Carly Simon's third album comes handsomely dressed by super-producer Richard Perry and boasts many illustrious helpers. In the degree of its intelligence and forthrightness it is the equal of its predecessors. Regardless of the quality of her songs -- they range from fair to excellent -- everything Carly does is likeable for her radiant vocal personality. She has the whitest of white voices and uses it well, singing full throat with her faultless enunciation. Her almost literal note-for-note phrasing of songs is uniquely ingenuous.

Original album advertising art. Click image for larger view.

The obvious highlight of No Secrets is the hit single, "You're So Vain," an affectionately high-spirited put-down of a male chauvinist glamour boy: "Well I hear you went up to Saratoga and your horse naturally won/Then you flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia/To see the total eclipse of the sun/You're where you should be all the time and when you're not/You're with some underworld spy or the wife of a close friend..." A medium-paced rocker with a good tune, it climaxes with a sardonic chorus, which has Mick Jagger singing unison backup: "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you." Though the idea of Carly and Mick singing together sounds incongruous, the combination turns out to be inspired alchemy, especially bracing if heard through headphones.

James Taylor's "Night Owl" is the album's second-best cut. Among the guests sitting in on this hard bluesy rocker are Nicky Hopkins, Klaus Voorman and Bobby Keys, with background vocals by Bonnie Bramlett, Doris Troy and the McCartneys. Of the album's eight other cuts, five take up the subject of time -- lovers' time versus childhood time -- playing variations on Carly's favorite theme. The implicit assumption behind these songs is the difficulty of being happy, especially when in love, without over-analyzing one's happiness so as to dissipate its intensity. The realization that emotion and rationalization are often irreconcilable is most painfully expressed in Carly's ballad, "(We Have) No Secrets":

Further reading on Super Seventies RockSite!: Album Review: Anticipation Album Review: Hotcakes Single Review: "You're So Vain" Carly Simon: In Her Own Words 2005 Moonlight Serenade Interview Seventies' Greatest Album Covers: Playing Possum Carly Simon Lyrics

We tell each other everything

About the lovers in our past

And why they didn't last

We share a cast of characters from A to Z

We know each other's fantasies

And though we know each other better when we explore

Sometimes I wish

Often I wish

I never knew

Some of those secrets of yours.

Just as direct and personal is Carly's childhood fantasy of her father, "Embrace Me, You Child": "At night in bed I heard God whisper lullabies/While Daddy next door whistled whiskey tunes/And sometimes when I wanted they would harmonize/There was nothing that those two couldn't do." Two songs with lyrics by Jacob Brackman -- "The Carter Family" and "It Was So Easy" -- also look back nostalgically toward youthful innocence. With the exception of "You're So Vain," Carly's lyrics are stronger than her tunes. But what finally makes No Secrets so refreshing is her singing, which conveys the finest spirit of patrician generosity.

- Stephen Holden, Rolling Stone, 1/4/73.

Bonus Reviews!

This super package, recorded in London and produced by Richard Perry, is Carly Simon's first album in quite some time. It is filled with Simon originals and sprinkled with musician credits like Klaus Voorman, James Taylor, Jimmy Ryan and more. "His Friends Are More Than Fond of Robin," "Embrace Me You Child," "When You Close Your Eyes" (written with Billy Merritt) are all standout cuts. Current single "You're So Vain" is a highlight.

- Billboard, 1972.

No Secrets is forthright, passionate and wonderfully outspoken, particularly on the great put-down classic "You're So Vain." * * * *

- Patrick McCarty, Musichound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, 1996.

It's no secret that this sexy, soulful record represents prolific Carly at her peak. Great then, classic now, her unique, evocative voice handles some fine material like "The Right Thing to Do," her duet with then-partner James Taylor, and her deeply personal signature "You're So Vain" -- and whether they think that tune is about them or not, perhaps today's pop divas could learn something from Simon's carefully crafted songs. * * * *