No Secrets (Carly Simon album)

No Secrets
Studio album by Carly Simon
Released November 28, 1972
Recorded September–October 1972 at Trident Studios, London
Genre Pop rock[1]
Length 35:58
Label Elektra
Producer Richard Perry
Carly Simon chronology
Anticipation
(1971)		 No Secrets
(1972)		 Hotcakes
(1974)
Singles from No Secrets
  1. "You're So Vain"
    Released: November 1972
  2. "The Right Thing to Do"
    Released: March 1973

No Secrets is singer-songwriter Carly Simon's third studio album, released in 1972.

The album was Simon's commercial breakthrough. It spent five weeks at #1 on the Billboard Pop albums chart and quickly went Gold,[2] as did its leadoff single, "You're So Vain", which remained at #1 on the Billboard Pop singles chart for three weeks, and #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart for two weeks.[3] 25 years after its initial release, the album was officially certified Platinum by the RIAA on December 12, 1997.[2]

Recording

At the invitation of producer Richard Perry, Simon recorded the album at Trident Studios in London, where Perry was keen for Simon to work with engineer Robin Cable. Trident Studios had previously been the venue for the recording of notable albums including The Beatles' White Album, David Bowie's Space Oddity and Elton John's second album.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
Robert Christgau(B-) [4]
Rolling Stone(highly positive) [5]

Initial reviews for No Secrets were mixed to positive. Robert Christgau, writing in Creem, rated the album a B- and stated that "if a horse could sing in a monotone, the horse would sound like Carly Simon, only a horse wouldn't rhyme 'yacht', 'apricot', and 'gavotte'. Is that some kind of joke?"[4] Stephen Holden in Rolling Stone concluded that "what finally makes No Secrets so refreshing is her singing, which conveys the finest spirit of patrician generosity."[5]

More recent reviews have been much more positive. For example, Allmusic's William Ruhlmann gave the album four-and-a-half stars (out of five). Ruhlmann noted that "You're So Vain", "set the album's saucy tone, with its air of sexually frank autobiography and its reflections on the jet-set lifestyle." He also stated that "now that she felt she had found true love, she was as willing to acknowledge her own mistakes and regrets as she was to point fingers." He concluded that "Perry paid particular attention to Simon's vocals and gave her music a new pop/rock 'buoyancy that previous albums lacked'."[1]

You're So Vain is ranked at #72 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All-Time.[6] The song was also voted #216 in RIAA's Songs of the Century. It remains Simon's biggest hit and is considered her signature song.

Cover artwork

The photograph for the cover, taken by Ed Caraeff, was shot in front of the Portobello Hotel, on Stanley Gardens in London's Notting Hill.[7]

Awards

Grammy Awards

Year Nominee/work Award Result
1974 "You're So Vain" Record of the Year Nominated
Song of the Year Nominated
Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female Nominated
No Secrets Best Engineered Recording[8] Nominated
2004 "You're So Vain" Grammy Hall of Fame Award Inducted

Track listing

All songs written by Carly Simon, unless otherwise noted.

Side one

  1. "The Right Thing to Do" – 2:57
  2. "The Carter Family" (Simon, Jacob Brackman) – 3:29
  3. "You're So Vain" – 4:17
  4. "His Friends Are More Than Fond of Robin" – 3:00
  5. "We Have No Secrets" – 3:57

Side two

  1. "Embrace Me, You Child" – 4:06
  2. "Waited So Long" – 4:14
  3. "It Was So Easy" (Simon, Brackman) – 3:06
  4. "Night Owl" (James Taylor) – 3:47
  5. "When You Close Your Eyes" (Simon, Bill Mernit) – 3:05

Personnel

Additional personnel

Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1973) Position
Australian Kent Music Report[10] 1
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[11] 1
French SNEP Albums Chart[12] 4
Italian Albums Chart[13] 4
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart[14] 3
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[15] 6
UK Albums Chart[16] 3
U.S. Billboard 200 [17] 1
West German Media Control Albums Chart[18] 39

Year-end charts

Chart (1973) Position
Australian Albums Chart[10] 7
French Albums Chart[19] 31
Italian Albums Chart[13] 22
U.S. Billboard 200[20] 4

Certifications

Region Certification
United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Gold
United States (RIAA)[22] Platinum

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ruhlmann, William. No Secrets at AllMusic. Retrieved 14 March 2006.
  2. 1 2 RIAA (2010-02-28). "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - February 28, 2010". RIAA. Retrieved 2010-02-28. (table of RIAA certifications for artist Carly Simon in format ALBUM)
  3. ↑ RIAA (2010-02-28). "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - February 28, 2010". RIAA. Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved 2010-02-28. (table of RIAA certifications for artist Carly Simon in format SINGLE)
  4. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (April 1973). "The Christgau Consumer Guide: Carly Simon: No Secrets". Creem. Retrieved 7 November 2011. Also included in "Carly Simon > Consumer Guide Reviews". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 14 March 2006.
  5. 1 2 Holden, Stephen (January 4, 1973). "Carly Simon No Secrets > Album Review". Rolling Stone (125). Retrieved 7 November 2011.
  6. ↑ "Billboard Hot 100 Chart 50th Anniversary". Billboard.com. 1994-05-21. Retrieved 2009-08-17.
  7. ↑ Walter Neff. "Carly Simon - Album Covers: No Secrets (1972)". http://carlysimonalbumcovers.blogspot.co.uk/. Retrieved 5 April 2013. External link in |publisher= (help)
  8. ↑ "Grammy Awards 1974". Awards&Shows.com. Retrieved 2015-04-11.
  9. ↑ Castleman, Harry; Podrazik, Walter J. (1977). "1972 – Never Tell Your Mother She's Out of Tune". All Together Now – The First Complete Beatles Discography 1961–1975 (Second ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. p. 117. ISBN 0-345-25680-8.
  10. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  11. ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved February 20, 2013
  12. ↑ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on May 6, 2013. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  13. 1 2 "Hit Parade Italia - Gli album più venduti del 1973" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  14. ↑ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4-87131-077-9.
  15. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com Carly Simon – No Secrets" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Chart Stats – Carly Simon – No Secrets (original soundtrack)" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  17. ↑ "allmusic ((( No Secrets > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Album Search: Carly Simon – No Secrets" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  19. ↑ "Les Albums (CD) de 1973 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. Archived from the original (PHP) on October 27, 2012. Retrieved February 20, 2013.
  20. ↑ "Top Pop Albums of 1973". Retrieved July 2, 2012.
  21. ↑ "British album certifications – Carly Simon – No Secrets". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved February 20, 2013. Enter No Secrets in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  22. ↑ "American album certifications – Carly Simon – No Secrets". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved February 20, 2013. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
Preceded by
Seventh Sojourn
by The Moody Blues		 Billboard 200 number-one album
January 13 – February 16, 1973 		Succeeded by
The World Is a Ghetto by War
Canadian RPM number-one album
January 27 – March 10, 1973 		Succeeded by
Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player
by Elton John
Preceded by
Slayed? by Slade		 Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
March 19 – April 29, 1973
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