No Secrets (Carly Simon album)

No Secrets
File:Csns.jpg
Studio album by Carly Simon
Released	November 1972
Recorded	September–October 1972 at Trident Studios, London
Genre	Pop rock
Length	37:23
Label	Elektra
Producer	Richard Perry
Carly Simon chronology
Anticipation (1971)Anticipation1971 No Secrets (1972) Hotcakes (1974)Hotcakes1974
Singles from No Secrets
"You're So Vain" Released: November 1972 "The Right Thing to Do" Released: 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, 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. 25 years after its initial release, the album was officially certified Platinum by the RIAA on December 12, 1997.

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
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau	(B-)
Rolling Stone	(highly positive)

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?" 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."

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'."

You're So Vain is ranked at #72 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All-Time. 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.

Awards

Grammy Awards

Year	Recipient/Nominated 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	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

• Carly Simon – lead vocals, backing vocals (1, 7), acoustic guitar (5-8), piano (1-4, 10), string arrangements (3), ARP synthesizer arrangements (4)
• Andy Newmark – drums (1, 2, 6, 8, 10)
• Jimmy Ryan – acoustic guitar (2-5, 10), bass guitar (1, 10) electric guitar (3, 6-9)
• Klaus Voormann – bass guitar (2, 3, 5-9)

Additional personnel

• Paul Buckmaster – string and woodwind arrangements (10), synthesizer arrangements (6, 10), choir arrangement (6), orchestration (3, 6)
• Kirby Johnson – string arrangements (2, 5), woodwind arrangements (2), electric piano (5)
• Ray Cooper – congas (1, 9)
• Jim Gordon – drums (3, 5)
• Nicky Hopkins – piano (7, 9)
• Jim Keltner – drums (7, 9)
• Paul Keough – acoustic guitar (5, 8)
• Vicki Brown – backing vocals (1)
• Liza Strike – backing vocals (1)
• Richard Perry – percussion (3)
• David Hentschel – ARP synthesizer (4)
• Peter Robinson – piano (6)
• Lowell George – slide guitar (7)
• Bill Payne – organ (7)
• James Taylor – backing vocals (7)
• Bonnie Bramlett – backing vocals (9)
• Bobby Keys – tenor saxophone (9)
• Linda McCartney – backing vocals (9)
• Paul McCartney – backing vocals (9)
• Doris Troy – backing vocals (9)
• Mick Jagger – backing vocals (uncredited) (3)

Production

• Produced by Richard Perry
• Engineer: Robin Geoffrey Cable
• Remixing: Bill Schnee, Robin Geoffrey Cable
• Mastering: Doug Sax

Charts

Peak positions

Chart (1973)	Position
Australian Kent Music Report	1
Canadian RPM Albums Chart	1
French SNEP Albums Chart	4
Italian Albums Chart	4
Japanese Oricon Albums Chart	3
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart	6
UK Albums Chart	3
U.S. Billboard 200	1
West German Media Control Albums Chart	39

Year-end charts

Chart (1973)	Position
Australian Albums Chart	7
French Albums Chart	31
Italian Albums Chart	22
U.S. Billboard 200	4

Certifications

Region	Certification
United Kingdom (BPI)	Gold
United States (RIAA)	Platinum

References

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

External links

• Carly Simon's Official Website