''Beautiful Thing'' is an album by the American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

musician

Ben Vaughn Ben Vaughn is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, composer for television and film, and syndicated radio show host. Biography Ben Vaughn grew up in the Philadelphia area on the New Jersey side of the river. South Jersey. ...

(credited to the Ben Vaughn Combo), released in 1987. The album's final track, "The Apology Line", is covered on

Barrence Whitfield Barrence Whitfield (born Barry White, June 13, 1955) is an American soul and R&B vocalist, best known as the frontman for Barrence Whitfield & the Savages. White was born in Jacksonville, Florida. When he was a child, his family moved to East ...

's ''

Ow! Ow! Ow! ''Ow! Ow! Ow!'' is an album by the American R&B musician Barrence Whitfield. The album is also credited to Whitfield's backing band, the Savages, which on ''Ow! Ow! Ow!'' constituted an entirely new lineup. Released in 1987, ''Ow! Ow! Ow!'' is a p ...

Production

The album was produced by Ben Vaughn, who also wrote the songs. Mostly acoustic, the songs were in part inspired by radio disc jockey patter and random conversations overheard by Vaughn. The band used bongos, hubcaps, maracas, and accordion on many of the tracks.

Critical reception

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

thought that "unlike many comedians, this mild-mannered male chauvinist is funniest when he lets on how clever he is." ''Trouser Press'' wrote that "''Beautiful Thing'' has a fresh, easygoing feel, but too much restraint can be dangerous: halfway through the first side, this mild record threatens to slide right off the turntable." ''The New York Times'' concluded that "all the three-chord rock of the 1950's and 60's—rockabilly, surf-rock, Cajun, rhythm-and-blues, country—twangs and relaxes together in the Ben Vaughn Combo, as Mr. Vaughn talk-sings his way through droll, understated songs without a hint of rock's latter-day histrionics." ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' deemed the album "a marvelously eclectic collection of rock styles and romantic observations." The ''Philadelphia Daily News'' called the tracks "clever, evocative new songs in a time honored, timeless style," writing that the band "has a slap happy simplicity and ragged enthusiasm that's anachronistic, that seems a throwback to the 1950s rockabilly era of Eddie Cochran and Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper." ''The Washington Post'' determined that "sometimes Vaughn sounds like what might have happened if Lou Reed had influenced Bob Dylan rather than the other way around, but he always manages a neat wedding of lyric and melody." The ''Chicago Tribune'' stated that "Vaughn brings some uncommon touches to numbers about male-female relationships." AllMusic wrote that "the tunes on ''Beautiful Thing'' never hit harder than they have to or take up more space than necessary, and their modesty only adds to their effectiveness." ''The State (newspaper), The State'' included ''Beautiful Thing'' on its list of the ten best albums of 1987.

Track listing

References

{{reflist 1987 albums Restless Records albums