Helen Reddy - I Am Woman: Essential Helen Reddy Collection

Our Price: $33.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $10.69 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details

CD Details

Music reviews of I Am Woman: Essential Helen Reddy Collection

Music Review: Best Reddy Set Available: Thorough, Diverse
Rating: 5 Stars

The set leads off with her biggest hit (and signature song), the feminist anthem "I Am Woman" from 1972. This self-penned classic brought Reddy a Grammy for best pop female vocalist and stardom. It was actually her third hit single, and for the rest of the set, this collection goes in chronological order. Her first hit "I Don't Know How To Love Him" from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar was the first hit single from an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Other early hits found Reddy championing the songwriting talents of Van Morrison ("Crazy Love") and Kenny Rankin ("Peaceful").

With "Delta Dawn" in 1973, Reddy began a string of hits detailing some colorful female characters, the others being "Ruby Red Dress" and "Angie Baby" (okay Angie was more than colorful, she was outright CREEPY!). Fortunately, these sagas were balanced by some lovely ballads like "You And Me Against The World" and "Emotion." Beginning with "Emotion" in 1975, Reddy's biggest hits for the next couple of years were predominantly ballads, be they tender ("Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady") or bombastic ("Somewhere In The Night," "You're My World"). The more uptempo fare during this time (Leon Russell's "Blue Bird," Carole King's "I Can't Hear You No More") while less successful, certainly have their charm as well. But by 1978, there were no more hits of any kind for Reddy.

Unlike other Reddy collections (such as the fifteen track GREATEST HITS AND MORE) that stick to the hits, this set also includes some of her best album tracks from her peak years. Among those included here are her breezy composition "Think I'll Write A Song" and the dramatic tour de force "The West Wind Circus" (my favorite Reddy performance). There's also some excellent soundtrack contributions: "Candle On The Water" from Disney's Pete's Dragon, her stunning take on the Beatles' "Fool On The Hill" for the documentary All This And World War II, as well as "Never Say Goodbye" from the John Belushi film Continental Divide.

It's a hit-filled set that nicely showcases Reddy's diversity.

Broadway & Vocalists CDs

• Music > Styles
• World Music
• Pop
• Rock