Some songs need a movie or TV show to propel them into the public consciousness. Others manage to grasp the zeitgeist — generally without even being aware they've done so — and remain a fixture in the collective memory. Still others just connect with the masses enough and never quite go away. This song isn't any of these.
It feels like "Angel of the Morning" is a very well known song and has been for a number of years but what else is there to know about it? Merrilee Rush, who first popularized it in 1968, only had the one major hit and doesn't even seem to track in terms of one-hit wonders. Juice Newton, who we'll be getting to eventually with this very same track, did have a little more mustard on that wiener but her cultural imprint wasn't massive either. Shaggy, who we'll also be getting to eventually with — imagine that — an adaptation of this very same track, was a pretty big deal for all of about four months a quarter of a century ago but who remembers him now? Now, I'm not much of an authority so I will confess to have gotten Rush mixed up with Jeanine C. Riley, Newton with Janice Ian and old Shags with Shabba Ranks. "Angel of the Morning" has remained even if time eventually ran out on the individuals who helped make it.
While not quite the original version — singer Evie Sands did it first but the chances of her dramatic and ethereal rendition were hampered by record company financial problems — Rush had the first opportunity to take it into the charts. She displays quite the malleable vocal range here: at times, she sounds like a folk singer while she can also do a mean Dusty Springfield impersonation when she wants to. ("Then slowly turn away..." has that distinctive breathy, sandpapery tone that the English soul-pop diva had patented; she would record her own version in 1969)
Considering the image on the cover of the French release above and the fact that legendary singer Connie Francis had turned down the chance to record it herself due to the damage it might do to her public image, it's not a terribly scandalous song. Sexual revolution or not, the idea of a woman having sex outside of marriage would no doubt have ruffled a few feathers but whatever blowback it faced missed the point. She's looking for love but seems to have become resigned to not finding it — or, at best, has made due with a night of romance that vanishes the next morning. She's well aware of the score ("I'm old enough to face the dawn") which makes her surprisingly empowered in such a situation. (And even if she isn't feeling much empowerment, that won't stop her from communicating otherwise to the gentlemen she gets together with)
Juice Newton had been reluctant to take it on since she considered it to be too "pop" for her tastes. Oddly, though, her recording is more or less the same as Merrilee Rush's. Appropriately enough for a song that has been covered by a wide range of artists over many genres, "Angel of the Morning" transcends categorization. Rather than artists adapting it to fit their particular styles, it seems to force singers to adapt to it. I'm normally skeptical of labeling music as "timeless" but I will make an exception here. Acts come and go but "Angel of the Morning" has remained. It isn't quite the glorious slice of pop it probably deserves to be but ignore it at your peril — besides, it's bound to make yet another comeback sooner or later.
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