After losing her husband to Mia Farrow, Dory Previn disappeared into the obscurity of a mental institution, where, as part of the supervised therapy, she was encouraged to write songs. In 1970, she dusted herself down, sought and won a record contract and finally hit back at Farrow with "Beware of Young Girls." This quiet but deadly character assassination depicted Farrow as a scheming minx whose fey, waif-like appearance was nothing more than a nefarious pretense. Cleverer still, its seething libretto was set to the melody of a traditional lullaby. On My Way to Where, the song's parent album, was produced by Nik Venet, and firmly established Previn as a singer/songwriter with several differences -- first, her problems (divorce, schizophrenia, a childhood's worth of abuse) were of staggering significance at a time when other writers filled entire albums with dour material about meaningless affairs. Second, her sense of humour knocked most of the competition into a cocked hat. All ten tracks here boast admirable pluck in the face of considerable adversity, and a sense of fun to boot. Whether examining her own mental disorder ("Mr Whisper"), coming to terms with her violent father ("I Ain't His Child") or just bringing Farrow to book, Previn inhabited a more interesting musical setting than the standard wailing over an acoustic guitar, utilizing a marching band, faux country and, on "Michael Michael," even a touch of late psychedelia.
© Charles Donovan /TiVo