Now We May Begin

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Customer reviews

review by: davethorn13 date: 2007-09-20 rating:
Rare, classy soul
I've little time for most singers in this genre. Houston, Carey, Braxton, etc are all just interested in trying to hit as many notes as possible with the song a secondary consideration. Randy Crawford's distinctive vibrato, by contrast, bewitched me long ago. This is an album of classy performance and production. The mellow, tinkly keyboards betray the era, but complement her dreamy voice. 'Last Night At Danceland' has a jazzy inflection that surfaces regularly, while 'Tender Falls The Rain' is her archetypal ballad performance. The deceptively insistent 'Now We May Begin' is one of the more striking songs, but the standard is pretty consistent. Then, of course, there's the hit, 'One Day I'll Fly Away,' a song that would have sounded soapy in the mouths of other singers. A fine album.

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review by: date: 2006-03-19 rating:
when your life is low
that this album contains the heart wrenching and wonderful song "one day i`ll fly away" does not tell the full story. randy released this album just after her street life single with the crusaders and indeed was produced by wilton felder, stix hooper and joe sample all of whom played on this album. so the 8 tracks are all pure class. my favourite of those is the final song "when your life was low". a wonderful retrospective song about a previous relationship. superb stuff which you just can`t find in todays musical market. if you admire vocal and musical skill of the highest order then you need this in your collection.


review by: not_a_real_folkie date: 2004-10-14 rating:
Smooth but beguiling
When "Now we may begin" was first released in 1980, Randy Crawford's career had just received an unexpected and massive boost. She'd recorded the guest vocal on a stamina-testing dancefloor song called "Streetlife" by the Crusaders, which went on to become a huge hit - and something of a soul/disco classic.pSuddenly Miss Crawford was propelled from a classy but minority-interest soulstress into The Big Time. This album, produced by Crusaders bloke Joe Sample, has the gloss of a big-bucks production, with no-expense-spared session musos and sumptuous strings. Fortunately the songs are strong enough to take it, as is R.C.'s voice, and the result is quite compelling.p"Last Night At Danceland" was a hit in the UK, and features a tight, spacious almost Chic-like backing with those strings holding back enough to let the rhythm cut through. Randy protests how she "felt like Ginger Rodgers after she lost Fred Astaire", and it all gels beautifully. The next track, "Tender Falls The Rain" is heartbreaking in its simplicity, and should be kept close at hand whenever love's cruel elbow gives you the shove. The way the intro is in a different key to the main song is a neat touch.pThe whole album is sheer class - "Blue Flame" glows angrily under its candy-coated surface and "My Heart..." sounds almost world-weary. Throughout, Randy Crawford's bewitching vocals are amongst her heartfelt best and, although this is a radical departure from her previous back-to-basics soul album "Raw Silk", she never completely sold her soul to The Man. Class.

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