Portraits: A Tribute To The Great Women Of Song

Prime Cuts: Rainy Days and Mondays, Love Me or Leave Me, Send in the Clowns

"Portraits" was initially released in Australia in 2004 under a different monikor "Indigo." This album finds the Aussie bred chanteuse reaching back into the vaults for 11 songs (all ballads) often associated with female singers. To flaunt her versatility, Newton-John has chosen songs from artists as diverse as Barbara Streisand to Doris Day to Karen Carpenter to Julie London to Joan Baez to Dionne Warwick. Indubitably, comparisons are bound to be made with the originals. However, being a vocalist nonpareil, Newton-John's signature vocals is what sets this album apart. After all these years, her voice is still visceral and she still has a poignant élan.

Veteran producer Phil Ramone (who has also helmed the latest albums by Tony Bennett and Barry Manilow) is to be congratulated for not confining these songs to a specific style of production. In fact, each cut almost bears its own identity. Framed by some Arcadian sounding saxophone, Astrud Gilberto's "How Insensitive" is given a bossa nova make over as Newton-John contemplates the awkwardness of a Dear John moment. On the other hand, the Doris Day ballad "Love Me or Leave Me" is orotund sounding with Newton-John's spot on vocals delivered with sensitivity and verve. Minnie Ripperton's pop chestnut "Loving You" is given a languid reading without, albeit disappointingly, the shrieking glass shattering high notes of the original. Of note, however, is that Lisa Fischer (the former backing vocalist of Luther Vandross and the one who brought us the classic "How Can I Ease the Pain") offers her gorgeously soulful backing vocals here as well as on the R&B tingled "Anyone Who Has a Heart."

No doubt, the highlight is Newton-John's take of Karen Carpenter's devastating beautiful "Rainy Days and Mondays." Though no one could possibly rival Carpenter's gut wrenching version, Newton-John's reading comes close. Spine thrilling moments abound as the starkness of loneliness is expounded: "What I've got they used to call the blues/Nothin' is really wrong/Feelin' like I don't belong/Walkin' around/Some kind of lonely clown/Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down." Similarly affecting is the Barbara Streisand/Judy Collins' "Send in the Clowns." Eschewing Streisand's theatrical rendition, Newton-John's approach is understated with the right dose of melancholy on this haunting Broadway classic of heartbreak.

Other than the fact that "How Glad Am I" suffers from some corny 60s feel, this is a sturdy album. With its share of interesting (and often less known) covers coupled by Newton-John's acerbic interpretations, "Portraits" is a winsome return to form.

I have been an ONJ fan for a long time. I enjoyed hearing her songs on the radio from the country tracks to Grease and then her 80's hits. Since her hits period she has come back from time to time with excellent tracks like "Deeper Than a River", "Back with a Heart" and her music for Sordid Lives plus her covers of her own "I Honestly Love You" and "Physical". Her voice has never lost its pristine, youthful quality so she is in prime condition for new pop music. But she has recorded such a beautiful collection of standards that keeps these chestnuts fresh and alive.

She first showed for me her talent for covers on her 1989 collection of lullabies, Warm and Tender. "Reach Out for Me" was a highlight of that album. Now with Portraits, she pays tribute to the women who originally recorded the songs so its great she explains her devotion in liner notes. We find out Anyone Who Had a Heart won her a talent contest in 1964, she learned to play the guitar with Where Have All the Flowers Gone, so many songs were first discoverd by her in 60's when living with her old friend Pat Carroll. As far as performances my favorites are "Anyone Who Had a Heart", "How Insensitive", and "Summertime". These songs I feel best show her vocal and emotional range. With "Anyone" I feel her pain and on "Summertime" she shows such a wide range and "How Insensitive" is sultry and sexy. I detect her expanding her lower range which happens with age and she is smart on "Lovin' You" to not hit the stratosphere with certain notes the way Minnie Riperton did and Mariah Carey does. She does not need to. She still has a great range and excellent delivery of the meaning of lyrics which make this disc such a delight to listen to.

Producer Phil Ramone just let her sing her heart out and had ideal arrangements for each song with Lisa Fischer singing background on two tracks, which keep the album from getting too sleepy as standards collections can be. If you like to hear Olivia's pure voice and enjoy these songs as much as she does you will enjoy this c.d. What's most amazing about this disc...she recorded it in only five days!

It's great to see -in perspective- how Olivia Newton-John has proved to be a great, skillful singer with the capacity to cover a wide range of different musical styles from pop/country to jazz and new age. This album of covers, produced by Phil Ramone, is a good example of the amazing voice and musical charisma of Olivia Newton-John. It's a tribute album so she, wisely, has not tried to overshadow any of the singers she's honoring but what she does is amazing, she makes the songs believable, touching and beautiful in her own way and style. It's a really good album and a great thing that it has been finally released in the U.S.