12.3.11

Margo Guryan: Take a picture (1968)

Irresistible slice of sunny 1960s pop with memorable melodies,simple lyrics and atmosphere of hazy summer mornings - in fact,opener "Sunday morning" must be one of the prettiest morning-songs ever (right up there with Lou Reed's "Perfect day"). It is something of a cult album,with fans all over the world - once you are pulled into Guryan's magic world,chances are you will fall in love with this music. There are some special effects, circus noise and echoes sprinkled all over the place but music is so gentle,soothing and quirky that it sticks in listener's head long afterwards - no wonder this album is still around some 40+ years later.


Guryan could sing (check "What can I give you") but decidedly whispers in Claudine Longet-tone and it creates special magic. Interestingly enough,she wasn't some producer's puppet but actually songwriter herself ,so this information makes album even more special. Cass Elliot covered one of these songs for her album and clearly wanted to achieve similar atmosphere but fell flat on her face. Margo Guryan was only one and unique.

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