Did You Give the World Some Love Today, Baby?

by Doris

Overview

A vintage pop oddity of sorts, but one that's worthwhile for its musical content at least as much as its curiosity value, the lone LP by Swedish chanteuse Doris (nee Svensson) is an accomplished and somewhat offbeat collection of lush pop, soul, and light funk. Cut in 1970 with a handful of veteran Swedish jazz and rock musicians who sound completely at home playing in a variety of primarily American idioms, Did You Give the World Some Love Today Baby reveals Doris to be a singer of considerable range with plenty of personality. She's a throaty belter on the funky, country-inflected "Waiting at the Station," the Northern soul-styled groovers "Don't" and "Beatmaker," and the brassy pop-soul title tune (even coming off a bit worryingly unhinged as she exhorts "you've got to love the one you love/and the whole darn world as well") -- but she scales back the fireworks for sweet, if somewhat fey, ballads like "Grey Rain of Sweden" and "Daisies," which call to mind the sophisticated songwriter pop of fellow lost gem Margo Guryan. There's also a heartfelt, tastefully orchestrated rendition of the Band's "Whispering Pines," and -- easily the album's most unusual moment -- the bizarre, unsettling jazz-psychedelia of "You Never Come Close," which sounds like nothing you'd expect to hear on an ostensibly pop record from any era (it evokes something similar to Portishead's enigmatic melancholy, or Candie Payne's tormented retro-pop noir, several decades down the line.) Add in a smattering of upbeat big-band swing tunes -- "I'm Pushing You Out" and the organ-led shuffle "I Wish I Knew" -- the goofy, vaudeville-ish "Won't You Take Me to the Theatre," and a jaunty cover of Harry Nilsson's "Bath," and you've got a true smorgasbord -- a little something for everybody, although it's all still quite listenable as a single entity. The world may not have given Doris much love in her day, but she's certainly comparable in terms of raw vocal ability to would-be peers like Lulu and Petula Clark -- or, as the liner notes suggest, Melanie -- arguably outstripping them in the adventurousness of her musical range (in a single album, no less), and is outfitted here with perfectly decent if not necessarily exceptional material. Worth rediscovering, particularly since several CD reissues have made it readily available. ~ K. Ross Hoffman

Product Details

Release Date:	08/05/2014
Label:	Ernie B's Reggae / Mr. Bongo
UPC:	0711969119213
Rank:	60646

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Doris   Primary Artist
Doris Svensson   Primary Artist
Claes Rosendahl   Primary Artist
The Dandys   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Plums   Primary Artist,Featured Artist
Claes Rosendahls Orkester   Primary Artist
Sven-Olof Walldoff Orkester   Primary Artist
Lars Samuelsons Orkester   Primary Artist
Berndt Egerbladhs Orkester   Primary Artist
Plums Med Doris   Primary Artist
Lucas Lindholm   Bass
Bengt Karlsson   Guitar
Jan Carlsson   Drums
Berndt Egarbladh   Conductor
Bengt Carlsson   Guitar
Berndt Egerbladh   Organ,Conductor

Technical Credits

Paul McCartney   Composer
Bob McNally   Composer
Stephen Foster   Composer
Curtis Mayfield   Composer
Galt MacDermot   Composer
Carole King   Composer
James Rado   Composer
John Cameron   Composer,Composer
Dick Dallas   Composer
John Lennon   Composer
Robbie Robertson   Composer
Richard Manuel   Composer
Harry Nilsson   Composer
Thore Ehrling   Composer
Gerome Ragni   Composer
Alan Moorhouse   Composer
Gerry Goffin   Composer
Billy Taylor   Composer
Goeran Lagerberg   Composer
Francis Cowan   Composer
Bengt Karlsson   Composer
Roger Wallis   Composer
Berndt Egarbladh   Arranger,Composer
Pamela Gray   Composer
Norman Martin   Composer
Chris Andrews   Composer
Olsson   Composer
Bjoern Noren   Engineer
Bobson   Composer
Boerje Carlsson   Composer
Olle Bergman   Composer
Gabor Nadas   Composer
Bo-Goeran Edling   Composer
Berndt Egerbladh   Arranger,Composer
Ake Stroemmer   Composer
Hans Siden   Composer
Richard Lamb   Composer
Brian McNally   Composer
Soeren Karlsson   Composer
Lennart Lundquist   Composer
Akan Sterner   Producer
Christer Olsson   Composer
Ivan Szenes   Composer
Jerome South   Composer
John Chesterton   Composer
Thomas Sallstrom   Composer