I Can Remember Everything

AMG Review of I Can Remember Everything

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

I Can Remember Everything, the debut album by 21-year-old Jennifer (as she is billed) is a product of the eclectic pop trend of the late '60s, fostered by the Beatles' dabblings in music-hall whimsy and classical music on albums like Revolver and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Producer Martin Cooper favors arrangements beginning with isolated acoustic instruments -- a bass or a conga drum or a harpsichord -- to underlie Jennifer's alto, with strings or other instruments joining in as the song goes on. The selections include one each from the Bee Gees, Joni Mitchell, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones, along with a clutch of mediocrities written by Cooper or published by Martin Cooper Music. Actually, though, Jennifer is less interesting on familiar tunes like "Chelsea Morning" and "Here, There and Everywhere," which she tends to over-sing in an affected way. On the forgettable stuff, she is more at ease, and the album demonstrates that she can be an effective, emotive interpreter, sometimes suggesting Janis Ian, sometimes Petula Clark.