Breakfast in Bed - Dark Publications

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Similar Items:

•	Pretty Little Stranger
•	Courage
•	How Sweet It Is
•	Standing in the Shadows of Motown: Deluxe Edition
•	Standing In The Shadows of Motown

Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
On Breakfast in Bed, her first release on Time Life Records (yes, that Time Life) Joan Osborne tackles a crop of hand-picked soul and R&B favorites with equal parts sass and sensitivity. Long an underappreciated artist, Osborne is a performer with the wisdom to exercise vocal restraint for an effect that's more Dusty Springfield than Christina Aguilera. Her fine previous outing interpreting soul standards was aptly titled How Sweet It Is, and witness her contribution to the terrific 2002 film Standing in the Shadows of Motown, where Osborne's astute readings of "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" and "Heatwave" outshone performers like Ben Harper and Gerald Levert (happily, both songs are included here). The title track and Hall and Oates' "Sara Smile" are both canny choices that play to her strengths in delivering credible blue-eyed soul, and six new Osborne-penned songs fit neatly into the record. If her compositions pale a bit next to the classics she covers (with the sultry and slithery exception of the excellent "Eliminate the Night"), give Osborne credit for bravely placing herself side-by-side with songwriting luminaries like Holland-Dozier-Holland and Bill Withers. Breakfast in Bed makes for a leisurely listen on a sunny Sunday morning, so put up your feet and stay awhile. --Ben Heege

Album Description
Joan Osbourne's recently recorded album pays homage to the great Soul and R&B songs of the late '60s and early '70s. The album features a unique combination of unforgettable interpretations of timeless R&B classics. Her first single to radio will be "I've Got to Use My Imagination."

Customer Reviews: Read 33 more reviews...

1 out of 5 stars

Not soul, closer to Muzak June 1, 2007
65 out of 89 found this review helpful

Anyone who thinks this is soul music...needs a wider scope of reference. The songs may have started out as soul, but this artist has rendered them into just so much aural wallpaper. Not one of these covers is better or even a close match to the original. And Eddie Hinton would roll over in his grave if he could hear what has happened to the classic 'Breakfast In Bed.' This is soul on Prozac. You can call it understated if you want, but that's an adjective that has no place in the gritty, sweaty, sometimes joyous sounds of soul. Understated soul music is music with no heart. And that's what this cd lacks, IMO.

UPDATE ON JUNE 1, 2007:
OK, I've been challenged (ordered?) by someone who feels that my negative review is a clear indication of not having listened to the entire cd (why would anyone do that?) to do a track by track review. I don't usually do that even for cds that I like, but since I'm clearly in the minority as far as disliking this cd, here goes:

`I've Got To Use My Imagination' - starts out okay, but the song never builds or goes anywhere. Listen to the Gladys Knight version: She sounds like a woman who needs therapy, she is in some serious emotional pain. Osborne sounds like she's reading a newspaper article about clinical depression. Adlibbing a line or two at the end does not constitute an injection of real emotion. Also, the tempo seemed to be slowed down a tad from the original, so between that and any lack of vocal crescendo I feel sure this song will be number one on the elevator hit parade next week.

`Ain't No Sunshine' - boy, does this feel like a continuation of the first song. She sounds like she's counting how many times she has to say (it's so monotone I don't count it as singing) "I know, I know" and even when she gets through them all, there's just no emotional pitch at the end of them. The first time I heard Bill Withers sing this song I got a mental image of a man alone in a sweaty, smoke-filled room, a man on the verge of the Dts, not from alcohol but from lost love. Hamish Stuart did it on MTV, backed on bass by Paul McCartney, and not even Macca's presence could dim the raw incandesence of Stuart's vocal. Osborne's version is bland. It's so bland it's not even offensive. In fact, it's pretty good karaoke.

`Midnight Train To Georgia' - Of all the Jim Weatherly songs recorded by Gladys Knight, I'll admit this one was never my favorite. When Osborne sings `I'd rather live in his world than be without him in mine,' it's so dispassionate that it sounds like there's not much going on in her world in the first place. Not only do I not believe her when she sings of the sacrifice she's prepared to make for this man, I get the feeling that once she lands in Georgia she'll be just as ready to head home again.

`Baby Is A Butterfly' - At least this song is an original and so it doesn't suffer by comparison. I like the melody and the musical arrangement, but maybe I've gotten old - I really don't like the lyrics: "Everything's a miracle/now my cup is always full" - she sings that line with all the joyous abandon of an old dishrag. "We'll be angels by and by." Oh, that's sweet enough to give me a toothache.

`Breakfast In Bed' - Okay, this song is the reason why I bought the cd in the first place. I worship Eddie Hinton, as both singer and songwriter and I only wish I had a recording of him doing this one. Osborne's version is certainly not as god-awful as the reggae version by UB40 (one of the worst musical ideas ever, IMO), but this version isn't a patch on Dusty Springfield's. For one thing, Dusty really sounds like a woman who is desperate to keep her man (ok, in Dusty's case, woman) nearby, there is power and a husky sensuality that she delivers with ease. I can feel Osborne reaching for it, but not quite making it. Gotta say, those female backing vocals are really off-putting, too.

`Cream Dream' - Possibly the best song on the cd. It feels like an old Chi-Lite tune, even though it's an original. Melodically, lyrically, it's pretty catchy.

`Natural High' - No doubt about it, I like the timbre of Osborne's voice better than the Bloodstone's lead singer. This kind of R&B suits her voice better than the Gladys/Aretha kind of soul. But I hate this song. Hated it back in the 70s, hate it now. When I listen to this song, I think maybe the only singer who could deliver this song in a way that would make me like it would be Linda Ronstadt. But she's never done it.

`Heart of Stone' - Over and over, she sounds like she's singing right through the lyrics, sticking to the arrangement, and missing all the passion and unique phrasing that would distinguish these songs from any other karaoke soul cd (e.g. Michael MacDonald's `Motown' cd). This is one of her own songs, too, so she really ought to sound like she means it. The song isn't bad, it's just that she doesn't move me.

`Sara Smile' - She does nothing new or original with this song, it's just boring to listen to. Why did she bother even covering it? Daryl Hall still has the definitive vocal on it. In fact, Hall & Oates are one of the few blue-eyed soul acts that have improved on original R&B tunes, listen to their "Our Kind Of Soul" cd. They manage to remain faithful to the originals, while still being original themselves.

`Eliminate the Night' - Another original. By now, I'm drowning in the drearies. Osborne just doesn't sound sexy or sensual to me, she sounds like Carole King on an off night. She's not real comfortable in the upper register, is she? And all the songs are starting to sound the same. Maybe this is a concept album and I missed the point...

`Break Up To Make Up' - Ah, she's having a good time in the lower register on this one. What made this song special the first time around was The Stylistics' harmonies, a beautiful blend of highs and lows, but that's not something you can get with a solo singer, even though they've really laid on the background singers thick here. If I had to point to one song that was especially guilty of the `aural wallpaper' charge I leveled in my initial review, this one would be it.

`I Know What's Goin' On' - Sounds like a slowed-down partial rip-off of the melody of The Rolling Stones' `Miss You.' Honestly, it's too close for comfort - she should expect a lawsuit from Mick and the boys any day. Same old tempo, same old ho-hum vocal. Do y'all really like this dismal monotonous stuff?

`Alone With You' - Osborne has taken understatement to a whole new level. I mean, depth. The melody for this one also sounds strangely familiar but I haven't figured out yet what song it resembles. I'd like this song if the tempo was a bit faster and if she sang it like it was an invitation instead of an entry in her diary. Oh, and scrap those female backing vocals, too. Boy, are they annoying!

`Kiss and Say Goodbye' - Finally, I believe her! She really sounds like she means it on this one. For me, though, even though The Manhattans had the big hit with it, this is essentially a country song. That's what the composer originally intended, too, he wrote it with the idea of a Charley Pride or a Glen Campbell in mind. My favorite version is Billy Joe Royal's, he's a guy that always was able to blend country and R&B. But even though Osborne does nothing to make this a more original song, or to make it distinct from other R&B versions, at least she sounds like she means it on this one. But it wasn't worth the price of the entire cd (which, BTW, was $18.99 at Barnes & Noble; that's a hard lesson learned for me).

`Heat Wave' - Again, she's doing nothing new with this old material that makes it worth re-doing. This version isn't as heated as Martha Reeves's and the vocal doesn't have the overwhelming power of the Linda Ronstadt recording. Why bother?

`What Becomes Of the Brokenhearted' - Oh, man, I am such a fan of Jimmy Ruffin from way on back. And it would be tough to find a way to update this song without damaging it irreparably, so I don't blame Osborne for sticking close to the original version on this one at least. Her voice comes closer to a ragged, raw soulful sound on this track than it does anywhere else on this cd. Close. Not quite close enough for me to either believe her emotions are engaged or to engage mine. This sounds like it would have been a good night for an American Idol contestant. Me, I'll go back and listen to Jimmy.

OVERALL - There's nothing new coming out of these cover songs, and the originals are ok, not great. Aural wallpaper. Osborne's ability to sell a song reminds me of the way Rod Stewart limped through the Great American Songbook cds, without genuine passion or style or distinctive phrasing. For great cover songs of R&B, I refer you back to the Hall & Oates cd I mentioned. Or for a good example of how to cover a song in a distinctive style without murdering the songs, though the songs are not necessarily R&B, check out Raul Malo's `You're Only Lonely' cd.

3 out of 5 stars

Some nice tries, some misses, overall a bit monotonous June 7, 2007
64 out of 81 found this review helpful

What to make of this? Joan Osborne, 6 years after her last non-compilation, major-label recording, returns to the same well plumbed by "How Sweet It Is", namely a batch of old soul/R&B hits, although this time interspersed with a few originals written in the same vein. The older album boasted an absolutely startling re-imagination of the title track, which was worth the price of the disc all by itself. But that album was otherwise populated by comparatively unimaginative, by-the-numbers remakes, notable only in that they served to remind me of what made the originals so memorable in the first place.

The unfortunate thing about "Breakfast in Bed" is that there is no single track as mesmerizing as "How Sweet It Is". Some of the remakes -- notably, "Kiss and Say Goodbye" and "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted" -- are enjoyable, if nothing to make you forget the original recordings. But the disc as a whole is sunk by a relentless sameness of tempo, of timbre, of instrumentation and style, that ultimately becomes boring, which is something of a feat considering how good the songs themselves actually are. Joan Osborne's voice is potentially a wonderful instrument, but she really doesn't break much of a sweat on these covers, nor on the originals, and the result, while pleasant enough, isn't anything to hold my attention.

I have in my mp3 collection a recording of Joan Osborne and a skeletal band covering "Brick House" in the studio of some radio station, and it's a revelation, funky and soulful and fun in equal measures. And for God's sake, go to whatever vendor you like and download her rendition of "How Sweet It Is" from the album of the same name; it completely transforms the song from a joyous declaration of love, sweet love, into something altogether more desperate. While it might not be to all tastes, it serves as the lone, legally downloadable demonstration that Joan Osborne is a formidable artist, capable of taking well-worn R&B favorites and making them her own. Nothing on this disc serves in the same way.

5 out of 5 stars

way to go Joan! May 27, 2007
23 out of 37 found this review helpful

Fantastic vocal work (man what taste in phrasing!), great playing, great new versions of soul standards (easily the best covers she's recorded) - and her best writing to date make this my favorite J.O. recording since she covered "blue million miles".

3 minutes in and I too was thinking "Dusty level"!!! I've never had that thought before while listening to anybody. Joan Osborne is getting better and better, sounding a little more mature and completely comfortable in her own skin/with her own pipes. supremely understated throughout!

took me almost the entire song to adjust to the change in lyric on "ain't no sunshine" but by the time Joan comes back in after a KILLER keyboard solo you cant help but be down with it.

It is great to see HER smile on the back cover and I cant wait to listen to her sing "baby is a butterfly" again, so i'm outa here. thank you Joan.

5 out of 5 stars

First Rate! May 22, 2007
13 out of 28 found this review helpful

I'm very thankful for singers like Joan Osborne...she possesses a great gift- her voice.. This Cd is great! Joan sings some great soulful classics plus there are new songs on here also... some of my favorite tracks are Ive got to use my imagination, Cream Dream, Natural High, Heart of Stone, the energetic last 2 tracks heat wave and what becomes of the broken hearted...this whole cd is well done...

3 out of 5 stars

Dissapointing Effort from a Great Singer June 27, 2007
13 out of 18 found this review helpful

I've been a Joan Osborne fan for years and think she usually brings new life to covers. But this disc falls flat. As soulful as her voice is, she adds nothing new (or that interesting) to most of these Motown (and pseudo-Motown) tunes. I still thnk she's great, but would have expected more from this disc. If you haven't heard much of her, go with "Pretty Little Strangers."

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