Genre: pop
Rating: 2 stars **
Title: Butterfly
Company: A&M
Catalog: SP-4314
Year: 1973
Country/State: US
Grade (cover/record): VG / VG
Comments: gimmick gatefold sleeve; original lyric inner sleeve
Available: 1
GEMM catalog ID: 5236
Price: $75.00
Though there's no denying namesake Cheryl Dilcher was cute, when I stumbled across this album at a yardsale I didn't have a clue who she was. As a result I bought the album based on the Jeff Barry connection. In carrying a dedicated to Barry, he produced this album and was credited with playing percussion throughout.
Judging by the title and cutesy packaging (butterflies, kittens, etc.) my initial thoughts were that 1973's "Butterfly" was liable to be little more than a collection of cloyingly earnest singer/songwriter tracks; maybe something along the lines of early Janis Ian, Melanie, or Carly Simon. The other thought was that this would turn out to be throwaway pop - Barry having found a cute, young woman whom he was willing to mentor for awhile. Well, technically I wasn't completely wrong with the initial assessment. Listening to the album it turned out that Dilcher actually did sound a bit like a slightly pissed off Melanie and on tracks like 'Sweet Mama', 'Rainbow Farm' and 'So Sad' her material could have been mistaken for something off of one of Melanie's mid-1970s albums (check out side two's 'Irma' or 'Chocolate Candy' if you doubt the comparison). Like Melanie, Dilcher owned a deep and raspy voice that wasn't the most musical thing you ever heard, but proved to be well suited to her material and grew on you with a couple of spins. Similarly I wasn't completely off target with respect to Jeff Barry's influence. Though all twelve tracks were Dilcher originals and nothing here was overtly bubblegum, Barry's commercial touch was evident throughout the set.
Unknown to me at the time, this one's generated a cult following among psych collectors. Turns out that 'High' and 'All Woman' were included in a bootleg compilation entitled "Hippie Goddesses". While it's easy to see why they were included (fuzz guitar and a far more rock oriented attack than the rest of the set), musically those tracks were quite atypical. Too bad, since they were amongst the collection's standout performances.
"Butterfly" track listing:
(side 1)
1.) Butterfly (instrumental) (Cheryl Dilcher) -
2.) Deep Down Inside (instrumental) (Cheryl Dilcher) -
3.) Sweet Mama (Cheryl Dilcher) -
4.) Rainbow Farm (Cheryl Dilcher) -
5.) So Sad (Cheryl Dilcher) -
6.) Can't Get Enough of You (Cheryl Dilcher) -
(side
2)
1.) Irma (Cheryl
Dilcher) -
2.) High (Cheryl Dilcher) -
3.) Good Morning World (Cheryl Dilcher) -
4.) Once Upon a Time (Cheryl Dilcher) -
5.) Chocolate Candy (Cheryl Dilcher) -
5.) All Woman (Cheryl Dilcher) -