One would expect that, by their third album, the Serendipity Singers' repertory would have been getting a bit thin. And it is true that Take Your Shoes Off with the Serendipity Singers mostly doesn't have those moments of profound beauty or pleasingly silly novelty tunes that highlighted the two prior long-players, and the overall quality of the material was somewhat lower. But at the same time, they still knew how to pace an album, and Bob Bowers' arrangements pulled every ounce of lyricism out of numbers such as "Autumn ...
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One would expect that, by their third album, the Serendipity Singers' repertory would have been getting a bit thin. And it is true that Take Your Shoes Off with the Serendipity Singers mostly doesn't have those moments of profound beauty or pleasingly silly novelty tunes that highlighted the two prior long-players, and the overall quality of the material was somewhat lower. But at the same time, they still knew how to pace an album, and Bob Bowers' arrangements pulled every ounce of lyricism out of numbers such as "Autumn Wind" and the bright, almost sunshine pop-style fun from "Same Old Reason." True, "Sobbin' Women" from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers wasn't nearly as special as "Soon It's Gonna Rain" from The Fantasticks; "Lazy Afternoon," from the musical The Golden Apple, was more in the line of what this group could do well, as was the second half of "Spring," after the chorus comes in. But the most interesting number on the whole album is easily their rendition of the Shel Silverstein co-authored "Foghorn," a dissonant yet lovely piece that shows off this group's true potential and range. Coupled with a spirited version of "I Know You Rider" (here credited as "Rider"), it makes for a rousing finale to their last really solid album, and dwarfs everything else around it, as a composition and a performance. Indeed, by itself "Foghorn" is worth the price of admission. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi
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