Patty Waters - You Thrill Me
(Water)
Whether it’s a catchy “Jax Beer Commercial” or a sultry, smoky torch song a la Nina Simone or Lena Horne (the title track), this warts-and-all compilation of demos, home recordings and studio outtakes from her private collection highlights two decades in the raspy-voiced Waters’ early career (it’s subtitled “A Musical Odyssey 1960-1979”). The studio banter between Waters and producer Tom Wilson on her 1964 Columbia demo is particularly enlightening as he coddles, coaches and lovingly encourages his charge through the intricacies of recording her compositions, “You Thrill Me,” “Why Can’t I Come To You,” and “At Last I Found You,’ and one can imagine him doing the same during the early stages of Dylan and Simon and Garfunkle’s careers at approximately the same time. At one point on the latter track, for example, Waters breaks down and stops the recording session, claiming she’s “too hoarse to continue,” only to have Wilson assure her they’ll “fix it in the mix.”
These stripped-down arrangements (it’s basically Patty and her piano, and the naked photo of Patty in her apartment in San Francisco, ca. 1970 is completely apropos and not just tossed in for prurient interests) add to the childlike innocence and intimate living-room warmth of the neophyte singer wrapping her tonsils around these occasionally difficult standards like Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia,” Billie Holiday’s “Fine And Mellow” and Rodgers and Hart’s “Spring Is Here” (the latter a home recording from her apartment in San Diego back in 1960) and making them uniquely her own. “For All We Know” is also particularly revealing in this regard.
Fragments (sometimes limited to a single verse) of her self-penned “I Love You Honey,” “Love Is The Warmth Of Togetherness,” “At Last I Know (I Belong To You)” and a spoken-word rendition of “Please Make Love To Me” demonstrate her ease with “free jazz” expression and improvised sound that would be the hallmarks of her two ESP-Disk albums Patty Sings and College Tour from 1965 and ’66, respectively (both recently reissued by the label on CD). Eventually this becomes a little unsettling and the listener gets a little fidgety sitting through these Greatest Hits-styled medleys, waiting for a complete song.
So while this collection is certainly required listening for Waters completists, fans of the recent work of Marianne Faithfull (particularly her covers album, Strange Weather and her collaboration with Angelo Badalamenti, Secret Life) should also take note. I find it interesting that it took Faithfull 30 years to arrive at the point in her career where she was exploring the vocal stylings that Waters introduced right out of the gate, which illustrates how far ahead of her time she was. And fans of Felt may even find an insight into Martin Duffy’s “Sending Lady Load” (off The Pictorial Jackson Review) in Waters’ epic 14½ minute piano solo, “Touched By Rodin In A Paris Museum” from 1970. We applaud Water (the label) and Mushroom drummer Pat Thomas (who co-produced this collection from Patty’s reel-to-reel, acetate, and cassette source material into a thoroughly enjoyable, professional sounding release) for rescuing Waters from anonymity with her first release since 1996’s Love Songs (Jazz Forum). Essays from Byron Coley and Patty herself and an introduction from Ghost vocalist Masaki Batoh once again lovingly place her influences into perspective. You Thrill Me is the perfect companion to a “mental health day” at home on a cold winter’s day nestled under the blankets with a large plate of chewy chocolate chip cookies. Mmm-mmm, good!
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