Disco de Carly Simon: “Hotcakes”

Carly Simon has recorded some exceptional work since this one, but "Hotcakes" remains her best. In a time when most contemporary artists base album sales on the strength of one or two "hits," Simon crafted a flawless work with nothing but winners.

"Mockingbird," featuring then-husband James Taylor, is a rockingly good gem. "Man on My Mind" and "Forever My Love" are beautifully performed. "Safe and Sound" and "Misfit" are pop enigmas, blending superb vocals with enchanting orchestrations. "Older Sister" is a reflection for anyone who is or has that particular sibling.

"Haven't Got Time for the Pain" is sincerely delivered by the singer/songwriter and the band outro...WONDROUS!

Probably half the overage guys in the country have had a vicarious crush on Carly at some point in the last 35 years. She has had a lot of great albums, and this is one of the best. [The recent "Moonlight Serenade" shows her voice to be as good as ever]. This recording is a joy-filled journey back to the 70's, and has a great singer in her absolute prime.

The two BIG HITS here are "Mockingbird" and "Haven't Got Time For The Pain". For those of us now in the grandkid years, "Think I'm Gonna Have a Baby" will sure bring back some memories, most of them wonderful. I kind of liked "Older Sister", and I suppose the title cut was meant as a joke.

Carly has also had some fabulous album covers, but I think that this tops them. WOW! Sexiest album jacket I ever saw. Anywhere. The girl absolutely glows. Proof that sexy isn't the same as provocative; she's completely covered except for hands and face, but, again, WOW. How James Taylor could be fool enough to let her get away is beyond me. Just one overage guy's opinion....

What did the unique, individual artist Carly Simon come up with after taking the music world by storm with "No Secrets" and its HUGE hit "You're So Vain"? She was a newlywed (to James Taylor) and expecting their first child. It was, obviously, a very happy period for her and staying true to her own muse, she served us up the bright, sunny "Hotcakes".

There she is, dressed in white, sitting casually in a white room drenched in bright, white light, her bright white smile beaming at us over her protruding belly...

So it is with this paean to bucolic bliss that not a really cross word or sour note is uttered. We are treated to a warm, homespun collection of songs giving us a glimpse into Carly Simon's contentedly nested world at the time.

On "Hotcakes", she continues to write songs with meaning so deep: wry, tongue-in-cheek observations of life and love ("Safe And Sound", "Misfit"); admittances of sibling admiration and awe ("Older Sister"); and, of course, testimonials to love ("Just Not True", "Forever My Love" - one of the few things she ever composed with James). Her take on being a pregnant woman at the pinnacle of fame with a record company and public hungry for more in "Think I'm Gonna Have A Baby" is just great! When she sings, "There puttin' out too many phonograph records...", she's telling the music moguls not to treat her like a commodity. I just love that! Musically belying it's nursery-sounding title, it rips along until, by the end, you can't help but tap your toes and sing along on the "la-la's".

Speaking of the actual musical sound of "Hotcakes", I really like the way Carly continued to mix in her usual diversity: "Older Sister" has a really fun 50's do-wop sound going while "Grownup" has a lush, piano-driven art-song nature to it; and, of course, there's the fun, bouncy pop-rock hit "Mockingbird". An important note of serious whimsy is added with the minute-long title track.

Carly's singing here has the usual magic: I particularly love the chiding tenderness she employs in "Just Not True", the pitch-perfect eloquence of "Grownup", the vocal theatrics of "Forever My Love" and the jubilance of the closing proclamation (and big hit, too!), "Haven't Got Time For The Pain".

With "Hotcakes", Carly Simon continued her career by focusing her artistic ability towards showing a mature woman evolving within an important phase of her life. In the process, she did what she had done before and continued to do throughout her career - take her personal musings and project them in a way in which we all can relate.

Carly released this masterwork right after the biggest album of her career, No Secrets, and it's is every bit as great. Safe and Sound starts it off, a pointed look at this crazy world we're in. Older Sister, anyone can relate to this song, brother or sister, and how we felt about our older siblings when we were that age. Just Not True is one of Carly's best vocal performances. Misfit, another relatable song. Grownup is simply beautiful. And of course the albums two biggest hits, need I really name them? The whole flow the album comes together perfectly, and contains some of Carly's best lyrics. A grade A+ release for sure!

I must confess, even though I'm a fairly new fan of hers (I was born in 1985), sometimes Carly Simon gets a little too thought-provoking for my taste. Case in point: I don't know how the lyrics about "Think I'm Gonna Have a Baby" really mesh, like the repetative mentioning of "they're putting out too many phonograph records..." Oh well, maybe it's an inside joke. But who knows? Overall Hotcakes, Simon's fourth official record, is brilliant--it definitely is her second best album after 1971's No Secrets (due to the super smash song "You're So Vain"). The standout track here is "Haven't Got Time For The Pain," featuring some brilliant orchestral work with strings, but the aforementioned "Think I'm Gonna Have a Baby" is a great song as well. "Mockingbird" is a take on an older song, featuring then-husband James Taylor, and it's decent. Overall, Hotcakes is, like its name implies, a scorcher; not her best, No Secrets takes that, but a close follow-up.