Reissue of her 1969 debut album. Beautifully re-packaged. This 10 track collection is the record she made before her chart topping 1975 smash 'Lovin' You'. Tracks include, 'Les Fleurs', 'Completeness', 'Come To My Garden', 'Memory Band', 'Rainy Day In Centerville', 'Only When I'm Dreaming' & more. Standard jewel case. Album Description
 |  | An incredible album, a crappy mp3 |  |
This sounds like it was played off a warped, worn-out record played on a Fisher-Price record player and recorded, in the next room, through a wall, on a Radioshack cassette recorder before being ripped at 1 bps. Whoever is putting this out for sale should be ashamed.
October 5, 2008I can't ever get enough of Minnie. This album, her solo debut(after her stint with the Rotary Connection,perhaps her psychedelic foundation) is just amazing. Vocals and angelic choirs sing to open the gates to a wonderland. Trumpets and flutes play while a unicorn is waiting for your nod with a plump baby cherub on his back, playing a harp motioning to take you into Minnie's garden. I'm sure we'll find the most wonderful fruits there, probably some mushrooms. There's an odd correlation here, and its probably the abrupt patterns and pace of some of the songs. They have a unique tempo to them. Some of them are very "Musical"-ish..(Like "Oh By the Way")In a good way, if thats possible(only possible here, i think). In some ways it reminds me of the tempo and abrubtness of some of the soundtracks you hear on the films of Jan Svankmajer, the Czech surrealist filmaker/animator. The soundtracks were mostly scored by a man named Zdenek Liska. If anyone knows where to find his music, please do hunt me down. Anyways, this Wonka operatic musical sound experience is a classic. There's really nothing else quite like it out there.
February 11, 2008 | | A journey to a new dimension in music. | |
Though I have owned this album, in various forms for many, many years, it never fails to mystify me and is always as fresh and as new as the first time I heard it and fell in love with it. If you have never heard music before, and for the first time, want a musical experience that will be mind blowing, soul altering, life defining, by all means. listen to this remarkable artistic achievement! Other than that, I am speechless.
June 26, 2007| | | Unbelievably Flawless!!!! | |
This record is really truly an unbelievable masterpiece....she sounds so so so so pretty on this Album (as though all of her albums) but this one shines like crystal.... amazing vocal acrobats ,and the most beautiful part about it , she was a black woman with incredible talent and remarkable ability .... she brought the opera + r&B + soul = Minnie Riperton ...... i love all of her music but my songs that I have to repeat at least 2 times are definitly "Close You're Eyes And Remember" , "Completeness" , "Les Fleur ( The Flower )" , "Rainy Day In Centreville" .... the closing of the song "Close You're Eyes & Remember" the way she turns her octaves at the end when her backup singers are harmonizing the words "close your eyes and remember,fireflies,close your eyes and remember,summertime" so pretty ... I really love Mrs.Riperton ,I really honestly do .... she was one of those type of singers who could do it alllll .... hit unbelievable notes and still have a dynamite singing voice....i can literally say there will never be another Minnie Riperton EVER AGAIN!!!! that is why i am such a huge fan of hers.....god really did make you special Minnie ......
October 25, 2006 | | Come To My Garden - 4.5 stars | |
When I initially listened to this disc I was impressed by the lush production by Charles Stepney but was confused because it sounds nothing like Minnie's later work. Then I read the liner notes from her PETALS - GRTS HITS cd and discovered that she wanted a sound like the great Dionne Warwick/Burt Bacharach collabo and then I got it.
For fans of Minnie Ripperton's work, this would be an excellent addition to your collection because it again displays her complete artistry as a singer. Her singing is effortless & beautiful without any hint of melisma that's so prevalent in today's r&b music.
My favorite tracks: WHENEVER, WHATEVER (love the horn solo & overall georgeous arrangement); LES FLEUR; ONLY WHEN I'M DREAMING (has a bossa nova arrangement during the intro that just sucked me into the whole song); CLOSE YOUR EYES AND REMEMBER and EXPECTING.
January 8, 2006More reviews at Amazon.com ...
(12 reviews)