Composes Produces And Sings/Let It Be Written Let It Be Sung

This single CD compiles Greenwich's two solo LPs, Composes, Produces, and Sings (1968) and Let It Be Written, Let It Be Sung... (1973), with one single and a bonus cut. Composes, Produces and Sings came about after a Bob Crewe-produced single, "I Want You to Be My Baby," which had a solid mid-'60s girl-group sound, did well. The sound of the entire album, which Greenwich admits was arranged, recorded and mixed in less than a week, is upbeat, highly melodic, post-girl-group, like a more mature amalgam of the Dixie Cups and the Shangri-Las. Given the speed with which it was recorded, the first Ellie Greenwich album was a promising start, but then it took her five years to entertain another offer to record. The 1970 single "I Don't Want to Be Left Outside" is a more mature work that reveals the limitations of Greenwich's voice, which is not pretty but very expressive; the B-side, "Ain't That Peculiar," actually works far better as a more animated number that avoids too much focus on her limitations. Let It Be Written, Let It Be Sung..., cut for Verve in 1973, was an attempt to do with Greenwich's classic girl-group songs what Carole King had done with some of hers -- recast them as a the work of a serious singer-songwriter, with lots of '70s embellishments, including guitar solos and slightly jazzy arrangements, sometimes featuring horns. Unfortunately, there was room for only one Carole King in the pop culture of the era; Greenwich wasn't a good enough singer to carry the project on its own terms. Having said that, however, it should be added that the whole album is extremely attractive, and within the limits of Greenwich's voice (which is not bad, especially in these surroundings -- just not great), it's gorgeous. The CD has been processed using Sony's Super Bit Mapping system, which imparts more presence than one remembers this music having had. As a bonus, Raven has thrown on Greenwich's 1962 single "Big Honky Baby," which is one of her funniest and most passionate early performances. Greenwich's music with the Raindrops is still her most accessible work, but these tracks stand on their own as a document of her music and her own maturing sensibilities about song. ~ Bruce Eder