Follow Your Heart

Album Review

Essentially, Follow Your Heart is a marriage of the Manhattans two Carnival Records albums on one record. Except that, a few tracks, notably the bouncy, chirpy "That New Girl," got overlooked. The late, George "Smitty" Smith sang lead, the other members during their Carnival ride were: Winnie "Blue" Lovett, Ernest Bivins, Kenny Kelly, Richard Taylor. "I Wanna Be," atheir biggest Carnival hit, was led by Blue singing octaves higher than his normal register, he normally sang bass or baritone; it came early, their third release, and smoked the R&B charts. A nervously fast "Searchin' For My Baby" followed. It was idea for dancing the Hitch Hike, but despite its commercial potential, R&B Jocks flipped it and played "I'm The One Love Forgot," a slow, morbid, but exquisite ballad where Smitty wallows in self-pity. Other defining sounds include the following gems: "Can I" found Smitty singing just as morbid, only this time the lyrics were about getting married, even happy events pained him; "Follow Your Heart," awas bad, it was the Jam! The lovely mid-tempo ballad was spiced by a throbbing trombone, Smitty's sensitive tenor, and endearing harmonies; "Baby I Need You" with its romantic chorus nearly equaled the success of "Heart"; "When Were Made As One," atheir last great Carnival release, had the intensity of previous ballads. Equally as definitive, but grossly overlooked "Baby I'm Sorry," awas written, like many of the Manhattans' songs, by Ernest Bivins. And can't forget "Alone On New Years Eve," a sad tale about being by oneself.