Gift of Song is the second studio album released in 1970 by Australian recording artist Judith Durham.
| Gift of Song | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 15 February 1970 | |||
| Studio | Western Recorders, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | Folk, pop | |||
| Label | A&M | |||
| Producer | Chad Stewart | |||
| Judith Durham chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
 Australian 1973 re-release | ||||
The album was re-released in 1973 and again on CD and digitally in 2012.[1][2]
The album produced the singles, "The Light Is Dark Enough"/"Wanderlove" which was released in January 1970[3] and "Take Care of My Brother".
Reception edit
Richie Unterberger from AllMusic gave the album 3 out of 5 saying "This seems to be A&M's (unsuccessful) attempt to break ex-Seeker Judith Durham into the American pop market. Not much of The Seekers' folk-pop is left on this heavily, though tastefully, orchestrated production. Durham and her handlers seem to be aiming for a Judy Collins-like Baroque-folk on many cuts, and (in other parallel with Collins) some theatrical art song-informed songs. Durham's voice is not as good or expressive as Collins', and her material isn't as stellar either. For all that, this isn't a bad record, particularly when it does get into its most melancholy classical-Baroque arrangements on "Wanderlove," "There's a Baby," and similar numbers. A couple of Mason Williams songs, "Wanderlove" and "Here Am I," are among the better offerings, and there's also a relatively little-known Harry Nilsson song, "Wailing of the Willow"."[4]
Track listing edit
- LP/ Cassette
- "Wanderlove" (Mason Williams) - 2:35
- "I Wish I Knew" (Roger Nichols, Hal Levy) - 2:50
- "There's a Baby" (Alan Bernstein, Vic Millrose) - 2:52
- "That's How My Love Is" (Clive Westlake) - 3:10
- "I Can Say" (David Reilly) - 3:38
- "Gift of Song" (Patti Ingalls) - 3:08
- "Wailing of the Willow" (Harry Nilsson) - 2:29
- "The Light Is Dark Enough" (Jean Maitland, Richard Kerr) - 2:39
- "Take Care of My Brother" (Art Podell) - 3:00
- "God Bless the Child" (Arthur Herzog, Jr., Billie Holiday) - 2:49
- "Here Am I" (Mason Williams) - 2:33
Personnel edit
- Judith Durham - vocals
- Steve LeFever - bass
- Hal Blaine - drums
- Richard Clements - arrangements
- Erno Neufeld - concertmaster
- Technical
- Mike Shields - engineer
- Tom Wilkes - art direction
- Jim McCrary - photography
External links edit
References edit
- ^ "Gift of Song by Judith Durham". Sanity. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
- ^ "Gift of Song". iTunes Australia. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Judith Durham singles". Judith Durham UK. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
- ^ "Gift Of Song". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 September 2016.