"...Colourless Eyes..."
The supposed comeback
"One To One" was Carole King's first album having newly signed to the
much-revered and highly prestigious Atlantic Records. But released Stateside in
March 1982 - it peaked at No. 119 with a chart run of only eleven weeks.
Produced by her old mucker
and pal Lou Adler of Ode Records and the "Tapestry" days - the
follow-up "Speeding Time" LP from 1983 fared worse. Released in the
US on Atlantic in December - it didn't chart and wasn't given a UK or even Euro
release of any note. It did have a US CD variant (early days for the format) but
that disappeared without trace pretty quickly. Historically the "One To
One" album has had a poor-sounding Wounded Bird CD Reissue in 2005 but
that's been it for either record for nearly four decades. And that's where this
twofer comes in…
England's Beat Goes On (BGO
Records) has clumped the two together, given them a revealing audio dust off
and topping off the double cherry clump with excellent presentation. Now if
only the music was worth it - here are the details...
UK released 20 October 2018
(26 Oct 2018 in the USA) - "One To One/Speeding Time" by CAROLE KING
on Beat Goes On BGOCD 1362 (Barcode 5017261213624) offers both LPs Remastered
onto 1 CD and plays out as follows (72:14 minutes).
1. One To One [Side 1]
2. It's A War
3. Lookin' Out For Number One
4. Life Without Love
5. Golden Man
6. Read Between The Lines
[Side 2]
7. (Love Is Like A) Boomerang
8. Goat Annie
9. Someone You Never Met
Before
10. Little Prince
Tracks 1 to 10 are the album
"One To One" - released March 1982 in the USA on Atlantic SD 19344
and in the UK on Atlantic K 50880
11. Computer Eyes [Side 1]
12. One Small Voice
13. Crying In The Rain
14. Sacred Heart Of Stone
15. Speeding Time
16. Standin' On The
Borderline [Side 2]
17. So Ready For Love
18. Chalice Borealis
19. Dancing
20. Alabaster Lady
Tracks 11 to 20 are the album
"Speeding Time" - released December 1983 in the USA on LP (Atlantic
7-80118-1) and CD (Atlantic 7-80118-2) - no UK release
The 24-page booklet inside a
lovely card slipcase reproduces those original LP inner sleeve details -
musician credits, photos, lyrics for both albums etc - and there's a new
appraisal of these much-maligned albums from JOHN TOBLER. An overly slick
Production and weak songs did for "One To One" and even though she
went back to a basic five-piece band format that she'd used for all those
classic Seventies albums for the "Speeding Time" project (Russ
Kunkel, Lee Ritenour and so on) - again the tunes and her voice both sounded
like they were reaching all the time for an elusive melody and mostly not
getting there.
The AUDIO is the big prize
here (new ANDREW THOMPSON Remasters) - better songs like "Golden Man"
with Reese Wynans on the Fender Rhodes now sounding great - while that slide
guitar of Robbie McEntee on "Goat Annie" is now lifted up out of the
mix. Unfortunately it accentuates other stuff - that horrible keyboard plinking
sound of the early Eighties inflicts "One Small Voice" and the same
for "Sacred Heart Of Stone" - but then elevates the ambitious
"Dancing" into a sort of sub Hall & Oates mini operatic bop-fest.
The punchy keys and gravel vocals of "Alabaster Lady" at least end a
patchy second platter on a sweet note.
The problem with both of
these albums is the distinct lack of tunes, their dreadfully dated production
and even her voice that sounds somehow drowned in all that professionally slick
musicianship that sounds the part but essentially feels soulless.
For sure this is two and
three-star material given a five-star reissue – finally bolstered up with great
audio and decent presentation. Fans should dive in, but all others should grab
a listen first before thinking these records might reflect the glories of old…
