"Mythical Kings And Iguanas/Reflections In A Mud Puddle" by DORY PREVIN – Second and Third Solo US Albums from March 1971 and December on Mediarts and United Artists – February and June 1972 UK LPs both on United Artists (April 1998 UK Beat Goes On Records (BGO) Compilation – 2LPs Remastered onto 1 CD) - A Review by Mark Barry...

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When I worked the counters at Reckless Records in Soho, London and their Islington branch – American ladies like Laura Nyro and Dory Previn divided punters – artists with such specific voices and visions that you either loved it or left. Studious students and University nerds would buy them after months of 50p reductions. Mostly, their lemon-haired characters and acidic quips were an acquired taste few seemed to want to acquire. Cut to five and half decades later and conservative tastes have changed and aficionados embrace both.

This 1998 CD compilation brings together Previn's second and third solo studio albums (and amongst her most popular) from March and December 1971 in the USA on Mediarts and United Artists (February and June 1972 in the UK on United Artists) onto one warm-sounding CD. Time to start turning the roulette wheel… Let's get to the details…

UK released April 1998 - "Mythical Kings And Iguanas/Reflections In A Mud Puddle - Taps Tremors And Time Steps" by DORY PREVIN on Beat Goes On Records BGOCD383 (Barcode 5017261203830) is a Compilation that Remasters her Second and Third Solo Studios Albums onto 1CD and plays out as follows (68:03 minutes):

1. Mythical Kings And Iguanas [Side 1]
2. Yada Yada La Scala
3. Lady With The Braid
4. Her Mother's Daughter
5. Angels And Devils The Following Day
6. Mary C. Brown And The Hollywood Sign [Side 2]
7. Lemon Haired Ladies
8. Stone For Bessie Smith
9. The Game
10.Going Home (Mythical Kings And Iguanas)
Tracks 1 to 10 are her second solo studio album "Mythical Kings And Iguanas" – released March 1971 in the US on Mediarts 41-10 and February 1972 in the UK on United Artists UAG 29186. Produced by Nicolas K. Venet – Musicians included Brain Davies and Clark Maffit on Acoustic Guitars, Peter Jameson on Slide Guitar, Electric Guitars by David Cohen, Hamilton Wesley Watt, Jr., and Louie Shelton, Lawrence Knetchtel (of Bread) with Tom Keene on Keyboards with Joe Osborn on Bass and Ron Tutt on Drums. Backing Vocals featured Abbey Hall Singers, Denny Brooks, B.G. Davies, Floyd Maffitt, Judy Mayhan, Michael McGinnis, Peter Morse and West Venet. The LP did not chart in either country

Side 1 Reflections In A Mud Puddle
11. Doppelganger
12. The New Enzyme Detergent Demise Of Ali MacGraw
13. The Talkative Woman And The Two Star General
14. The Altruist And The Needy Case
15. Play It Again, Sam

Side 2 Taps Tremors And Time Steps (One Last Dance For My Father)
16. The Earthquake In Los Angeles (February, 1971)
17. The Final Flight Of The Hindenburg (May, 1937)
18. I Dance And Dance And Smile (After An Initial Deep Split The Tremors Can Go On Indefinitely – L.A. Times)
19. The Air Crash In New Jersey
20. Aftershock
Tracks 11 to 20 are from her third studio LP "Reflections In A Mud Puddle – Taps Tremors And Time Steps" – release December 1971 in the USA on United Artists UAS 5533 and June 1972 in the UK on United Artists UAG 29346. Keyboards by Thomas Keene, Mike Lang and Perry Botkin, Jr. with Horns by Steve Douglas, Gene Cipriano, Ted and Richard Nash and Anthony Terran. Guitars by William Keane, Louie Shelton (and Banjo), David Cohen, Dennis Budimir, Thomas Tedisco and Don Peake. Bass by Joe Osbourne, Lyle Ritz and Carol Kaye.

These early BGO compilations did not come with the now obligatory outer card slipcase but the 16-page booklet with a PAUL PELLITIER (of Record Information Services) offers a four-page introduction to Previn and her female Randy Newman creations. The rest of the pages have the copious amounts of lyrics that accompanied her gatefold sleeves and finally the album credits. No name is offered for Mastering but this Liberty/Capitol Records license is Remastered. The opening track "Mythical Kings And Iguanas" was always a slightly wobbly listen, a distorted kind of keyboard sound and here it is no different only maybe controlled a little better. But apart from that tape-inherent starter, the rest of the almost baroque sounding lyric-fests sound amazingly clear - "Her Mother’s Daughter". The synths of "Angels And Devils…" are sweet but not overly trebled. A good job done.

I would be the first to admit that I found all her albums hard work. The words are brilliant for sure but the tunes lacked anything that felt like a real melody – something to move you. But then you hear her remember the lover who was gentle and the one who made love on the floor – or the smiling Hollywood sign constantly saying cheese to the poor, the tired, the pimps and the flunkies. You have Mary C. Brown jumping off the letter H because Tinseltown had not made her a star – Mary Cecilia making the grade via an Obituaries mention. Gorgeous acoustic transfer for "Lemon Haired Ladies" – Previn not expecting labels like lover or wife but hoping his one a.m. phone-calls will amount to more than her door constantly ajar after his visits to elderly clients. Time to get Bluesy and a little snide - "Stone For Bessie Smith" regaling a tale of unpaid mortuary bills, hero worship and schoolgirls who came across as Conservative when they talked but dressed like something else entirely. The roulette wheel goes round but always stops short in "The Game" – gilded walls, neon lights and antique mirrors in an honest gambling den. Her second album ends with a building crescendo return to "Mythical Kings And Iguanas" – this time stretching to five-minutes of voices – layer after layer – probably the most effective song on the LP. On to the next platter...

"Doppelganger" has our creep marching in Alabama's Montgormery Square shouting at students, trading heroin for pot, whispering obscenities on subways - but wait - that handwriting on her stoned apartment wall looks strangely familiar. Previn's "Reflections In A Mud Puddle" LP was divided into a Side 2 and Side B set of songs. You could only describe Dory's acidic jab at Ryan O'Neal and Ali Mac Graw in "Love Story" (the huge soppy movie of the day complete with an Andy Williams schlock theme song) as funny - while she lacerates the hypocrite in "The Altruist And The Needy Case" - a right on 'causes' fool who can't hold down a relationship (unselfish are his deeds). Bluesy Jazz saunters in with the Side 1 closer "Play It Again, Sam" - nice production - shuffling sticks, piano, Bass plucks - back when hearts were brave and love was true.

Side 2 gives over to suite of tunes revolving around parental influences. Daddy issues, ballrooms on ships, unexpected earthquakes and flaming airships on air all filter through the brilliantly written segued-double of "The Earthquake In Los Angeles (February, 1971)" and "The Final Flight Of The Hindenburg (May, 1937)" . There is sadness in "I Dance I Dance And I Smile..." where she wishes her Dad needed her more than young Dory needed him (some sign of approval). It comes to an end with broken promises drowning out Saxophones as the Side ragtimes out. Some love it (not me) but I know that others find her open-wound words too moving to even express.

In 1998, Beat Goes On Records also Reissued and Remastered Dory Previn's July 1973 2LP set "Live At Carnegie Hall" onto 1 CD (Beat Goes On BGOCD374 - Barcode 5017261203748) and another 2LPs-onto-1CD compilation that paired "Mary C. Brown And The Hollywood Sign" from Nov 1972 with her July 1970 US debut "On My Way To Where" (BGOCD381 - Barcode 5017261203816). 

Dory Previn was always a 'difficult' listen for many - but BGO are to be praised for transferring her albums with such audio taste - a nice job done...