Gino Vannelli's Debut is Arguably His Best.
After listening to it, I can honestly say that "Crazy Life" is possibly Vannelli's best effort. It had been a long time coming but recently, I was finally able to locate a copy of Canadian pop star Gino Vannelli's rare 1973 debut album "Crazy Life" in a used record store.
The Jazz and light pop influences are already in place here but instead of the heavy synth and keyboard arrangements that would dominate later albums, "Crazy Life" has an overall stripped-down sound which allows the music to breath. Also, the songs are shorter and state their point within two or three minutes instead of six to eight minutes.
Nearly every song on "Crazy Life" is a stand-out. From the laid back bossa nova of the title track to the driving piano soul of "Hollywood Holiday" to the smooth blues of "Fling of Mine", the latin rhythms of "Great Lake Canoe" and the Gershwin-esque closing "Piano Song", there is plenty to enjoy during this album's brief running time (it clocks in astonishingly at just under 24 minutes total).
In later years as technology would develop, Gino Vannelli would expand his sound into what would become his trademark - a keyboard dominated sound that displayed both big band jazz and latin percussion-based influences. But on "Crazy Life", we get to hear Gino's talents without all the padding, stripped down to basic elements with plenty of space.
It's a shame that this album was not as successful as it should've been when it was first released. That definitely doesn't stop this from being an excellent collection of songs. If you enjoy Gino's later music and have never heard the "Crazy Life" album before, search it out. It's worth it. .
Gino Makes An Entrance
In fact I didn't really know he had any career before that. As with many musicians I enjoy Gino Vannelli is someone I knew only from the 45 RPM single for "I Just Wanna Stop". But he sure did and as it turns out he has turned out to be yet another undiscovered treasure in my musical journey. Now this OOP debut from 1973-if you find it it's likely to show up in the "rock" section of the record store. But as with many (namely Steely Dan-the only group to which I can librally compare Vannelli to) that possition is very misplaced;there is little to nothing "rock" or even "soft rock" about Vannelli's music. On this album what Gino presents is a very stripped down,jazzy and somewhat glossy variety of pop/R&B. The instrumentaion is absolutely wonderful-the layered Fender Rhodes and the subtle production on this music certainly puts Gino in the vanguard of what many might call "light jazz-funk". Every song is extremely strong-"Crazy Life","Hollywood Holiday","There's No Time" and the surprisingly sly blues of "Fling Of Mine". Gino even finds the space to throw in a slightly heavier variety of funk. But particularly on the latin jazz styled "One Woman Lover" Gino has a superb and unique sensability. He closes with "Piano Song"-pretty much just what it says;a piano ballad that could have been very torchy but never ends up that way. Two other things you'll love about this album is Gino's highly expressive singing and his poignant,often highly personal lyrics-personal to the point where you actually believe you are intruding on some private conversation he's having with himself. Gino is a bit much of an original to compare to others so all I can offer for reference here are albums this one might sound pretty good with;Narada Michael Waldens I Cry, I Smile,Les McCann's Layers,Stevie Wonder's Music of My Mind and Billy Joel's Turnstiles. But that's only reference-this is an album you really need to hear for yourself and make your own opinions about. And I'm pretty sure that opinion will be a good one.
The Beginning
Gino Vannelli, for me, is the only artist that creates music that transcends all of those genres. I was exposed to a wide variety of music as a child so at an early age (around 6 years old) I developed an appreciation for jazz & big-band (thanks to my father), opera, classical, broadway show tunes,& south american chanting (thanks to mother),blues, gospel,country music (from grantmother) & R&B, Funk, Rock & Roll, and Pop, courtesy of the generation into which I was born. He can create music that reminds you of any one of those, or any of them in combination. His talent is truly beyond description, and in my opinion his body of work defies categorization.
This first album, Crazy Life, made me "sit up and take notice" of his arrival on the music scene. The music made me feel as if I were in a very intimate jazz club listening to a session by a talented artist and his quartet, whose misic would make me and my friends put our drinks down, stop talking, and just listen and experience the music.
The title song "crazy life" is one of my very favorites. The lyrics a commentary on the human condition, or his experiences at the time struggling to get a record deal. The music has a european jazz, south american bossa nova sound. His lyrics are often very thoughtful.
The songs "cherizar" and there's no time" fill me with wistfulness and longing. The music is soothing, and Gino's voice again sounds like one of the instruments in the piece. Gino also uses his voice to "blend with music" on "Hollywood holiday","great lake canoe" & "one woman lover".
On some of the songs Gino features his voice coming forward. His solo rendition of "fling of mine" has the feel of a whimsical "gut bucket" blues tune. His "piano song" is a lovely saloon tune, and "granny goodbye" a poignant ode to a beloved grandmother. A few years later when my grandmother passed away, I thought about this song, though it had been a while since I had listened to the album.
I get really frustrated with critiques that classify his works as disco, rock, or pop, funk, or whatever. The beauty of much of Gino's music is that it is all of those things at once and so much more. It defies category and description. It simply is.
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WRONG Track Listing!!!! BEWARE!!!!
" Again, this track listing is INCORRECT and is not the track listing for "Crazy Life. If the track listing listed here is the one for Crazy Life, then I'm Greta Garbo! ALL THESE TRACKS ARE FOR THE ALBUM "POWERFUL PEOPLE. "
The CORRECT track listing for the album "Crazy Life" is as follows:
1. CRAZY LIFE
2. HOLLYWOOD HOLIDAY
3. THERE'S NO TIME
4. FLING OF MINE
5. GRANNY GOODBYE
6. GREAT LAKE CANOE
7. CHERIZAR
8. ONE WOMAN LOVER
9. PIANO SONG
Sooo, BEWARE, the track listing listed for this album is NOT the track listing for the album "Crazy Life," which I have correctly listed for you above. Hopefully this is just a mistake and the actual "Crazy Life" album will include the CORRECT songs listed above. Be sure to verify before you purchase. Thanks!.
The most beautiful demo tape I've ever heard !
The first of the serie is the first album Gino got released with A&M in 1973 (yeah, that makes us old all of a sudden. Thanks to clever initiatives (and modern technology), we are now able to get Gino's first releases in this mini vinyl format cd. . . ).
What you get with this cd is the aspect of a vinyl, with the frills and feel of the old lps (the cd even comes in one of those protective sleeves that was used to avoid the vinyls to get too scratched). But you also get a 24 bit remaster. Let me tell you : the sound is incredible ! I can now pump up the volume on this cd anywhere I am; car, living room, office. It is just a permanent WOW (and I normally hate that word) ! All the details are crystal clear, no distortion, and if you had, like I did, the original lp, you will not beleive all the details you were missing and you can now hear.
Now, briefly, to the songs on this collection. If you came to this page, you probably love Vannelli. If not, worse case scenario is that you are extremely curious about this genius and his music. You have only 9 tracks, and the journey is only 24 minutes long. At the time I bought this, I felt like I was robbed, and that I had purchased some sort of demo tape. Now, I just feel it is one of the albums of the seventies. Melodies and deep lyrics (Crazy life, Granny Goodbye, There's no time, Cherizar), wit under a bluesy edge (Fling of mine), jazzy beat with high pitch voice (Great lake Canoe, One woman lover), and a beautiful closer under 2 minutes, making you ask for more (Hint : just press the play/repeat button, and that will do the trick). Beautiful music, simple and fresh.
This album is blues, soul, pop, simply marvelous and an appetizer of what was to come in the next years. Enjoy it !
P. S. The listing of the tracks given here is a mistake, but it is Amazon's, not something on the actual cd. You do get the tracks that are Crazy life's witht this cd.
You can see a complete list of all Gino Vannelli discography, or go back to the Gino Vannelli tabs
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