Retro Spins: Bobby McFerrin - Simple Pleasures

It was that time in the 80's where your mom and dad thought the music was cool. When Tom Cruise was at the height of his career. When the 90's were on the horizon.

1988 took a relatively unknown Bobby McFerrin and catapulted him to success with his cheerful song, "Don't Worry Be Happy". It was not only featured on the soundtrack to Cocktail, but also as the opening track to McFerrin's album of that same year, Simple Pleasures. The song spent a total of twenty six weeks on the charts, zooming to the number one spot by September 24th.

Sales boomed, making his solo album triple platinum, and Mr. McFerrin a very rich man in the process. The album also garnered the singer three Grammy Awards for Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal.

Despite this success, much like his earlier career, Bobby McFerrin fell into obscurity. While his peppy hit would become an anthem of sorts, his ability to stay relevant wouldn't mirror that. Though he continued to release eleven more albums between 1989 and 2013, I dare say not many of you reading this will know any of them. Not that I do either.

As a composition, I appreciate the details and effort that went into the album, Simple Pleasures. With McFerrin using no instruments, I can definitely see where it would be a labor of love to record an entire record creating all the music and vocals with one's own throat and mouth. My hats off for that aspect.

Unfortunately, what you won't find here are a lot of original compositions. The majority of the record features covers of already famous songs, such as The Beatles Drive My Car, The Rascals Good Lovin' and Creedence Clearwater's Susie Q, just to name a few. Now, I've said this before, and I'll say it again. If you can't improve on a cover, which is incredible hard to do, just don't do it. Again, I appreciate the effort put into an all vocal track, but at the end of the day, write your own music. There's a reason those people sitting in bars singing cover tunes aren't famous - or known in any facet.

Overall, big respect for the effort, but a thumbs down for the album as a whole. It was fine to hear in its entirety. However, there;s no replay value here. Well, unless you're in a preschool class. I'm sure it would be a big hit there.

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