TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT
NATALIE COLE
SONGWRITER: MICHAEL FRANKS
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: ASK A WOMAN WHO KNOWS
LABEL: VERVE RECORDS
GENRE: JAZZ
YEAR: 2022
 
        Natalie Maria Cole(February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianista Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the hits "This Will Be", "Inseparable" (1975), and "Our Love" (1977). She returned as a pop singer on the 1987 album Everlasting and her cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac". In the 1990s, she sang traditional pop by her father, resulting in her biggest success, Unforgettable... with Love, which sold over seven million copies and won her seven Grammy Awards. She sold over 30 million records worldwide.
      Ask a Woman Who Knows is a 2002 jazz album by vocalist Natalie Cole, with guest Diana Krall, and receiving four Grammy Award nominations.
     Courtesy of the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra, Cole projects her aura on to songs once recorded previously by great singers like Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, Peggy Lee, Carmen McRae, Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Frank Sinatra, and Nat "King" Cole. Natalie Cole's musical choices include songs that depict the various aspects of love—its joy, its sorrow, its loneliness, and its consolation. Included are two of Dinah Washington's gems -- "I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do" and the title track, "Ask a Woman Who Knows"—both songs about love gone wrong. Cole changes the tone of the set with great scatting on the up-tempo swinger "My Baby Just Cares for Me"; big band swing "It's Crazy," the hit by her father, Nat King Cole; and the soulful "I'm Glad There Is You," which features Roy Hargrove on flugelhorn. Natalie Cole sings her engaging musical stories with priceless, nuanced phrasing accompanied by a distinguished core quintet of Joe Sample, Russell Malone, Christian McBride, Lewis Nash, and Rob Mounsey. The added dimension of Natalie Cole performing all background vocals and the backing of the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra on two songs makes the recording extra special. Overall, this is an exceptional recording that re-teams her with Tommy LiPuma, the producer of her biggest hit, Unforgettable: With Love. "Better Than Anything" is a jazz waltz devoted to "women shopping, guest vocal Diana Krall in perfect agreement that spending money is the best thing in life ("better than honey on bread, better than breakfast in bed" —lyrics by Bill Loughborough), better than anything except being in love. "I'm Glad There Is You," Latin-influenced ballad from 1941 by Jimmy Dorsey. "Calling You" is na Academy Award-nominated song from the Bagdad Café(1987) film. "My Baby Just Cares For Me," the only standard here whose title is immediately recognizable, introduced in 1928 by singer Eddie Cantor, best known as the signature tune of singer and pianist Nina Simone.
Love, when we touch I shiver
Just body language can you blame it
My love's like a raging river
And I think you're the one to tame it
You, you're the quiet, shy type
You always whisper never shout it
Ooh, Baby, you are my type
Why don't you tell me all about it
I got ways to make you
Make you tell me all about it
That's what I'm gonna do
Till you tell me all about it
Making love till you do
Till you tell me all about it
Me, I'm a lousy loner
Just call my number come be near me
Me, I'm a soulful moaner
Stay chez moi so you can hear me
You, you're the quiet shy type
You always whisper never shout it
Ooh, Baby, you are my type
Why don't you tell me all about it
(Background singers repeat:
I got ways to make you, make you tell me all about it
That's what I'm gonna do, till you tell me all about it
Making love till you do, till you tell me all about it)
I got ways
I got some special ways
I got some very special ways to make you tell me
Baby, baby
Tell me, tell me
I got ways to make you
Make you love me
(Background singers change to:
That's exactly what I'm,
That's what I'm gonna do, till you tell me all about it
We won't stop making love,
Making love till you do, till you tell me all about it
I got some ways,
I got ways to make you, make you tell me all about it)
Ooh, tell me that you love me
Tell me all about it, Baby
Tell me, Baby, that you love me...

IS THERE SOMETHING

CHRISTOPHER CROSS
SONGWRITERS: CHRISTOPHER C. CROSS; CYNTHIA WEIL & STEPHEN HARTLEY DORFF
COUNTRY: U. S. A.
ALBUM: RENDEZ-VOUS
LABEL: ARIOLA RECORDS
GENRE: ROCK
YEAR: 1993
 
       Christopher Cross(born Christopher Charles Geppert; May 3, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and composer from San Antonio, Texas. Cross won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous debut album released in 1979. The singles "Sailing" (1980), and "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (from the 1981 film Arthur) peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. "Sailing" earned three Grammys in 1981, while "Arthur's Theme" won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1981 (with co-composers Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, and Peter Allen).

Lately I see clouds of sorrow in your eyes
Some deep sadness you can never quite disguise
Now I'm scared to ask what it's leading to
But I'm more afraid of not asking you
 
Is there something that you want to tell me
Is there something that I ought to know
Are we something that's still worth fighting for
Or should I simply let you go
Is there something I can do to reach you
Are we something more than history
I'll find some way to convince you to stay
If you just tell me honestly
Is there something left of you and me
 
You've got secrets you've been keeping for too long
And I'm going crazy acting like there's nothing wrong
I can taste the truth every time we kiss
And I can't go on
At least not like this
 
I don't want to lose you
But what's the use of holding on
I don't really have you
If the feeling's gone
 
Is there something I can do to reach you
Are we something more than history
If there's no way to convince you to stay
And be the way we used to be
Then there's something that I want to tell you
And I want you to believe it's true
We had something that I'll never forget
Even if I wanted to
'Cause part of me will always be with you.

ONLY FOR A MOMENT

LOLA MARSH
SONGWRITERS: GILAD MATI; DVIR DEKEL; LANDAU GIL & COHEN SOSHANA YAEL
COUNTRY: ISRAEL
ALBUM: SOMEDAY TOMORROW MAYBE
LABEL: UNIVERSAL MUSIC DIVISION BARCLAY
GENRE: INDIE POP
YEAR: 2020
 
      Lola Marsh(Hebrew:  לולה מארש) is an Israeli indie pop band from Tel Aviv. The band was formed as a duo in 2013 by Gil Landau (guitars, keyboards) and Yael Shoshana Cohen (vocals), and was quickly signed by the indie label Anova Music. The group released their first EP, You're Mine, under Universal Records-Barclay in January 2016.
     Gil Landau and Yael Shoshana Cohen met in Tel Aviv through mutual friends. The idea of the group was conceived at Landau's birthday party in February 2011, when the band members began playing songs on Landau's father's old guitar.
      Landau and Shoshana dated briefly while forming the band, but went back to being bandmates.
       Landau and Cohen wrote and performed songs for 18 months before bringing on additional musicians. Mati Gilad (Bass), Rami Osservaser (Guitar, Keyboards), Dekel Dvir (Drums and samplers) joined them shortly after. The group started performing in local clubs. They were spotted by the leading local indie label Anova Music who signed the band. The band's name was arrived at when the members were calling out possible names for the group and the name Lola Marsh was suggested and stuck.
       The duo gained notoriety on the heels of their 2014 performance at Primavera Sound Festival.
Lost and found
My mind, but only for a moment
All my crimes are safe, beneath my heart
 
And I try, oh, I try
To pretend that I am fine
Tell me why, oh, tell me why
I need you by my side
 
And suddenly I'm bored, I'm dancing in the dark
Counting all the billboards, and the city lights
I keep all my affection in a paper cup
Oh I, oh I'm
 
Running after bluebirds, show you what I've got
Save all my tomorrows from the lonely nights
Can you hear me crying? Baby I'm alright
Oh I, oh I
 
Rest your eyes
Better days are coming, I can feel it
All my lies are safe beside you now
 
And I try, oh, I try
To pretend that I'm fine
Tell me why, oh, tell me why
I need you by my side
 
And suddenly I'm bored, I'm dancing in the dark
Counting all the billboards and the city lights
I keep all my affection in a paper cup
Oh I, oh I'm
 
Running after bluebirds, show you what I've got
Save all my tomorrows from the lonely night
Can you hear me crying? Baby, I'm alright
Oh I, oh, I
 
You stayed only for a moment
I said "Stay with me a while"
You faded like a pretty snowflake
That I was holding in my hand
You stayed only for a moment
I said "Stay with me a while"
You faded like a pretty snowflake
That I was holding in my hand
 
Lost and found
My mind, but only for a moment.

LIKE I CAN

SAM SMITH
SONGWRITERS: MATTHEW ALAN PRIME & SAMUEL SMITH
COUNTRY: U. K.
ALBUM: IN THE LONELY HOUR
LABEL: CAPITOL RECORDS
GENRE: POP
YEAR: 2014
 
     Samuel Frederick Smith(born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, Smith was subsequently featured on Naughty Boy's "La La La", which became a number one single in May 2013. In December 2013, Smith was nominated for the 2014 Brit Critics' Choice Award and the BBC's Sound of 2014 poll, winning both.
       Smith's debut studio album, In the Lonely Hour, was released in May 2014 on Capitol Records UK. The album's lead single, "Lay Me Down", was released prior to "La La La". The album's second single, "Money on My Mind", became Smith's second number one single in the UK. The third single, "Stay with Me", was internationally successful, reaching number one in the UK and number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, while subsequent singles "I'm Not the Only One" and "Like I Can" reached the top ten in the UK. The album won four awards, at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best Pop Vocal Album, Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance.
       In the Lonely Hour is the debut album by English singer Sam Smith. It was released in the United Kingdom on 26 May 2014 via Capitol UK and Method Records. In the United States, it was released on 17 June 2014 through Capitol Records America. The album includes the hit singles "Money on My Mind" and "Stay with Me", both of which were number one in the UK; the latter becoming a hit worldwide, peaking in the top ten in over 20 countries, including reaching number two in the US. The album's third hit single, "I'm Not the Only One", reached number three in the UK and number five in the US. A deluxe edition of the album contains five bonus tracks, including a solo acoustic version of Disclosure's single "Latch" and Naughty Boy's number-one single "La La La", on both of which Smith provided guest vocals.
     Upon its release, In the Lonely Hour received mostly lukewarm reviews from critics, many of whom praised Smith's vocal performance but were critical of the songwriting. The album was a commercial success worldwide, reaching number one in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It was the second best-selling album of 2014 in the UK, and the third best-selling of 2014 in the United States. It was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, winning the latter and losing to Morning Phase by Beck in the former. In the Lonely Hour also received a nomination for Best British Album at the 2015 Brit Awards; the accolade ultimately went to Ed Sheeran for x.
       The album was re-released in November 2015 as In the Lonely Hour (Drowning Shadows Edition), which features 12 new tracks, including the Disclosure single "Omen" (which features vocals from Smith), the Comic Relief version of "Lay Me Down" featuring John Legend, and covers of Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know" and Amy Winehouse's "Love Is a Losing Game".
He could be a sinner, or a gentleman
He could be your preacher
When your soul is damned
He could be your lawyer on a witness stand
But he'll never love you like I can, can
 
He could be a stranger, you gave a second glance
He could be a trophy, of a one night stand
He could have your humour, but I don't understand, 'cause
He'll never love you like I can, can, can
 
Why are you looking down all the wrong roads?
When mine is the heart and the salt of the soul
There may be lovers who hold out their hands, but
They'll never love you like I can, can, can
They'll never love you like I can, can
 
A chance encounter of circumstance
Baby, he's a mantra, keeps your mind entranced
He could be a silence in this mayhem
But then again
He'll never love you like I can, can, can
 
Why are you looking down all the wrong roads?
When mine is the heart and the salt of the soul
There may be lovers who hold out their hands, but
They'll never love you like I can, can, can
They'll never love you like I can, can, can
He'll never love you like I can, can, can
 
We both have demons, that we can't stand
I love your demons, like devils can
If you're still seeking an honest man
Then stop deceiving, Lord, please
 
Why are you lookin' down all the wrong roads?
When mine is the heart and the salt of the soul
There may be lovers who hold out their hands, but
They'll never love you like I can, can, can
They'll never love you like I can, can, can
He'll never love you like I can, can, can.