Playing Possum

by Carly Simon

Product Description:

From the see-through skirt on the cover photo of 1971's ANTICIPATION onwards, Carly Simon has never minded showing off her body. However, the cover shot for 1975's PLAYING POSSUM--a photo to which the only possible response is "yowza"--is so provocative that in many folks' minds, it's eclipsed the album itself. This seems to have happened even to Simon--her three-disc career compilation CLOUDS IN MY COFFEE includes nothing from this hit album.

Simon's last album to be produced by mid-'70s hitmaker Richard Perry, PLAYING POSSUM does show why she chose to go into a new, more sonically adventurous direction with her next album, ANOTHER PASSENGER. It's not that PLAYING POSSUM is dull--the single "Attitude Dancing" is a minor gem, slight but awfully fun, as is "Are You Ticklish?"--just that Simon occasionally sounds as if she feels somewhat hemmed-in by Perry's arrangements. Regardless, this is terrific, underrated '70s pop.