Carly Simon - Hello Big Man (1983/2015) [Hi-Res]

Originally released in 1983, „Hello Big Man“ was Carly Simon's final album for Warner Brothers Records. Following 1981's well-reviewed but commercially lackluster collection of jazz and pop standards „Torch“, „Hello Big Man“ was another unexpected stylistic detour, featuring Simon recording with the pioneering reggae rhythm section of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare. While the resulting music bears an obvious reggae influence (most particularly on a cover of Bob Marley's 'Is This Love?'), the overall effect has more in common with slightly younger and more stylistically experimental singer-songwriters such as Joan Armatrading and Rickie Lee Jones. Unfortunately, for all their quirky charms, the album and its single, 'You Know What To Do,' were both commercial failures. The budget-line reissue from Rhino Flashback features remastered sound.
„Hello Big Man, Carly Simon's first new studio album of original material in more than three years, followed on from her 1981 album of standards, Torch, and the British Top Ten success of her collaboration with Chic, 'Why.' Both experiences (plus, perhaps, her 1980 hit 'Jesse') seemed to have reinvigorated her taste in pop music, if Hello Big Man was any indication. The sound was a return to the style of Anticipation and No Secrets after years of following trends -- the songs were romantic, with the erotic edge that had charged much of Simon's best material. The album was typically uneven, what with its reggae material (including a redundant cover of Bob Marley's 'Is This Love'), but also typically personal and compelling. The title track was a winning account of her parents' courting, complete with a happy-ever-after ending that didn't occur in real life.“ (William Ruhlmann, AMG)