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Come To My Garden
When I first authored this page in 1999 I was hopeful that someone, somewhere, would find the original master and release a complete quality CD. There was that blissful moment when the Japan import from Flavor Records appeared. It did not include the complete original artwork, and there were those "little" misspellings on the liner notes, but the sound quality was better than any CD that came before or after it. On March 26, 2002 I was
hopeful that all my dreams of a complete version of this album on CD was
being released. It has taken me over a month
to get over my disappointment with the U.S. release of "Come To My Garden".
Perhaps I expected too much based upon the quality work the Verese Sarabonde
label usually distributes. Then again ... it does have
good points and bad points.
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1982
Play List
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from being the FIRST U.S. CD to be distributed, the CD does include the
original cover as well as the beautiful garden photo from the GRT gatefold
and the insert photo with Minnie, Charles, and Ramsey. All ten songs
are featured. Yet, this is where the good points end and the bad
points begin.
The fonts are nowhere near the original... it's very plain. Harry Roth's melodic liner notes are sorely missing and the liner notes which do appear are boring at best. They could have replaced these liner notes with the lyrics, in my opinion. The sound quality is most probably the biggest disappointment for me. Although there are claims that this cd was digitally remastered, I seriously question what it was remastered from. It further claims that the release is courtesy of Janus Records which is the label that re-released "Come To My Garden" in 1974 on vinyl. I have several copies of this vinyl (as well as the original gatefold from 1970) and the sound quality is definitely superior to this CD. At best, this CD's sound quality is very similar to the "Windmill" version issued in the UK in 1998. It is not as bad as "Only When I'm Dreaming" cd, but it is not as good as the Flavour Records (Japan) version released in '99. Alas, if you cannot obtain a copy of the Flavour Records version (it is currently OOP), then this version of "Come To My Garden" is the next best thing. The song selection is complete, the classic garden photos are there, and the brilliance of this classic masterpiece do over shadow those infrequent hiss and pops. |
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Perhaps the master recording is missing in action, or just maybe it is tucked away in a vault (lots of wishful thinking here on my part), but whichever the case, the  various
versions of Minnie's first solo album, "Come To My Garden" are "copies"
at best. Okay, I'll say it... they're rip-offs. Yet, despite
the obvious I own all of them and cherish them as if they were original.
My major complaint is
since I had to pay upward to $48 for them, I would have preferred they
were recorded from the master and included the original artwork.
My minor major complaint is that the song "Whenever, Wherever" is not included
on ANY of these albums! It was the last track Albeit, the album
was recorded 30 years ago, and in 1969 the recording technology wasn't
comparable to what it is today or even 20 years ago, for that matter.
Yet, the CD incorrectly titled "Only When I'm dreaming" has a couple of
scratches. No, not the cd itself, but the recording of it.
<g> As I blissfully sat listening to it the first time, there
were moments when I thought I had the turntable spinning my first vinyl
copy. Several readers have suggested that possibly the manufactures
(?) of this these "copies" couldn't fit the last track on, but the
entire album is only 42 MINUTES long! My final complaint is that
the original artwork doesn't appear on any of these "copies", less alone
the lyrics! "Wistful Memories" has lovely artwork and decent music quality, but still it is not "Come To My Garden". Coordinated and issued by Accord Records, it is still the same as the Blue Moon/Magnum issues. The most recent issue is "Come To My Garden" with the windmill... nice artwork, but you guessed it... it ain't it! The quality is much better than the "Only When I'm Dreaming" cd which was also distributed by Blue Moon/Magnum. This time they managed to record it without the scratches, but left in the hiss and pops for prosperity! :) Also for a brief period of time I ran across a "release" which had a picture of Minnie sitting in the garden (which was part of the gatefold release in 1971) as the cover. Upon examining a download of the cover, I discovered that it was the picture from this site; it had the same stitch marks... :) It was only
for a moment...
And then came that other moment...
Pricing does vary, so if you're aren't a die-hard Minnie (" I'll buy it if she's just breathing") fan I definitely suggest shopping around. [update: I SERIOUSLY suggest purchasing the Flavour Records release, if you can find it. I sold my extra copy, so I'm searching and will post any information I find on the "Where To Buy Page".]
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on
the original vinyl and the subsequent re-release in 1974.
