New Arrivals (Petula Clark)

Petula Clark - Color My World / Who Am I

Petula Clark - Color My World / Who Am I 
(1967) Warner Brothers Records WS1673
$3.50 + $4.00 shipping (New Old Stock)
Discogs.com

I recently picked up two sealed copies of this LP. The one that I cracked open tonight was a shrink wrapped cutout with a cool 5 for $1.49 sticker from S. Klein, a defunct department store chain in New York City from the 20's to the mid-70's. Five cutouts for $1.49? That's a bargain! I'm thinking this must have been sold in the late-60's/very early 70's, before the oil embargo drove up record prices. I've been listening to loads of Petula Clark the past year or so, and picking up original sealed vinyl whenever I see it cheap. The jacket is not in the greatest shape, and sadly, neither is the record, but the price was decent so I jumped on it. You'd like to think that all vintage sealed vinyl is going to be mint when you slice it open, but that's not always the case. I guess 50 years of bouncing around from rack to rack takes it's toll. There isn't much static on the record, but a bit of audible scuffing from the paper inner sleeve. Not surprisingly, this LP smelled like Grandma's basement in Hamtramck when I opened it.

Petula Clark's studio albums of the mid to late-60's usually featured a couple of her current singles, and few new songs (usually penned by her main writing partner back then, Tony Hatch) and at least a couple cover tunes. The cover songs range from just o.k. to embarrassing. This album was released in 1967 and follows the formula pretty close. Both the singles are superb, "Color My World" and "Who Am I". Of the cover songs, only "Reach Out, I'll Be There" works. "Cherish" would be cool if she hit some of the high notes from the original, but I guess she couldn't be bothered. The rest of the songs either suck, or fall in the embarrassing category. The worst offender of these is the opening track, "England Swings", and  "Las Vegas", which is really horrible. Petula Clark was never an album artist. She served up some great hits, but they were often surround by crap. That said, her hits compilations are mostly excellent. My favorite is The Ultimate Petula Clark (BMG Heritage, 2003, BH2 51038), which is sadly only available on CD. The mastering by Vic Anesini is excellent, and the song selection strong.