New Arrangement

by Joe ViglioneThis 1975 album by Jackie DeShannon launches with a version of "Let the Sailor's Dance," a rendering that works better than the one performed by her co-songwriter/husband Randy Edelman. Edelman plays piano on "Sailor," as well as on "Boat to Sail," the second track and only tune DeShannon composes without the help of a collaborator. Truly, a New Arrangement, a very pleasant set of surprises from the woman who gave listeners "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" and "What the World Needs Now Is Love." The exquisite country tune that opens side two, "Bette Davis Eyes," became a huge worldwide hit for Kim Carnes six years after the release of this influential disc, proving DeShannon as powerful a songwriter as a vocalist. The title track is reflected in the cover of an impeccably dressed DeShannon with newspapers on the furniture, a bouquet of flowers on the back. "He says you're eccentric/and you swing either way/When you talked about being married/You mentioned my name," a not-so-disguised song about a husband having an affair with another man, thus, the title "New Arrangement." "Over My Head Again" might be a nod to Fleetwood Mac's breakthrough hit -- DeShannon would release a very Fleetwood Mac-sounding "Don't Let the Flame Burn Out" on her 1977 album You're the Only Dancer. "I Wanted It All," co-written with John Bettis, has that Jackie DeShannon sound listeners love from her Burt Bacharach days, but this is her new arrangement: perfectly crafted '70s adult contemporary with nice Mark Creamer guitar lines. "Murphy," co-written with Glenn Ballentyne, is a quirky, almost country tune about an incognito detective from Scotland Yard. "Dreamin' As One" is a beautiful, almost gospel love song concluding this album with a touch of class. by Mark DemingJackie DeShannon hadn't stopped growing as either a musician and a songwriter in the mid-'70s, but she wasn't having hits like she did in the '60s, so when DeShannon signed with Columbia Records, the label paired her with producer Michael Stewart (who had worked with Billy Joel on his breakthrough album Piano Man) to give her material a more contemporary (and commercial) sound. 1975's New Arrangement moves back and forth between polished adult contemporary material and only slightly less slick country-influenced numbers, and Stewart surrounded DeShannon with an impressive team of accompanists for these sessions, including legendary sessionmen Waddy Wachtel, Jesse Ed Davis, Larry Knechtel, and Leland Sklar, as well as Brian Wilson, who contributes backing vocals on "Boat to Sail" with his then-wife Marilyn. Stewart's production tends to put too much gloss on the music and leans towards the gimmicky in the arrangements, making a few of the songs sound like theme music to thankfully forgotten TV sitcoms, but DeShannon manages to rise above her surroundings. She's in fine voice on New Arrangement, and her songwriting is smart, accomplished, and capable of working in a variety of styles, from the literate title cut (which recalls Court and Spark-era Joni Mitchell) and the subtly witty Walter Mitty tale of "Murphy" to the country-flavored character sketch "Queen of the Rodeo" and the smooth and jazzy sway of "Sweet Baby Gene." The album also features DeShannon's original recording of "Bette Davis Eyes," and unlike the faux-new wave melodrama of Kim Carnes' 1981 hit single, in DeShannon's hands the songs is a sassy and playful portrait of a gal who is "as pure as New York snow"; it's sharp and funny despite the forced old-school arrangement. Jackie DeShannon probably deserved a more sensitive studio partner than Michael Stewart on New Arrangement, but whatever the album's flaws, they don't hold her back. Too bad the same couldn't have been said for her career -- New Arrangement proved to be DeShannon's last major-label album. [In 2009, Collectors' Choice Music gave New Arrangement a long overdue reissue in a CD edition that included five bonus tracks. "Pure Natural Love" is an outtake from the New Arrangement sessions that gives DeShannon plenty of room to show off the soulful side of her vocal style. "All Night Desire" and "Fire in the City" come from a 1976 non-LP single for Columbia, and move further into the country-pop direction DeShannon explored on New Arrangement; the previously unreleased "Deep into Paradise" and "Somebody Turn the Music On" are cut from the same cloth, and DeShannon sounds comfortable and confident on these tunes. The extra tracks don't change New Arrangement's status as an album that's good but not great, but they do give DeShannon fans a chance to hear some very rare material that's too strong to be consigned to the junk heap, and they testify to the fact she was still singing and writing fine music even when she stopped being a presence on the charts.]