The underrated
Tony Orlando & Dawn were far more important to pop than they've ever been given credit for, and while their switch to Elektra Records would not grant them instant
Carly Simon chic, it did bring them a new level of sophistication. The material chosen for the album
He Don't Love You (Like I Love You) is simply wonderful, from
Bill Withers' "Grandma's Hands," which closes the album, to a
Robin Batteau composition, "If Only (He Would Make Love to Me)," giving them a broader range of styles missing from their earlier efforts. The problem is that Tony Orlando looks like this is all live from Las Vegas, and though that's not necessarily a bad thing, the potential for a group so enamored of
Sam Cooke gets stifled as well as lost in the translation. Two hits emerged from this disc.
Toys co-producer
Sandy Linzer helped Dawn co-producer
Dave Appell construct the very middle-of-the-road "Mornin' Beautiful," taking the group from its past glories of quasi-bubblegum like "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree" to the arena that Elektra had so much success with when, well,
Carly Simon conquered the adult contemporary market. "Mornin' Beautiful" went Top 15 in the summer of 1975, and sounds like the theme to a TV show, the album drenched in strings and heavy, slick production. "Dance, Rosie, Dance" is hardly the sequel to "Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose" (in fact, it is even more hardcore adult contemporary), while "Maybe I Should Marry Jamie" heads toward the country-pop realm that embraced
B.J. Thomas.
Linzer co-wrote half the album, and the material is all quite listenable, but had that songwriter brought the woman he produced from the '60s,
the Toys'
Barbara Harris, in to perform a duet with Orlando on "A Lover's Concerto," the record would have moved to that other level needed for respectability outside of the huge Dawn fan base.
Critics may not have found the music here to their liking at the "dawn" of the new wave movement, and the cover photo has the trio looking quite bored, but the product inside is, as stated, more valuable than appreciated when it first hit the market.
Telma Hopkins and
Joyce Vincent perform a very credible
Lulu-style "House of Strangers," lifting the entire project beyond the bubblegum and aiming squarely for the housewives. The title track is a great pop rendition of
Jerry Butler's classic Top Ten track from 1960 originally titled "He Will Break Your Heart," this version going all the way to number one with its new name in March of 1975. There's no denying that producers
Hank Medress and
Appell had the touch, but it just seems that, with a bit more tweaking of its image, this trio could have been even more of a pop powerhouse.
Tony Orlando & Dawn had all the elements, and on this venture they matured in a very satisfying way. "Pick It Up" and "Missin' That Girl" are more serious than the lighthearted "Candida," while
Hopkins and
Vincent do a phenomenal job on
Robin Batteau's classy "If Only (He Would Make Love to Me)." Tony Orlando covering
Bill Withers, which he does admirably, is truly the place where Dawn yearned to be. The biggest problem was the image, the album cover the reverse of the slick and well-executed music inside. Perhaps a box set could put this collection of talents in a proper historical setting; radio certainly gave them their due through the better part of the '70s. ~ Joe Viglione