverest lyric.

I still bought a few of her records as the years passed, and despite her distinctive voice, clear as a bell, the songs never hit the heights of those two early albums.  Oh well….