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JEAN CARN – When I Find You Love / Sweet and Wonderful UK Edsel / Philadelphia International Reissue CD 2 Original Albums on 1 CD When I Find You Love: The original LP on US PIR 36196, 1979 Produced by Jerry Butler & John L. Usry Jr, Eddie Levert & Dennis Williams, Dexter Wansel, Philip Pugh, John R. Faith, Theodore Wortham, Cynthia Biggs 1) When I Find You Love 2) Intro-My Love Don’t Come 3) Easy 4) Start The Fire 5) All I Really Need Is You 6) Lonely Girl In A Cold Cold 7) World 8) What’s On Your Mind Thankfully, Jean Carn survived the hot disco period of the late 70s, and when this album was released in late 1979 / early 1980, soul music started to slow down the tempos and the laid back sounds began to gain more and more radio play and chart success. Dexter Wansel was the executive producer on Jean's third LP, and the album mainly concentrates on relaxed midtempo sounds, although a couple of tracks are sad reminders of the period. The best-known track of the set is the closing tune Was That All It Was, which is a punchy handclapper in the same vein as the Jones Girls' You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else, but unlike that, Was That All It Was didn't chart when released as a single pick. The similarity of the two aforementioned tracks is the result of using the same arranger: John L. Usry had arranged both You Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else and Was That All It Was. However, my personal favourites of the set are the enjoyable mid-pacers My Love Don't Come Easy and Start the Fire. The former is a wonderful characteristic Philly bouncer that instantly brings O'Jays to my mind, which is no wonder since the celebrated lead singer of the group, Eddie Levert has produced and written the tune together with Dennis Williams. Start the Fire is an alluring mid-paced ballad tune written by Philip Pugh who also produced the song together with Dexter Wansel. The charming melody is arranged in an airy setting featuring a touch of vibes by Ed Shea, and Jean sounds just delicious when she sings the tune in her own colourful way. The otherwise pleasant album is partly spoilt by Dexter Wansel's flirtations with uptempo tunes. As much as I adore his work with mid-tempo and ballad material, I have to confess that I've always disliked Dexter's uptempo production, and What's On Your Mind is one of the most repulsive examples: the track is a truly awful uptempo dancer with a fast metronomic beat perfect for people with no sense of rhythm. On the following track Give It Up Dexter tries a funkier approach, and the end result is less catastrophic, yet I feel that any other producer would have shelved this irritating synthesized mover that has Jean singing "dance with me baby, shake with me baby" etc. Much more stylish as an uptempo tune is Lonely Girl in a Cold Cold World, which reminds me of Jones Girls' sophisticated style, and even the backing choir (Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson, Evette Benton and Jean herself) sings the harmonies in the stylish Jones Girls-ish manner. James Herb Smith adds some tasty jazzy guitar playing and urges Jean to show her scat skills at the end of the song. There are only two ballads on the album. The title track is a typically lingering Jerry Butler song that would probably suit his style better, but Jean also delivers the slightly MOR-ish tune aptly. The other ballad All I Really Need Is You is a cute, unobtrusive performance. Much the same words apply to When I Find You Love LP as to Happy to Be with You: there are no complete masterpieces or majestic ballads, but the mid-pacers are more than pleasing. Sweet and Wonderful: The original LP US TSOP 36775, 1981 Produced by Norman Connors, Jean Carn, McKinley Jackson, Billy Bloom and Frankie Smith 9) Give It Up 10) Was That All It Was 11) Bet Your Lucky Star 12) Don’t Say No (To Love) 13) Sweet And Wonderful [duet with Glenn Jones] 14) Love Don’t Love Nobody 15) We Got Some Catchin’ Up To Do 16) Mystic Stranger 17) I Just Thought Of A Way 18) Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things) I feel it's a shame in a way that the celebrated Philly producers weren't able to create a true masterpiece with Jean Carn; it even seemed that they didn't quite realise that they had a diamond in the rough to produce but just repeated their old formulas without trying to tailor their production style to Jean. Jean's profile as a soul singer really started to rise only after other producers than the Philly legends took her under their wings. Norman Connors had obviously followed Jean's quite unsuccessful career on PIR and thankfully started to help her. First Norman produced Al Johnson's Back for More album, on which Jean duetted the title song I'm Back for More with Al. The song was originally recorded by Leo's Sunshipp in 1978 on their We Need Each Other 6-track album, later reissued by Expansion in the U.K. Al and Jean's version of I'm Back for More was nothing short of brilliant – and easily the best performance Jean had recorded so far. Kenny Stover's composition is very beautiful and the splendid, attractive but snappy arrangement creates the glorious setting, yet it's actually Jean's fabulous, extremely powerful vocalising that finally makes this mid-tempo ballad such a timeless classic. I still rate the track among the best soul duets ever. The tune was also a top 30 soul hit in 1980. Jean finally started to get the recognition she deserved. Jean's next album was a highly anticipated event among soul enthusiasts, and in Norman Connors' luxurious production Jean really couldn't fail: Sweet and Wonderful is the artistic masterpiece we all had awaited. The personnel list of musicians and other assistants of the LP is truly impressive. McKinley Jackson arranged the album, and musicians include David T. Walker, Paul Jackson Jr., James Gadson, Don Myrick, Wah Wah Watson, Sonny Burke and Marlo Henderson, just to name a few. Glenn Jones and the Jones Girls are featured as guest vocalists. The album opens with Bet Your Lucky Star, a delightful uptempo soul tune that I still rate Jean's best ever uptempo track. Phyllis St. James has written the wonderful uplifting melody, the bouncy backing is spiced by funky bass licks (Eddie Watkins), Don Myrick's passionate saxophone soloing, and the Jones Girls assist in the chorus with their easily recognisable harmonising. I wonder why TSOP/PIR didn't release this captivating tune as a single! Instead they tried with the title track Sweet and Wonderful, which is an energetic uptempo duet with Glenn Jones, a former gospel singer whom Norman Connors had introduced to soul lovers on his 1980 album Take It to the Limit, on which Jean Carn did some background singing. Sweet and Wonderful doesn't even come close to the sheer brilliance of Melancholy Fire, the track Glenn performed on Take It to the Limit, nevertheless it's nice to hear Glenn's powerful deep voice accompanying Jean on this harmless, catchy handclapper. I guess Jean's and Glenn's parts have been recorded separately at different times, since the spontaneous vocal interplay that is characteristic to best duets is missing. Two very traditional ballads complete the A-side. Love Don't Love Nobody is the old Spinners hit from 1974, and although the slowly lingering melody doesn't belong to my personal favourites, Jean does an impressive, dedicated interpretation of the song. It also gained her a minor hit (peak position at 35) when released as a single. The other ballad on the first side of the LP, Don't Say No (to Love) is another very traditional, string-coated ballad that is highlighted by David T. Walker's exquisite guitar work and a solid saxophone solo by Don Myrick. The B-side opens with an absolutely sparkling mid-tempo swayer, We Got Some Catchin' up to Do, which was a new Al Johnson written melody in a delicious, swinging setting full of tasteful nuances. The George Bohannon Group does a magnificent job as the horn section, Nathan East is responsible for the effective bouncy bass line and the Jones Girls sing the chorus. The Jones Girls can be heard also on the following cut, another top-notch Phyllis St. James tune (along with Bet Your Lucky Star), Mystic Stranger. It's my favourite tune of the ballads on the album, reminding me of the classiest Dexter Wansel - Jones Girls collaborations of the same period. The bright, angelic sopranos of the Jones sisters make a fine counterpart to Jean's strong, elaborate delivery. Jean's reading on this impressive ballad is achingly expressive, and the end of the song – when Jean starts her incredible improvisation – is simply amazing. I Just Thought of a Way is probably the least impressive track on display here, being a Philly style jogger with a rather pop-oriented melody written by Frankie Smith, who had just scored a number one soul hit with his own Double Dutch Bus dance hit. The album closes with Jean's intensive, deep reading of the Martha & Vandellas oldie Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things). Now that Sweet & Wonderful is available as this reissue CD, just make sure you get your copy if you don't have the original LP, which is very rare and is changing hands for big money. -Ismo Tenkanen Soul Express Editor  Read the whole "Album by Album Story" of Jean Carn from our Issue 1/1998 Buy the printed issue with Jean Carne album by album story
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