JOAN OSBORNE Kiss & Say Goodbye
A Happy 60th Birthday wish to the one and only Joan Osborne: the American singer/songwriter and vocal chameleon who has released a dozen albums since 1995 and in genres as varied as rock, country, traditional R&B, seasonal (Christmas), pop and blues. Joan has written a ton of songs as well as covering Bob Dylan, Motown classics, blue eyed soul and here on this beautiful recording, the R&B classic 'Kiss & Say Goodbye' a #1 hit in America for The Manhattans all the way back in 1976. I have to admit I didn't like the original, but then again I was 11 when it came out, and thought it too schmaltzy, but in the hands of the majestic Joan Osborne, it is a treasure trove. Joan's voice is like honey and she imbues the song with both respect, but also stamps it with her own phrasing and pop sensibilities.
One of the reasons Joan's music crept up on me between first hearing 'One Of Us' in 1996 and her most recent opus 'Radio Waves' in early 2022, is that her switching up genres meant I could not easily pigeon hole her, something that I guess I have been able to do with all of my favourite vocalists, although some like Julia Fordham and Serena Ryder also love to dabble and definitely do not stay in just one lane of music. Joan Osborne's ability to do this with such effortlessness (so it seems) and her loving approach to other people's songs as well as her own, has made her a very special artist, and I know she has fans scattered all over the world. The fact that she continually surprises from one album to another is why Joan Osborne is now one of my faves.
'Relish' in 1995 yielded that awesome hit 'One Of Us' as well as the kick ass 'Right Hand Man'; the follow up 'Righteous Love' in 2000 had a blistering version of the Gary Wright classic 'Love Is Alive' (I must do a battle of that with Chaka Khan's funky extravaganza of a version) as well as tackling the Bob Dylan masterpiece 'To Make You Feel My Love'. 2002's 'How Sweet It Is' was a brilliant cover album of Motown songs and hits from that era. 2005 saw a Christmas album, 2006 a Country/Folk opus 'Pretty Little Stranger', then the album that featured 'Kiss & Say Goodbye' - the 2007 'Breakfast In Bed' which featured covers of songs by Hall & Oates, Bill Withers, Jimmy Ruffin and Gladys Knight. I tell's ya, there is nothing this dame can't sing and sing the hell out of it!
Wishing Joan Osborne a very happy 60th Birthday today 8th July, 2022 and my profound thanks for all the wonderful music she has created and shared and that voice which has the power to calm, heal and motivate in equal measure. Long may you shine, Joan!