Known primarily for his songwriting – he wrote Charlie
Rich’s “Behind Closed Doors” and The Judds’ “Mama He’s Crazy” – Kenny O’Dell
also recorded a few albums and several singles of his own in the late 1960s and
1970s. Now Real Gone Music and Varese Sarabande Records are re-issuing his
first album, Beautiful People (1968),
along with several bonus tracks.
I’ve long been drawn to music of this period, yet had not
heard these recordings before. So it’s a treat to get to listen to them. Though
there is nothing particularly innovative or ground-breaking about these tracks,
they are nonetheless good late 1960s pop, and are mostly fun and enjoyable. And
of course they are certainly of interest to music fans.
The album opens with “Beautiful People,” the title track,
which is a fun little pop tune and a sweet love song. Kenny O’Dell sings, “You’ve just gotta be one of the most
beautiful people in the whole wide world/It’s true, it’s true, it’s true/And I
love you.” There is even a “la-la” section. Is it a bit cheesy? Sort of,
but it totally works. This song was released as a single, and reached #38 on
the pop charts. (This song was also a hit for Bobby Vee And The Strangers at
the same time.)
The flip side to “Beautiful People” was “Flower Girl,” and
it sounds exactly like what it is, an attempt to cash in on the Summer of Love.
But perhaps that is just what makes it an interesting song, in a historical
sense. It definitely feels like an
outsider’s view of the hippie thing, rather than something that came from within
the scene. “Flower girl, can you love
me/Flower girl, will you stay/Flower girl, I will take good care of you if you
want me to.”
My personal favorite track from this record is “You’ll
Break Me Yet.” It has more of a country feel (perhaps a hint of things to come from Kenny O'Dell),
and is a fun tune with some nice guitar work. This is a really good song about
knowing what you’re in for, but not being able to avoid it. Here is a taste of
the lyrics: “You’ll break me like all the
ones before/All because I ain’t got sense to walk out the door/Many are the
times I’ve tried to walk away.”
The original album concludes with “If My World Falls
Through,” a cool pop tune. I dig the chorus, with the backing vocals echoing
him: “If my world falls through/Blame it
all on you/And if my sun goes down/It’s because you’re not around.” Plus,
there are some interesting and surprising touches.
Covers
For someone known for his songwriting, Kenny O’Dell
features several cover songs on this album, including a pretty good version of
the early Neil Diamond song “Kentucky Woman.” He also does a cover of
“Different Drum,” which was written by Michael Nesmith and was a hit for the
Stone Poneys. He does a good job with it, and I like the backing vocals.
Maybe the most interesting cover is K. Walker’s “Sunshine
Dreamin’,” which has kind of a cool, relaxed feel (think Mamas & The Papas
meet Donovan or The Lovin’ Spoonful). Here is a taste of the lyrics: “Catch a ride on a butterfly/If he’ll take
you along/Sunshine dreamin’/It’s the thing to do/How about you?”
Kenny O’Dell also covers “Massachusetts.” He doesn’t
quite have the vocal range of the Bee-Gees, but this is still a worthwhile
rendition. By the way, the line “And
Massachusetts is one place I have seen” has always struck me as comical.
Does anyone else find it funny?
Bonus Tracks
This special re-issue of Beautiful People includes several bonus tracks, all singles from
1968 and 1969. The first is “Springfield Plane,” which reached only #94 on
Billboard Hot 100. This song was co-written by Harold Gay, and is about
a plane carrying him home to L.A. and to his woman.
“Happy With You,” the second single, is pretty tame,
particularly for 1968, a year when music was reaching all sorts of new
territory (think of Anthem Of The Sun
and The White Album). This one starts, “Happy
with you because you’re groovy/Satisfied too because you move me/Happy with you
when you’re making me smile, making me glad, making me cry, making me mad.”
Its flip side, “I Could Love You,” is a much better song. In this one, he sings,
“I could love you and it would be so
right/A puzzle with the parts all in place/Let it happen, and you will see it
too/That everything is groovy/I could love you.”
“Bless Your Little Heart,” the third single, is a
somewhat strange (and completely adorable) song written by Mitch Murray and
Peter Callander. In this one Kenny O’Dell sings, “In
the middle of a love affair/She went and left,” but then, “Now you’re by my side/The world is wide/The
future is smiling/Bless your heart for loving me.”
This CD concludes with “Groovy Relationship,” which is
light, fun fare. The chorus sounds like it should be the theme song for an
early 1970s sitcom: “Guess you’d say
we’ve got a groovy relationship/Giving and taking and loving each other/Yes,
I’d say we’ve got a groovy relationship/Don’t you wish that everybody could be
as happy as you and me.” I can’t help but enjoy this song.
CD Track List
- Beautiful People
- Kentucky Woman
- Sunshine Dreamin’
- I’m Gonna Take It
- Different Drum
- Flower Girl
- Take Another Look
- Massachusetts
- You’ll Break Me Yet
- Next Plane To London
- If My World Falls Through
- Springfield Plane
- Happy With You
- I Could Love You
- Bless Your Little Heart
- Join The World
- No Obligations
- Groovy Relationship
Beautiful People
is scheduled to be released on February 12, 2013 through Real Gone Music.
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