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songs. Except for the frothy September
in Montreal, those songs were serious,
sometimes heavy, with Bisson’s emotional
voice delivering all of their weight.
This album, as its title suggests, is
a lot lighter. Though the first disc was
done with the Quebec audiophile label
Fidelio, this one is on her own label, with
the marketing done by the juggernaut,
Universal Music. Universal suggested
she make the disc more commercial by
including some standards (read: pop
songs that left the hit parade to enter
the light jazz realm). She did, though
the results are uneven. The Nearness of
You and Jobim’s How Insensitive are both
gorgeous, but are ill-suited to Bisson’s
emotionally-charged voice. So is another
standard, In the Wee Small Hours of the
Morning, which opens a cappella. That’s
risky, and the risk doesn’t quite pay off.
With a Little Help From My Friends works
much better. She sings it at a much slower
tempo than Paul McCartney does, but
she does it justice, and I was amused
by the accompaniment, which closely
evokes that of the Beatles themselves.
Still, it is her own songs that are
worth waiting for. Ripples is a delightful
slow ballad, with only Bisson’s solo
piano, without the strings and synths
of some other songs. The same is true
of My Little Boy, which is a love song
despite the title. What’s Wrong With Me
is a lively big band swing tune, and it is
a showstopper. Also terrific is I Like You
Too, borrowed from an album that Julie
Lebon did two decades ago (with music
by Guy St-Onge). It’s great fun, with
a plot twist I wouldn’t dare give away.
Looking down the list, she has perhaps
six keepers out of the dozen, and that as
you know is way better than average.
Let me mention Guy St-Onge again,
since it is evident that without him this
recording would not exist. He is Anne’s
mentor, arranger, co-producer, and a lot
more. There are few instruments Guy
can’t play with supreme virtuosity. On
Roger Water’s Us and Them he plays
piano, bass, drums, percussion, celesta,
vibraphone, accordion, barrel organ,
chimes and synth. Not at the same time,
I would assume, and so thank goodness
for multitracking.
The recording exists in both CD
and LP form, and they are not of equal
quality. In the case of Blue Mind, the LP
sounded wonderful, whereas the CD was
dull and unfocused. I thought Fidelio
should have refused it. This time it’s the
reverse. The CD sounds terrific (besides,
it has three more songs on it), and it’s the
LP that left me wanting.
Anne Bisson says that her recordings
are a hit in Asia as well as North
America, and I’m not surprised. There
seems to be dozens of pretty female
Asian singers with good elocution, but
who don’t appear to have any clue what
they are singing. Anne Bisson knows
exactly what she’s singing. contents. For a start,
she wrote a lot of it.
Pick up Blue Mind too, on vinyl if you
can.
reading material for free.
WHY A FREE ISSUE
to break away from the standard rock
format of guitars and drums by introducing
orchestral strings in their new band.
Ads were placed in British magazines
and on the poster board of The Royal
Academy of Music, with the happy result
that two cellists, a violinist, a keyboard
player and a bassist joined the founding
fathers.
The next challenge was how to
capture the string sound on a live stage.
Contact mikes sitting on the cello body
We remember when a number of competitors were less would than effective, and after two
put on line only only the cover image and years the table of experimenting, of
their sound
engineer solved the problem by using
We would tell them that you don’t go fishing technology without bait. which is commonplace today,
Sure, we live from what you spend through but our was site new and then — building transduc-
the pages of our print issue. But you could ers spend into the days instrument bridges.
Was the orchestra’s stage presence
We think that’s the only way we can convince all that you different of the from that of the usual
UHF difference, guitar, drums, and keyboard format?
of why you might want to trust us with the future The string of your section had an image that
music or home theatre system. stood out. One cellist wore a monk’s cap,
We have readers on every continent except coupled Antarctica. with a full tuxedo and Converse
Most of them discovered us on line. All-star sneakers. The violinist strutted
They read a lot of our free material. the stage wearing a very long black cape
And then they joined us.
covering his high-heeled boots. Flower
power shirts and the prerequisite long
hair and beards completed the look.
Sound production left a lot of notes
in the lurch in those days. The Moog
synthesizer comes off sounding like a
slightly strangled French horn, and the
overall balance of strings and guitars
in the 1972 concert was totally out of
whack.
By 1974 much had changed. Banks
of amps there were not, but the seven
instrumentalists on stage were a coher-
Electric Light Orchestra Live ent group, with the cellists now off their
ELO
chairs and onto their feet, dancing all
Eagle Vision
over the place, even clutching the cello
Steve Bourke: With Jeff Lynne song- horizontally, like a bass guitar. The cellos
writing, singing, and playing lead guitar have stepped forward into a primary
for one huge hit after another, ELO position in the rock orchestra, while
scored a baker’s dozen of top ten singles, the violin is barely heard — a dramatic
during a run of popularity that spanned change from the earlier arrangements
nine years, from 1972 to 1981. These when the violin regularly performed
three live concerts from 1976, 1974 and jazzy solos on stage.
1973, amount to a detailed and fascinat- By the time of the third concert ELO
ing look at the evolution of rock concert had established itself as full-fledged
staging and image-making from an era members of the British and American
many of us recall with fond nostalgia. rock elite, thanks to a string of hits on
The band that became a rock orches- both sides of the Atlantic. Does its music
tra was founded by Jeff Lynne and Roy hold up today, in spite of the enormous
Wood, both former members of The explosion of all musical genres since the
Move, a UK rock group. They wanted seventies? You be the judge.
ULTRA HIGH FIDELITY Magazine 73
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