It was such an unexpected surprise when I listened back to Brand New Key, Living Bell, Some Say, and I look at the girl I was. Some of her classics can be found on this as well, from “Ring the Living Bell” to “Some Say (I Got Devil), to name but 2 of the best of her work.

I have a very well-worn vinyl copy of this album, and I have a feeling I’ll be spinning the digital version just as much. Though she would release six more albums through 1976, this would be her peak on the radio and record charts. As for the tracks, they are fun, light and gentle, but underneath, there are some serious messages she is trying to get across.You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. My Favorite album from Melanie's stint with Buddha Records, All great songs, with a lot of complex arrangements. She enthused at the time that it was her best album yet (which should always be taken with a pinch of salt), and that it was the first album she was entirely happy with, and one that reflected exactly where her head was at, at the time! This is an early classic from the folk scene in the States, which, of course, is very different from the UK music scene involving folk music. There's no discernible concept to this - it's hard to figure out what purpose is served by the quaint covers, 30-second fragments, half-finished works-in-progress and near-wordless guide vocals that cast a disproportionate shadow over the rest of the album.

After I finish recording, I never listened back maybe if I had I might’ve known but I was on to the next thing I was working on. The arrangements are mostly quiet and acoustic and even when strings are added they're not overwhelming. For this listener, the biggest problem with the album is a more mundane one - there's too much religious content. Gather Me was Melanie's first album on the Neighborhood label which was founded by herself with her husband and manager Peter Schekeryk (to whom she stayed married until his death in 2010).

And it was that connection that motivated me to come out after the performance, meet everyone and never do a Melanie has left the building thing. The only time I felt good about myself when I was in front of you, and we were together, and I could see and sense that all was well. If Melanie has always been anxious not to be defined by her religious affiliation (which has changed over the years), and in later years has regarded herself as a secular humanist first and foremost, you'd never know it from listening to this! The whole album presents a grown up Melanie with a interestingly wide range of material and the same intensity that marked her earlier albums and along with her sincerity was a defining characteristic.