Beautiful People: The Greatest Hits of Melanie

by Melanie

Overview

Beautiful People: The Greatest Hits of Melanie gets the nod over the 1990 Rhino compilation The Best of Melanie as the best compilation of the singer's work. Containing 19 tracks where the earlier album contained 18, it could hardly be longer and fit on one CD. The songs have been mastered from their original master tapes for the first time by Robert Fripp (!) and David Singleton, so the sound quality is the best yet. The set contains the original LP version of Melanie's Top Ten hit "Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)," running just over seven minutes, as opposed to the nearly four-minute single edit. Also featured are two recent songs, "Summer of Love II" and "I Will Get Over." That's all on the credit side. On the debit side, it is not in chronological order and the selection leaves off several of Melanie's singles chart entries, notably "Bitter Bad," which made the Top 40 (and is included in the Rhino compilation). Nevertheless, this must be counted as the best Melanie compilation yet, featuring her number-one hit "Brand New Key," as well as standards like "Beautiful People" and "What Have They Done to My Song, Ma?." ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	07/13/1999
Label:	Buddha Records
UPC:	0744659963025
Rank:	4977

Tracks

1. Summer of Love II
2. Lay Down (Candles in the Rain)
3. Ring the Living Bell
4. What Have They Done to My Song, Ma
5. Brand New Key
6. Love to Lose Again
7. Lover's Cross
8. Ruby Tuesday
9. The Nickel Song
10. Bobo's Party
11. The Good Book
12. Christopher Robin
13. Animal Crackers
14. Psychotherapy
15. Beautiful People
16. Together Alone
17. Leftover Wine
18. Peace Will Come (According to Plan)
19. I Will Get Over

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Melanie   Primary Artist
The Edwin Hawkins Singers   Primary Artist
Mike Ragogna   Sequencing

Technical Credits

Melanie Safka   Composer
Melanie   Composer
Mike Ragogna   Compilation Producer
Keith Richards   Composer
Mick Jagger   Composer
Tom Paxton   Composer
Tommy West   Research Assistant
A.A. Milne   Composer
Peter Schekeryk   Producer,Compilation Producer
David K. Kessler   Design
Bill Inglot   Mastering
Jeremy Holiday   Production Coordination
The Edwin Hawkins Singers   Performer
David Singleton   Mastering
Cary E. Mansfield   Research Assistant
Robert Fripp   Mastering
Dennis Ferrante   Mastering