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KARLA BONOFF
All My Life - The Best of Karla Bonoff

as reviewed by Jack Crompton at Amazon.com, April 30, 2008

Oh, if I only had known it then...

Karla is a songwriter with a natural gift for writing popular songs with great hooks and has had a series of hit records dating back to the mid seventies and early eighties. Much like her good friend and occasional collaborator, Wendy Waldman, Karla Bonoff is a songwriter that is equally known for writing great hits for others (namely, Linda Ronstadt) as well has carving out her own solo career, which she’s done quite well at.

This popularity however, does not diminish the fact that these are powerfully sensitive songs. All of Karla’s music is drenched in her sensitivity and unrestrained romanticism. Her fist hit (that I can remember) was ‘Someone to Lay Down Beside Me’, recorded by Linda first and also released by Karla around the same time period - the mid/late seventies. It is a hauntingly beautiful song that speaks of the vulnerable pain of missing that one satisfying relationship we all long for.

Most of Karla’s songs embody this theme of the tragic romantic and they are enveloped in songs that seem like they’ve always been there.

This compilation includes most of her memorable work, although there are always a few gems these kinds of collections leave out that I wish would have been included. But this is a fine presentation of Karla Bonoff’s affecting music. A personal favorite of mine is ‘Wild Heart of the Young’, a song about the realization of a powerful love in the past, now out of reach, and how hindsight can often provide one with clear vision: ‘I loved you like I’ll never love another... with the wild heart of the young... but it took until now to uncover.... oh, if I’d only known it then.’

Such lyrics like these combined with powerful and mostly simple arrangements define what Karla is all about. Other gems include ‘If He’s Ever Near’, ‘Lose Again’, ‘Home’, ‘Goodbye My Friend’, ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’, ‘All My Life’, ‘Falling Star’ and the exquisite traditional tune, ‘The Water is Wide’. And those are just the ballads on here. Her up-tempo hits include ‘I Can’t Hold On’, ‘Isn’t It Always Love’, ‘Baby Don’t Go’, ‘Personally’ and the absolute great single hit record, ‘Tell Me Why’.

Although not very visible in the current cultural mix, Karla has continued to write great songs. Although not included in this set, I’m particularly fond of the powerful ‘Standing Right Next To Me’, which is part of the soundtrack for a film. It’s an ode to the sudden realization that her lover is here, now, and no longer something longed for or unknown. ‘I always knew I’d feel like this.’ It’s a tremendous statement, and done so with a lot of feeling. Powerful stuff.

Karla always has had the ability to touch my own heart deeply. Her gift of musicality is awesome and is self evident in the song she writes. If you are among the uninitiated, don’t hesitate to get better acquainted with this woman’s rich and emotional music.

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