Bronx cheers may have greeted Dion’s decision to stop being a teenager in love and find the Lord, but his ’70s period produced some vibrant albums for Warners and Phil Spector Int’l.
Streetwise tunes like “New York City Song” nailed his authentic R&B persona, while the cool “Soft Parade Of Years” found him addicted to something more positive than heroin?soul searching. Much admired by the likes of Lou Reed and Bruce Springsteen, Dion’s East Coast blues are well served by “Only You Know”, but he preferred his stint with Steve Barri and Michael Omartian, whose polished treatment of “Queen Of ’59” updated the doo-wopper and made him hip.
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