Take a Picture is a 1968 album by singer-songwriter Margo Guryan and her sole album release.
| Take a Picture | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1968[1] | |||
| Recorded | New York[2] | |||
| Genre | Sunshine pop, baroque pop | |||
| Length | 30:52 | |||
| Label | Bell | |||
| Producer | John Hill, John Simon, David Rosner[2] | |||
| Margo Guryan chronology | ||||
| ||||
Album information
editPrimarily a songwriter, Margo Guryan signed to Bell Records as an artist, recording the album, Take a Picture (1968), full of light, jazz-tinged pop melodies, produced and arranged initially by John Simon, then when he became unavailable, by John Hill, both overseen by David Rosner.
The musicians on the record included Hill on guitar, Kirk Hamilton (flute, bass), Phil Bodner (oboe), Paul Griffin (keyboards) and Buddy Saltzman (drums).[3]
John Simon produced and arranged "Don't Go Away" prior to leaving to produce Janis Joplin. Simon had worked on an arrangement of "Think of Rain" for The Cyrkle that was not used, which incorporated aspects of Bach's "Air on the G String". This inspired the writing of "Someone I Know", which incorporates "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring".[2]
The album was preceded by a single entitled "Spanky and Our Gang", a tribute to the band who had had a hit with "Sunday Morning", backed with her own version of "Sunday Morning".[4] The single was included on the Japanese reissue of Take a Picture.[5]
Guryan refused to tour, having been married to a jazz musician and having seen "too much – performing required an agent, and a manager and a lawyer and a booking person and... you got owned by these people – they told you where to go, how to look, how to dress, what to say, and I didn't want that! [...] I guess I had about enough 'daddy' when I was five, and I just didn't like being told what to do."
As a consequence of this, the label ceased promoting the album and it thus failed to make an impact.[6][7] Resigned to this, Guryan withdrew from performing, although she continued as writer for April-Blackwood for several years afterwards, and worked with Rosner producing records for other artists.
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
Take a Picture was praised by Billboard, who remarked on Guryan's "fine sound" which it characterised as "commercial" and said "should insure strong sales".[1]
AllMusic said, "Although the song structures are simplistic on a superficial level, the arrangements beneath them are anything but. There are all kinds of intriguing things going on with or underneath the melody, either instrumentally or via affect."
Rolling Stone said the album " is an early prototype for countless lounge and dream-pop excursions, and bridges the gap between Burt Bacharach and Belle & Sebastian. The hazy production is loaded with horns, strings and sumptuous harmonies". [9]
Track listing
editAll tracks composed by Margo Guryan
- "Sunday Morning" – 2:20
- "Sun" – 2:36
- "Love Songs" – 2:37
- "Thoughts" – 2:25
- "Don't Go Away" – 2:04
- "Take a Picture" – 3:08
- "What Can I Give You?" – 2:31
- "Think of Rain" – 2:25
- "Can You Tell" – 2:34
- "Someone I Know" – 2:46
- "Love" – 5:26
Personnel
edit- Kirk Hamilton – bass, flute
- Buddy Saltzman – drums
- John Hill – guitar
- Paul Griffin – keyboards
- Phil Bodner – oboe
Technical
- Fred Catero, Glen Kolotkin, Lou Waxman, Roy Segal – engineer
References
edit- ^ a b Billboard Album Reviews – Special Merit Picks, Billboard 19 October 1968, p.72
- ^ a b c Q & A with Margo Guryan ~ mtt (music times two)
- ^ "Tangents fun'n'frenzy filled web site". Tangents.co.uk. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ Top 60 Pop Spotlight, Billboard, 6 April 1968, p.63
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Iain Lee's Best Bits". 13 October 2010. Absolute Radio. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011.
{{cite episode}}: Missing or empty|series=(help) - ^ Wolk, Douglas (9–16 August 2001), "Taken Pictures – The Margo Guryan Revival", The Boston Phoenix, archived from the original on 30 March 2013, retrieved 24 July 2012
- ^ Swihart, Stanton. "Take a Picture – Margo Guryan". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
- ^ https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/40-greatest-one-album-wonders-22108/29-margo-guryan-take-a-picture-1968-22121