Pop standards vocalist/actress
Julie London was definitely at a transitional phase in her career when she cut
Yummy, Yummy, Yummy (1969) -- the final entry in her decade-and-a-half long relationship with
Liberty Records. Modern listeners will revel in the obvious kitsch factor of a middle-aged, old-school female who is crooning
rock & roll. Rightly so, as the two musical universes rarely collided with a lucrative outcome. However, just below the genre-bending veneer lie interesting interpretations of concurrently well-known selections with the occasional sleeper gem thrown in. The lush and admittedly antiquated orchestration doesn't mask
London's smoky and smouldering pipes, and some scores definitely work better than others. The opening cover of
Laura Nyro's
"Stoned Soul Picnic," the adaptation of
the Beatles'
"And I Love Her," and the remarkably evocative
"Hushabye Mountain" from
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) are each superior matches of artist with repertoire. Less successful is
Harry Nilsson's
"Without Him" [aka
"Without Her"] as it lacks the urgency of
Blood, Sweat & Tears' rendering or the pithy of
Nilsson's original. The remake of
Spanky & Our Gang's
"Like to Get to Know You" is similarly short on soul, although it lends itself to the middle-of-the-road (MOR) feel, as does
"It's Nice to Be With You." That said, the latter is infinitely more tolerable in this context than it was on the
Davy Jones' warbled
Monkees' single. The seeming incongruity of
London's take on
the Doors'
"Light My Fire" isn't all that odd until she lets her hair down (so to speak) and slips into something right out of
The Graduate's
Mrs. Robinson. There are several instances of 'What were they thinking?,' such as the practically surreal
"Mighty Quinn (Quinn, The Eskimo)" which sounds like it was the result of a Quaalude-related encounter. By the time we roll around to the title track, one can't tell if
London is trying to be sexy or is simply hung over.
"Sunday Morning" -- the second nod to
Spanky & Our Gang -- also makes
London come off as either bored or sleepy, either of which will be the effect that a majority of the album will inevitably have on 21st century ears. ~ Lindsay Planer