Retro Spins: Phoebe Snow - Something Real

Today's Retro Spin continues where we left off. Last time we talked about Phoebe Snow's 1981 album Rock Away, an album which failed to impress me, and today, we go to the opposite spectrum for her only other 80's release, 1989's Something Real.

Lackluster reviews of Snow's prior album caused her to step away from recording albums, and instead focus on commercial jingles to support her and her daughter. It wasn't until the 1988 surprise duet hit with Dreams I Dream with Dave Mason that snow would return to the studio.

However, a lot had changed in the music industry since 1981. Would Snow be able to deliver? Was the world interested in blues rock at this time? Or had we gone through the era of synth pop, and on our way to grunge?

Admittedly, I didn't intend on adding Something Real to my collection. Rather, it ended up there because of a mistake that led me to buying it instead of Rock Away. Still, I wasn't sad. Nothing wrong with adding a random 80's CD to the collection.

Going into it, I wasn't necessarily expecting much, especially based on yesterday's post. However, things quickly tanked out of the starting gate. As I fired it up, I was immediately greeted by a ballad. I've said this before, no album should start with a ballad. Your intro should rocket off the starting line, and from there find a pace, and then pull it back a bit, only to balance out and come back up a bit towards the end. A nice eb and flow.

By song three, I was still listening to ballads, and it felt like the album had already been on for an eternity. It wasn't enjoyable, and there's not much to say beyond that. A fan of Phoebe Snow, I was not. In fact, I was moreso interested in a blurb I read that she sang the jingle for a 1989 SNL skit called Colon Blow, starting the late Phil Hartman, and played that on Youtbue overtop the droning on album.

By song four I was skipping to each track, giving it a couple seconds to impress. Ballad, ballad, ballad, was all I kept hearing. Even when the pace picked up with song eight, this was still a slow tempo adult contemporary sound.

It wasn't until song nine that a truly upbeat song finally came about, a cover of the 1977 Emotions song, Best Of My Love. Then out of nowhere, track ten, Cardiac Arrest hits with a straight up hard rockin' blues sound. Too bad it was the last track on the album, too little, too late. Frankly, it should have kicked everything off, and set the tone for how the rest of the album should have been put together.

Overall, this was a corker. Unenjoyable, disappointing, and one of the rare Retro Spins that I deferred to skipping songs because I simply couldn't take it.

As for Snow, between 1991 and 2008 she would release a mix of studio and live albums. However, throughout her entire career, she was never able to find the same success she had with her gold accredited first and second albums from the 70's.

In her defence, the singer was delt a pretty hard hand throughout her life. Her at the time husband (1975 - 1978), and father of their child, informed her he was gay, leading to their divoce. Meanwhile, said daughter was born with severe brain damage, requiring signifcant care. Her overall personal life contributed to her inability to really focus on a music career, but at the same time, it's comendable that she prioritized rasing and caring for her daughter over success. Rather than chase album charts, she instead devoted her life to ensuing her child wouldn't need to be institutionalized. Her daughter sadly passed away in 2007.

Unfortuantely, it didn't get much better from there. Tragically, Snow would suffer a cerebral hemorrhage in 2010, slip into a coma, and pass away from other medical complications as a result. Man, life just really kicked her in the teeth. I suppose if there's any silver lining, at least her and her daughter are together again.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
May 16, 1981

 

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
May 16, 1987

Retro Spins: Phoebe Snow - Rock Away

Being born and raised in a musical household, a young Phoebe Laud would be shaped by the sounds of  Delta blues, Broadway show tunes, Dixieland jazz, classical music, and folk music recordings which were played around the clock. It was these sounds that would lead her to picking up the guitar, and learning to play.

After graduating high school, she could be found on the campus of Shimer College, where she would go from place to place with her guitar. Rather than focusing on graduating, Laud would instead go to local clubs at any opportunity to perform on amateur nights.

It was in 1972 at The Bitter End club that co-owner of  Shelter Records, Denny Cordell, would see her perform. Immediately impressed, he convinced his partner, Leon Russell to sign her. Adopting the stage name, Phoebe Snow, she would release her self titled debut in 1974.

The single, Poetry Man would become a top five hit in 1975, and garner a Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist. This success would be followed by a tour as the opening act for both Paul Simon and Jackson Browne. She would also appear on Saturday Night Live with Simon and Linda Rondstadt that same year, where she would perform both solo and duet songs.

Legal conflict and battles with Shelter Records would lead to Snow signing with Columbia Records to release her next two albums, Second Childhood, and third entry, It Looks Like Snow. Both were released in 1976, and while the first would meet with the same gold certification as her debut, the latter would not fare as well.

1977 would see the release of the album, Never Letting Go, and be followed by Against The Grain in 1978. However, stresses of having to jugle a musical career with being a parent ultimately resulted with her leaving Columbia, unable to focus on music.

It wouldn't be until 1981 that she would return to the studio, signing with Mirage, to release today's Retro Spin, Rock Away. For me personally, Phoebe Snow didn't land on my radar until sometime in 2023, when I heard the tune, Games. It intrigued me enough that I wanted to track down the album.

I knew going into it, based on Games, that the album was going to be a departure from the genere norm I was more accustomed to. I expected a blues rock album, and Rock Away certainly delivers this in spades.

Unfortunately, what it doesn't deliver is too many hits. Of the ten tracks, Shoo-Rah Shoo-Rah was the only other song, in addition to Games, which piqued my interest. Even then, I wouldn't say it was necesarily a powerhouse of a track.

The album is a bit to ballad driven for my tastes, and in reading the original reviews upon its release, I appear to not be alone in this aspect. Many felt that Snow's departure from her prior styles of music hindered her ability to have any impact. Having not personally heard anything prior to her 1981 album, I have to take their word when they say she shines when she moreso replicates the stylistic vocals of Bonnie Raitt.

Overall, for me, Rock Away didn't resonate, and this was kind of disappointing. I was really expecting something powerful, a good blues rock album with hard hitting guitar work, which I simply didn't get. But, again, I don't appear to be alone in this impression.

After its lackluster reception, Snow would take a long hiatus from the studio, not returning until 1989's Something Real. In between this, she would focus her talents instead on singing commercial jingles for the likes of AT&T, General Foods International Coffees, Salon Selectives, Stouffer's, and Hampton Bay Ceiling Fans. She would also provide the vocals, typically only for the first season, of popular shows such as A Different World, and 9 to 5.

I'm honestly not very interested in listening to her final album of the 80's, but at the same time, I kind of want to jump into it just to get beyond it. That's not a very strong lead in. I don't know, maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below. 

Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS
May 15, 1982