Garden in the City is a Melanie album released by Buddah Records in 1971. Although marketed as an album of new recordings it was actually a compilation of "leftover" songs from Melanie's time at that label and released without her consent, after she left to form her own record label. Two of the songs had been previously released on the soundtrack album to the movie R. P. M. (produced by Barry De Vorzon & Perry Botkin, Jr.) in 1970.

Garden in the City
Studio album by
Released1971
GenrePop
LabelBuddah Records
ProducerPeter Schekeryk
Melanie chronology
Stoneground Words
(1972)
Garden in the City
(1971)
Melanie at Carnegie Hall
(1972)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic link

The United Kingdom release of the album had a "scratch 'n' sniff" label on the sleeve with the message "Rub gently to release the magic of Melanie's Garden."

The song "People in the Front Row" was later sampled by Australian hip hop group Hilltop Hoods for their song "The Nosebleed Section". Melanie was reportedly pleased with the use of her song in this recording. [1]

Reception

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In their review, Record World stated that "Melanie fans who can't get enough of her wonderful stuff will pick this one up in quick time."[2]

Allmusic noted that "in fact it isn't too bad" yet conceded that "this curiosity is now remembered more for its scratch 'n' sniff "smell Melanie's Magic Garden" cover than for its content."[3]

Track listing

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All songs written by Melanie Safka except where noted.

  1. "Garden in the City"
  2. "Love in My Mind"
  3. "We Don't Know Where We're Going" (Barry De Vorzon, Perry Botkin Jr.)
  4. "Lay Lady Lay" (Bob Dylan)
  5. "Jigsaw Puzzle" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards)
  6. "Don't You Wait By The Water"
  7. "Stop! I Don't Wanna Hear It Anymore" (Barry De Vorzon, Perry Botkin Jr.)
  8. "Somebody Loves Me" (Ballard MacDonald, Buddy DeSylva, George Gershwin)
  9. "People in the Front Row"

Charts

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Chart Peak
position
Australian Albums Chart 38
US Billboard 200 [4] 115
US Cash Box Charts [5] 124
UK Albums Chart 19
Singles
Chart Title Peak
position
U.S Billboard Bubbling Under Chart "Stop! I Don't Wanna Hear It Anymore" 112

References

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  1. ^ "Hilltop Hoods remember Melanie, the late folk singer sampled on 'The Nosebleed Section'". Double J. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  2. ^ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Music/Archive-Record-World-IDX/IDX/70s/71/RW-1971-11-13-OCR-Page-0014.pdf#search=%22garden%20in%20the%20city%22 [bare URL]
  3. ^ "Garden in the City - Melanie | Album | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  4. ^ "Melanie". Billboard.
  5. ^ https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1972/Cash-Box-1972-02-05.pdf [bare URL PDF]