a Time For Ballads

This While My Guitar Gently Weeps: 32 Guitar Ballads album was released in 2001 and featured titles like Love Over Gold, Purple Rain and After Midnight from Dire Straits, Prince and Eric Clapton.

VA - For Borgere Og Bønder (Folkelig Musikk Fra Gamle Norske Notebøker)
VA - For Citizens & Peasants - Popular Tunes from the 18th Century Music Books
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 301 MB | Full Artwork: 116 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: PolyGram # NKFCD 50025-2 | Country/Year: Norway 1989
Genre: World, Folk, (Classical) | Style: Scandinavian Folk, (Secular, Baroque)

"…Before 1840, there were limited written sources of folk music in Norway. Originally these historical attainments were believed to have a distinct Christian influence. As research continued, there was also mythical and fairy tale connections to the folk music. Overall the purpose of folk music was for entertainment and dancing. Norwegian folk music may be divided into two categories: instrumental and vocal. As a rule instrumental folk music is dance music (slåtter). Norwegian folk dances are social dances and usually performed by couples, although there are a number of solo dances as well, such as the halling. Norway has very little of the ceremonial dance characteristic of other cultures. Dance melodies may be broken down into two types: two-beat and three-beat dances. The former are called halling, gangar or rull, whereas the latter are springar or springleik…"

There's a lot more Broadway and a lot more ballads than blues on this, which ranks as one of Simone's weaker mid-'60s albums. Almost half the record features Broadway tunes on the order of Cole Porter and Rodgers & Hammerstein; most of the rest was composed by Bennie Benjamin, author of her first-rate "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," which the Animals covered for a hit shortly afterwards (and which leads off this record). The other Benjamin tunes are modified uptown soul with string arrangements and backup vocals in the vein of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," but aren't in the same league, although "How Can I?" is an engaging cha-cha. Besides "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," the album is most notable for the great "SeeLine Woman," a percolating call-and-response number that ranks as one of her best tracks.