Carol Burnett Featuring If I Could Write a Song

AMG Review of Carol Burnett Featuring If I Could Write a Song

Lindsay Planer
All Music Guide

By the time that Carol Burnett Featuring If I Could Write a Song (1972) made its way to record store bins in 1972, her hour-long variety TV series had been on the air for five seasons. Although she more often than not hosted guest vocalists, upon occasion Burnett would sing, drawing primarily from pop standards and recent light ock favorites. She carried that format onto this long-player, adapting selections that had been successful for a fairly eclectic variety of artists. Make no mistake however, the arrangements definitely fall in the realm of early-'70s adult contemporary. One influence was undoubtedly Ted Glasser (producer), whose work with the likes of orchestrated easy listening guru Percy Faith is mirrored on Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield's eternally optimistic title track, "If I Could Write a Song." The same can be said of the flaccid "Rainy Days and Mondays" and "For All We Know" -- both of which were sizable singles for the Carpenters. Burnett also dives into the more familiar show tune milieu on "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof (1964), contrasting the oddities "Those Were the Days" and "Saturday Morning Confusion." Regarding the latter, one can't help but wonder whether the fact that Vicki Lawrence's (Burnett's castmate) marriage to the song's author, Robert Russell, had any bearing on it being included here. On the other side of the spectrum are affective interpretations of Carole King's "It's Too Late," as well as the medley of "Guess Who" and "Turn Around, Look at Me." In 2004 when Collectors' Choice Music issued Carol Burnett Featuring If I Could Write a Song on CD, they added the difficult-to-locate holiday offering "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)" and a 1972 45-rpm with "Love's the Only Game in Town" and "You're My Reason."