Charly McClain
Charly McClain
Charly McClain "Anthology" (Renaissance, 1999)
Here's a good example of a country artist who actually benefitted from glossy, poppish production... McClain had a nice vocal presence -- sort of like an anemic, demure Dolly Parton, yet with a certain quality that made her voice seem very "present" to the listener. Still, she was kind of sluggish and lethargic in her phrasing, so adding a little extra rhythmic ooompf through the arrangements really helped, as heard on upbeat hits like "Who's Cheatin' Who" and "Sentimental Ol' You," as opposed to slower ballads, where her flat phrasing became more apparent. Anyway, McClain's fans have really been shortchanged by the folks at Sony, who have held her hits back for years... This now-out-of-print 2-CD set is the only decent best-of to collect her original hits of the 1970s and '80s, and it's pretty darn hard to find. Worth looking for, though.
Charly McClain "Here's Charly McClain" (Epic, 1976) (LP)
It'd be pretty surprising if we ever see this one back in print, but with the digital age still opening before us, who knows what the heck might happen. Anyway, here's Charly McClain's debut album, a nice slice of sedate, mid-'70s countrypolitan, showing how a modest-voiced singer can actually be buoyed by slick studio work, if it's kept simple and restrained. McClain's funny: she seems to have such a slight, tiny voice, yet she works inside the accompaniment quite well, rising to the fore and delivering these syrupy tunes with a reasonable sense of gusto. They even tried to have her sing a honkytonkish tune or two, such as "Leaning On The Bottle (And Slowly Falling Down)" (which is a great song, just placed with the wrong artist... ) This is your basic soft-poppish 'Seventies stuff: it's not gonna set the woods on fire, but anyone out there who remembers McClain's later New Wave-tinged '80s hits might be interested to track this one down and see where she started.
Charly McClain "Let Me Be Your Baby" (Epic, 1978)
Charly McClain "Alone Too Long" (Epic, 1979)
Charly McClain "Women Get Lonely" (Epic, 1980)
Charly McClain "Who's Cheatin' Who" (Epic, 1980)
Charly McClain "Surround Me With Love" (Epic, 1981)
Charly McClain "Too Good To Hurry" (Epic, 1982)
Charly McClain "Paradise" (Epic, 1983)
Charly McClain "The Woman In Me" (Epic, 1983)
Charly McClain "Charly" (Epic, 1984)
Charly McClain "Radio Heart" (Epic, 1985)
Charly McClain "Still I Stay" (Epic, 1987)
Charly McClain "Charly McClain" (Mercury, 1988)
