Looking back at my abandonment of the Woodstock Two album, which I talked about last time, I really wondered why the Melanie tracks that were on that collection hadn’t resonated with me, and didn’t represent any of her hits. I don’t know what she performed in her full set, but the album’s choices to represent her were “Beautiful People,” her first single which got no traction, and “Birthday of the Sun,” which wouldn’t appear on an album until 1971. They certainly didn’t argue for me to keep the record, which I traded away at some point. And then I wondered why her epic classic, “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)” hadn’t been on the bill.
Well, naturally enough, it’s because it hadn’t been written yet. If it sounds like as “Woodstock” a song as ever was written, that’s because it was inspired by the Woodstock festival. She put it together and got the epic gospel group The Edwin Hawkins Singers to perform on it, lending it an incredible sound. This 1970 album opens with the brief “Candles In the Rain,” a different song that then introduces the epic “Lay Down.”
There’s a fabulous rendition of it from Dutch TV posted on YouTube:
The album also introduces “What Have They Done to My Song, Ma,” which I believe every television variety show of the ’70s used in some silly sketch or another – but if you listen to the original, it’s not nearly so trite as memory might have it; overuse did it no favors. She also covers “Ruby Tuesday” and “Carolina In My Mind” in her own special way, does a little bit of silliness in “Alexander Beetle,” and then closes the album with “Leftover Wine,” which for me is as strong a song as “Lay Down.”
As I mentioned, I picked up nearly all my Melanie in the depths of the pandemic . . . and there was something about that strength of voice, that ’60s/’70s spirit, the tremendous outpouring of her soul, that just felt right, hit me right where I needed it. And now I continue to listen to it, and all her records. Sorry I was late to the game, but man . . . this is wonderful music.
There are two sets of track listings on this album – side 2 starts on one with Alexander Beetle, on the other with Close To It All. I wonder if there was a copyright issue, as Alexander Beetle was written by A A Milne of Pooh Bear fame.
I have ended up with a copy of each, and can’t decide which I prefer !
RIP Melanie – Left Over Wine stands like your epitaph – so many beautifully crafted songs !