Cute, curly-headed diva Beth Rowley won many hearts with her charming Violets EP. Born in Peru and raised in the English West Country, Rowley has been mentored by Carleen Anderson and now follows up on the success of that EP with Little Dreamer, an album that continues her sweetly old fashioned, Motown-esque blend of blues, gospel, soul and jazz--all peppered with a classic mainstream sheen. Produced by Steve Power (Blur) and Kevin Bacon & Jonathan Quarmby (Richard Hawley, Finlay Quaye), the album discloses a voice as jaw-droppingly flawless and hopelessly compelling as a Norah Jones or Amy Winehouse, but with atmospheric traces of Karen Carpenter, Aretha Franklin and Eva Cassidy too. Tracks like the stunning gospel blues of "Almost Persuaded" and soulful single "Oh My Life" are good examples of what to expect from this cozy, feelgood album. The reggae pulse of "I Shall Be Released" tends to undermine the power and beauty of the original, but slow, heartfelt blues numbers like "One Cloud" more than make up for these blips. Rowley plays it safe on Little Dreamer, but it's a stunning collection nonetheless. --Danny McKenna
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
From Small Beginnings......... Was wondering what to buy recently when I saw a review of this album and an interview with the singer in a sunday magazine.Turns out that this is a brilliant album,and has traces of blues,gospel,pop,country,and a touch of the brilliant Karen Carpenter about it. Stand-out tracks for me include the intense deep gospel of Nobody's Fault But Mine and One Cloud,and the lighter yet still uplifting pop of So Sublime and i Shall Be Released. A varied collection then in some ways,yet with a pleasing... more info
Disappointed I think I must have bought a different album to the one Chris McKenna reviewed. I was expecting an album with a range of vocal talents but what I heard was a reasonably nice album with nothing outstanding from the mass of young white female singers currently extant after the demise of Eva Cassidy. There is not one track I can recall as compulsive replay. I suppose I could just about hear the Carla Anderson influence but she (Carla) has a certain je ne sais quoi that black "soul" singers have. Where is the... more info
Beautiful voice and some top tracks but a few poor ones I bought this album based on 3 songs I had heard which are superb.
There are a few others that are ok but a lot of mediocre maybe boring ones in comparison fill the rest of the album.
Knowing this I would probably have downloaded the 3 great tracks individually.
Great new talent A superb album - an exciting new voice, on both the cover versions and the originals, and confident handling of several genres (I don't find the current 'blues singer' pigeon-holing very helpful, although she can handle this genre well). OK, she probably can develop a bit more edge and drive and surely will, but she's well on the way. Strongly recommended!
Tracks:
Nobody's Fault But Mine
Sweet Hours
So Sublime
I Shall Be Released
Only One Cloud
When the Rains Came
Oh My Life
Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground - Duke Special, Beth Rowley,
