Interview Review

07/13/2005 6:56 AM, AMG


This CD isn't "an" interview, but rather a 69-minute compilation of interviews given by Clark in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1974, 1976, and 1977. There aren't many -- aren't any, maybe -- surprises or revelations to be found, though Clark and her interrogators do discuss basic details about her hits, her early days in England and France, her crossover to American success, her stage show, her movies, her family, and her home. There aren't many specific stories about her records and songs, though surprisingly the first interview, done for the U.S. Army, does go into reasonable depth as to how she found and recorded the song "Downtown" (and contains absolutely nothing else). It should come as no shock to anyone that Clark comes across as the affable all-around entertainer, wishing to remain contemporary and appeal to as many age groups and audiences as possible. Her singing voice is heard on a brief commercial for her 1968 NBC-TV special, which is a pastiche of the sounds heard on her mid-'60s hits. Her 1974 South African interviews don't address the question of how she felt about touring the country when apartheid was still in effect there, though one imagines some of the authorities couldn't have been happy when she pointed out that her children went to a Swiss school with students of various colors and religions. It's a useful document for serious Clark fans, though not fantastically interesting. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide