More Carly Simon

• A stunning side one, clocking in between Double and Triple Plus
• Side two is excellent as well, earning One and a Half Pluses for its superb presence and transparency
• Great sound for Mockingbird and Haven’t Got Time For The Pain
• All Music Guide gives this Richard Perry production Four Big Stars

The grit and grain that plagues most copies is GONE here, replaced with the kind of space and transparency that really make sense of the recording. The bottom end has real weight and punch, and the whole thing is much richer and more natural than usual.

That Glossy Richard Perry Sound

Many copies of this album suffer from (at least) one of two problems: unnaturally hi-fi-ish sound or an excess of grit and grain. Both are in large part due to the processing-intensive production of Richard Perry.

The best copies make it easy to understand his choices: the sound is lovely. Unfortunately that rich, sweet sound he obviously got on to the master tape didn’t quite make it to the average vinyl pressing of this album. The effects used on Carly’s vocals turn her voice into a gritty, grainy mess on most copies — certainly not the kind of sound that audiophiles want to hear.

As is so often the case, it took a few exceptional copies to make us understand what Simon and Perry were going for. Compare this Hot Stamper to the typical copy and you’ll hear it for yourself right away.

Haven’t Got Time For The Pain

It’s one of Carly’s best songs; even better, the title perfectly sums up our selling point for this Hot Stamper. Anyone can do this shootout on their own; these records are in every used record bin in the country. Naturally I don’t know if anyone but us would WANT to do this shootout, because so many copies are no better than mediocre and some are just plain awful.

If, like Carly, you haven’t got time for the pain, save yourself the trouble and take home a Hot copy. Your free time is valuable — why not spend it listening to good records and leave the bad ones to us.

TRACK LISTING

Side One

Safe and Sound 
Mind on My Man 
Think I’m Gonna Have a Baby 
Older Sister 
Just Not True 
Hotcakes

Side Two

Misfit 
Forever My Love 
Mockingbird 
Grownup 
Haven’t Got Time for the Pain

AMG 4 Star Rave Review

“A glowing, pregnant Carly Simon smiles out from the cover of Hotcakes, one of her biggest selling albums, which featured the gold single “Mockingbird,” a duet with her husband James Taylor that effectively remade the old Inez and Charlie Foxx hit and bested it on the charts.

The album also included another hit, “Haven’t Got Time For The Pain,” as well as “Misfit,” in which a wife implores her carousing husband to come home, and “Think I’m Gonna Have A Baby,” which celebrated the joys of same.

With such tracks, Hotcakes was an autobiographical concept album that defined domestic bliss at a time when Simon’s listeners also were catching their breath and turning inward.”