Crayons

Crayons

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Betty Elders is perhaps best known for co-writing "He Never Got Enough Love" with Lucinda Williams, but Elders's own recordings sound less like Williams's country-blues and more like the literary folkie records of Nanci Griffith, Patty Larkin, and Shawn Colvin. At its best, Crayons draws us into the interior world of a woman mulling over her desires and regrets in private. At its worst, the album descends into sentimentality. The singer's husband is Gene Elders, a longtime stalwart of George Strait's Ace in the Hole Band and one of the last great Texas fiddlers. He leads a wonderful string band, featuring mandolinist Paul Glasse and bassist Mitch Watkins, which makes the songs sound as good as they possibly could. The band is especially effective when Betty Elders gives them a real rhythmic pulse to work with, as she does on the lovely Celtic air, "My Father's Home" and the bluegrass-flavored homesick tune, "Roll on New River." --Geoffrey Himes

Tracks:

Shout
Leave A Little Love
To Sir With Love
The Boat That I Row
Dreary Nights And Days
Best Of Both Worlds
Me, The Peaceful Heart
Boy
Sad Memories
Morning Dew
Without Him
Oh Me Oh My (I'm A Fool For You Baby)
Hum A Song (From Your Heart)
After The Feeling Is Gone
Everybody's Got To Clap
Watch That Man
The Man Who Sold The World
The Man With The Golden Gun
Don't Take Love For Granted
I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)

Album Description

"Lulu, you and I were born in the same pool. Honey, you got soul!" -James Brown. This is the first best-of featuring this '60s star-20 songs crammed on one CD spanning almost 20 years of her career.

Customer Reviews:

Any truth to this?.......2007-07-21

Wikipedia claims John Bonham of Led Zeppelin plays on Lulu's "Everybody's Got To Clap". Anyone have any verification?

Multi -Label Lulu CD Best Of IS The Best!.......2007-06-30

There is not a CD of Lulu's that is more career encompassing than this CD. It features ALL of her biggest & best hits in the US, including many only found on this CD. I love it for the songs that she did for ATCO, which include the phenomenal OH ME OH MY [ I'M A FOOL FOR YOU BABY ] - blue eyed soul at it's best. AFTER THE FEELING IS GONE is another great song too! Of course, it has every US hit from all the labels she recorded for on this from SHOUT through TO SIR WITH LOVE to I COULD NEVER MISS YOU [ MORE THAN I DO ].

Next, we need the original ATCO albums released on CD - NEW ROUTES and MELODY FAIR. It is inexplicable how these classic albums from 1969 & 1970 are not on CD yet anywhere in the world! Lulu continues recording and touring , and is certainly visible & viable in the world today. Look at her appearance on AMERICAN IDOL. Let's hope some label issues her ATCO recordings in full soon. Long overdue Lulu.

This CD is a must!

Terrific sound quality!.......2006-06-20

"To Sir With Love" is so clean, it's sounds as if you're in the studio. Comes as no surprise to this reviewer, always having good luck with Rhino releases. Collectors will also like the fact this CD includes Lulu's last hit from the early 80's: "I Could Never Miss You", a hard to find single until Rhino included it in the compliation.

To Lulu with Love.......2003-12-21

In the camp between the hipsters and squares, Lulu, the daughter of a Glaswegian butcher, was in the latter category along with Nancy Sinatra, Dusty Springfield, and Petula Clark, who did harmless inoffensive pop. She could do a nice lilting strings ballad like "To Sir With Love" or could let loose with her Petula Clark/Ronnie Spector-ish vocals on the soulful "Oh Me Oh My (I'm A Fool For You, Baby)." Chartwise, she didn't score too many Top 40 hits, but since when is that THE measure for how respected an artist is?

Her time with the Luvvers is represented by her cover of the Isley Bros.' classic "Shout," which although it didn't do well on the charts, became the song she became most associated with in the UK. Her voice is really scratchy and shrill in this song, but it doesn't detract from the song. Here are the highlights.

"Leave A Little Love", her first solo single, hit #8 in the UK and demonstrated her ability to sing nice pop ballads backed with vocalists and piano.

Her biggest and only #1 US hit, the ballad "To Sir With Love" from the movie she also co-starred in, is a tribute to a teacher who teaches Judy Geeson's character to grow up "from crayons to perfume". Originally the B-side to her cover of Neil Diamond's "The Boat That I Row" the US DJ's played it and made into a hit. The soaring vocals, strings, and guitar embodies the epitomy of 60's pop, coming as it did in 1967. She does a competent version of the Diamond song, featuring the organs made popular in that decade, and it made to #15 on the US charts.

The engaging "Me The Peaceful Heart" a #9 UK single, bombed at #53 in the US, shows her wondering why bad things happen to her, but she takes it all in style. Songs like the rocking "Boy" and "Sad Memories", with a folky twinge, "Morning Dew", with horns and orchestra a la Nancy Sinatra's middle period, and Harry Nilsson's "Without Him" were all done in 1968, showing her versatility in doing varied styles.

Two songs with the Dixie Flyers, "Hum A Song (From Your Heart)" and the ballad "After The Feeling Is Gone" are included, and shows her leaving the 60's pop scene, embracing more string arrangements and a Southern soul sound. Such is also the case with the harmonious and clapping "Everybody's Got To Clap", written by her husband, Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees.

In the 70's, she covered a few Bowie songs of which "The Man Who Sold The World" and "Watch That Man" are included, featuring backing vocals from Bowie, himself a fan of Lulu, and produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson. The musicians were the Spiders, BTW. And she joins the hallowed few who does a James Bond song, the brassy "The Man With The Golden Gun."

However, her ballad single from Elton John's Rocket label, "Don't Take Love For Granted" and her single from Alfa Records, the #18 "I Could Never Miss You (More Than I Do)" shows her vocals matured and at their best, with the strings backing making these the best songs on this collection, rivalling "To Sir With Love."

And this is a Rhino compilation, so the Billboard chart position for each song is listed. However, why exclude her highest charting UK hit, the #2 "Boom Bang-A-Bang"? After all, she is an islander. Lulu may not have had the legendary reputation and smooth vocals of Dusty Springfield, but she held her own in the 1960's and 1970's.

Oh, and trivia: Lulu got her name who her manager said of her, "she's a lulu."

That's MS. Lulu To You!.......2003-11-12

Remember that perky little blonde/redhead from the sixties that sang, "To Sir With Love"? Oh yeah. Well, she never disappeared - only in the old USA. That girl born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie in 1948 had her first big hit, "Shout" (Isley Brothers) in 1967 at the age of fourteen. That song alone regularly sold enough copies to be in Britain's TOP 200 for the following 20 years!

She's recorded hit songs (on this set) written by Neil Diamond, Don Black, Mark London, Harry Nilsson, the Bee Gees, David Bowie and John Barry. The latter writer gave her, "The Man With The Golden Gun", a Bond film classic theme song. Oddly enough, Bowie was a big Lulu fan and helped her release, "Watch That Man" and "The Man Who Sold The World". Her song choices range from ballads to rock and roll standards. In the sixties she was virtually protected by the likes of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles who she had toured with. She was a legend as a teenager.

This collection of twenty songs is great, even if it only goes as far as 1979. However, Lulu continued past that to this very day. If you can find her UK LP recording of "Independence", it is well worth the cost. Lulu proves that as a little Scottish lass, she is still at top form in her fifties. She has that kind of voice.

Love Takes a Whole Box of Crayons
Average customer rating:

My kids can't stop playing it!

Great for adults and kids

Love Takes a Whole Box of Crayons

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000059GBT
Release Date: 1995-06-26

Tracks:

My Brother Ricky's For Sale
Popcorn
A Fishy Song
Nicholas the T-Rex
Nobody's Perfect
Love Takes a Whole Box of Crayons
Wonderful Boy
Blueberry Eyes
Similarities
Sail Away
I Still Believe in Rainbows
Sail Away [Reprise]

Album Description

Award winning family/children's album.

Customer Reviews:

My kids can't stop playing it!.......2001-04-27

We heard about this somewhat unknown cd as my 4 1/2 year old son was car pooling to pre-school with a neighbor who had taken it out of the library. He could not stop playing "My brother Ricky's for Sale". There are many memorable songs- silly and catchy. Now I must go out and buy it. There are only so many times you can take out a cd from the library! He was singing it all through the grocery store aisles!

Great for adults and kids.......2001-03-27

This CD may be the most underrated children's CD around. It truly is a family CD. The first five songs are geared right at kids, and they may take some getting used to since the performance was recorded live, and kids don't always sing along in tune. However, the parents' part kicks in for the second half of the CD with songs that could bring tears to your eyes. The title track alone is worth the CD, but Wonderful Boy, Sail Away, and I Still Believe in Rainbows all are worth the listen. Great whether you have kids or not!

Average customer rating:

What Color Are You?
The Crayons
Manufacturer: Cropduster Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0006M2E0Q
Release Date: 2003-01-07

Tracks:

Allyson Fell off the Bike
Can You Feel?
In a Jar
Sink Below
Cruz
Say Hello
Today
Underground
Surround Me
Sunshine Parade

Product Description

In "Like New" condition

Average customer rating:

A SONGWRITING TREASURE
Rose among the thorns...

Crayons
Betty Elders
Manufacturer: Flying Fish Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Singer-Songwriters | Contemporary Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000000MVI
Release Date: 1995-04-15

Tracks:

The Long Night
Just to have You Hum Along [The Futon Song]
My Father's Home
Pastel
Caryons
War Between The Fears
Silver Wheels
Gypsy's Jewel
What Love Can Do
Friend Of Mine
Roll On New River
In my Dreams
In This Place Of My Forgiveness

Amazon.com

Betty Elders is perhaps best known for co-writing "He Never Got Enough Love" with Lucinda Williams, but Elders's own recordings sound less like Williams's country-blues and more like the literary folkie records of Nanci Griffith, Patty Larkin, and Shawn Colvin. At its best, Crayons draws us into the interior world of a woman mulling over her desires and regrets in private. At its worst, the album descends into sentimentality. The singer's husband is Gene Elders, a longtime stalwart of George Strait's Ace in the Hole Band and one of the last great Texas fiddlers. He leads a wonderful string band, featuring mandolinist Paul Glasse and bassist Mitch Watkins, which makes the songs sound as good as they possibly could. The band is especially effective when Betty Elders gives them a real rhythmic pulse to work with, as she does on the lovely Celtic air, "My Father's Home" and the bluegrass-flavored homesick tune, "Roll on New River." --Geoffrey Himes

Customer Reviews:

A SONGWRITING TREASURE.......2000-12-06

Betty Elders work in general, and her two latest albums in particular (of which this is the newest) are some of the finest examples of contemporary songwriting available. She has a wonderful voice, crafts some of the most beautiful arrangements around her songs, and has a unique way of opening her heart to her audience through her art that is rare in a business that is so full of shallowness. From the first words of 'The long night', the listener is pulled in, aware that something very special has been gifted here. This is music to envelop the heart and soul, music to heal, music to treasure. Some of Austin's finest musicians add their tasteful touches to complete the package. Also recommended: her previous cd, PEACEFUL EXISTENCE, which contains two songs covered in recent years by no less an icon than Joan Baez....

Rose among the thorns..........2000-03-25

"Crayons" is the fourth album since 1981 from this incisive, original artist. Her songs - - almost simple at a glance, are deceptive and enthralling. This woman is no shrinking violet. With each successive listen, one finds layers of insight and genuine wisdom woven deftly in and around soaring, powerful melody lines. Favorite cuts of this ilk are "Pastel," "Gypsy's Jewel" (Bonnie Raitt oughta cut this one), "Crayons" the title cut, "My Father's Home," and the sobering, brooding "War Between the Fears." Too bad Amazon doesn't make available Ms. Elders three other albums, as well; "Peaceful Existence" (1995; the true five-star jewel in her crown, from which Joan Baez borrowed "Crack in the Mirror" and "Long Bed from Kenya" on her 1997 Gone From Danger CD), "Daddy's Coal," (1989) and " After the Curtain" (1981) - - all great albums, great writing, and pristine production from Ms. E. And each as gratifying an aural experience as "Crayons!" Given the current morass of musical mediocrity, this album is truly a standout.

Average customer rating:

Happy Happy Birthday to Me - Volume 3
63 Crayons , Apartment Star , Bugs Eat Books , Lake Holiday , Shermans , Friends of Sound , Laura Waitling , Her Majesty's Orchestra , Loch Ness Mouse , and Various Artists
Manufacturer: Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000EMRBQU

Product Description

Track Listing: 63 Crayons - Charlotte Jones Apartment Star - Wake up with some Melodies Bugs Eat Books - Converse Blues Lake Holiday - Awake Too Long Shermans - Monday Friends of Sound - Saturdays Laura Waiting - Crush Her Majesty's Orchestra - Silver Linings Loch Ness Mouse - My Cat and Me Maybellines - On and On Poison Control Center - All Summer Long Moogle Charm - Subject was Roses Ethnobabes - Uncle Tables - Living Next Door To Alice in Wonderland Elekibass - You Share the same heart in theory Casper and the Cookies - Harpo's Blues Magic Tennies - Secrets Jen Turrell - Better off Love Letter Band - Mike Moran The Orchid Pool - Fever Dream Transparent Blue Extravaganza - My Thoughts Disappear Sunshine Fix Electric Blues Band - Run Run Away Twin Atlas - Plains of Saviors Aqpop - Feature making quibble Pop Off Tuesday - Instant Cycles Bidston Moss - Elwitt Come in the Evening Bellhouse - Bathwater

Average customer rating:

Les Crayons
Bourvil
Manufacturer: Sony Music Media
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music

International | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004VDF8
Release Date: 2000-05-29

Average customer rating:

Get It. Got It. Good!
The Crayons
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000UJDV02

Product Description

9 tracks: Sunshiine, Fortune Cookie, Off the Hook, Sunday Evening 8PM, Home, I Don't Know Why, Mumbles, Without You

Average customer rating:

Colorblind Chameleon
Box of Crayons
Manufacturer: Lost&
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B00000B79R
Release Date: 1997-09-29

Tracks:

Calico
Circles In The Rain
Ashes Ashes
Tapastry
Hurting Place
Mona Lisa
Paradox (Part 1)
Busy Signals
Calico (Reprise)

Average customer rating:

good album for good people who like good music

Good People

Manufacturer: Happy Happy Birthday To Me
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Pop | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Alternative Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | Pop | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0002JVUX0
Release Date: 2006-06-27

Tracks:

Sam's Pancake Breakfast
Song For My Sister
Go Now April
Rocketship
Walking
Making A Mess
Mrs Brewster
One Chord For Peace!
Mice and Feathers
It's About Time!
The Mold
a) All Songs At Onceb) Suzy Eats An Apple (Anaerobic Glycolysis)
Popcorn

Product Description

recorded during the summer and fall of 2003 at Bel Air studios in athens ga, 63 Crayons gives the world their first full length Good People. Their songwriting has developed and their sound has grown. They took full advantage of their first opportunity to record in a studio and created an exhuberant record that is bursting with psychadelic pop freakouts and spirited sonic diversions. 63 Crayons began in 1999 in Roanoke, Virginia, when Suzanne let Charlie borrow her 4-track and Charlie started work on his first batch of real songs. Charlie was an obsessive headphone junkie who really dug the sounds of bands such as the Beatles, Beach Boys & Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd. He wanted to start a psychedelic band of his own but was afraid there was no one to help him out. So, he recorded all of the songs himself using whatever instruments happened to be lying around the house.He thought, "These songs sure would sound great with keyboard player...and maybe with some sound effects and theremin we could play live and it wouldn't be half bad." Charlie decided to let his friends Ben and Suzanne hear his recordings and see what they thought. They were both very excited and said they would love to start a band with him.So they did....and it was called . 63 Crayons.

Customer Reviews:

good album for good people who like good music.......2005-12-31

This album is very good, its in the style of bands like Of Montreal and The Unicorns, which are in turn in the style of bands like The Beach Boys but with a contemporary indie rock sound.