''That's Just the Way I Want to Be'' is a 1970

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Blossom Dearie Margrethe Blossom Dearie (April 28, 1924 – February 7, 2009) was an American jazz singer and pianist. She had a recognizably light and girlish voice. Profile at AllMusic/ref> Dearie performed regular engagements in London and New York City ov ...

. For the first time, the focus is on Dearie as a songwriter with her co-writing nine of the album's 12 tracks. She took the opportunity to pay tribute to some of her contemporaries:

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

(the object of her praise in "Hey John"),

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the only B ...

and

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

. The last song, "I Like London In The Rain", contains an opening breakbeat that has been sampled by

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

producers.

Track listing

#"That's Just the Way I Want to Be" – 3:48 #"Long Daddy Green" (

Dave Frishberg David Lee Frishberg (March 23, 1933 – November 17, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and lyricist. His songs have been performed by Blossom Dearie, Rosemary Clooney, Shirley Horn, Anita O'Day, Michael Feinstein, Irene Kra ...

) – 3:23 #"Sweet Surprise" – 3:18 #"Hey John" – 3:31 #"Sweet Georgie Fame" (Dearie, Sandra Harris) – 3:24 #"

Both Sides Now "Both Sides, Now" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. One of the first recordings is by Judy Collins, whose version appeared on the US singles chart during the fall of 1968. (The earliest commercial release was by Dave Van Ro ...

" (

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

) – 3.19 #"Dusty Springfield" (Dearie, Jim Council,

Norma Tanega Norma Cecilia Tanega (January 30, 1939 – December 29, 2019) was an American folk and pop singer-songwriter, painter, and experimental musician. In the 1960s, she had a hit with the single "Walkin' My Cat Named Dog" and wrote songs for Dusty Sp ...

) – 1.55 #"Will There Really Be a Morning" ( John Wallowitch,

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...

) – 3.07 #"I Know the Moon" – 3:28 #"Inside a Silent Tear" (Dearie, Peter King) – 2:16 #" Yesterday When I Was Young" (

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( ; ; ; born Shahnur Vaghinak Aznavourian; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a Armenians in France, French singer and songwriter of Armenian descent. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringi ...

Herbert Kretzmer Herbert Kretzmer (5 October 192514 October 2020) was a South African-born English journalist and lyricist. He was best known as the lyricist for the English-language musical adaptation of ''Les Misérables'' and for his collaboration with French ...

) – 5:11 #"I Like London in the Rain" – 2:39 ''All songs by

and Jim Council, except as indicated.''

Personnel

– piano, vocals *

Ian Carr Ian Carr (21 April 1933 – 25 February 2009) was a Scottish jazz musician, composer, writer, and educator. Carr performed and recorded with the Rendell-Carr quintet and jazz-fusion band Nucleus (band), Nucleus, and was an associate professor a ...

– flugelhorn *

Jeff Clyne Jeffrey Ovid Clyne (29 January 1937 – 16 November 2009) was a British jazz bassist (playing both bass guitar and double bass). Clyne worked with Tubby Hayes and Ronnie Scott in their group the Jazz Couriers for a year from 1958, and was par ...

– bass *

Harold McNair Harold McNair (5 November 1931 – 7 March 1971) was a Jamaican-born saxophonist and flautist. Early life McNair was born in Kingston, Jamaica. He attended the Alpha Boys School under the tutelage of Vincent Tulloch, while playing with Joe ...

– flute, tenor saxophone *

Daryl Runswick Daryl Runswick (born 12 October 1946) is a classically trained English composer, arranger, jazz musician, producer and educationalist. Career Runswick was born in Leicester, and educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys and Corpus Christi ...

– bass *

Ray Warleigh Raymond Kenneth Warleigh (28 September 1938 – 21 September 2015) was an Australian alto saxophonist and flautist. Background Ray Warleigh was born in Sydney, Australia, and migrated to England in 1960, where he quickly established himself as ...

– flute *

Spike Wells Michael "Spike" Wells (born 16 January 1946) is an English jazz drummer and priest. Biography Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Wells was a chorister at Canterbury Cathedral Choir School. He became interested in jazz after coming across a recordin ...

– drums *

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

– trumpet *

The Ladybirds The Ladybirds were a British female vocal harmony trio, most famous for their appearances on ''The Benny Hill Show''. They participated in over 60 episodes between 1968 and 1991. In addition, they were long-standing backing singers to many esta ...

– voices *The Hooray String Section – strings *Brian Gascoigne – orchestrations

References

{{Authority control 1970 albums Blossom Dearie albums Fontana Records albums