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Summary: Re-living the 70s
Comment: If you are a woman or a man in your late 40s and early 50s and remember when "I Am Woman" was an anthem to equal rights, then this album is for you. Helen Reddy and her songs bring back all the memories when we wore polyester and platform shoes! Love it!!!
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Summary: The Woman I Am: The Definitive Collection
Comment: FANTASTIC book, one of the best I have ever read, well worth the read!!!
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Expands on Reddy's multiplatinum Greatest Hits & More package
Comment: The Woman I Am compiles all of Reddy's biggest hit singles from her heyday, but the real finds are minor hits, stray b-sides, & tracks never before anthologized, such as Crazy Love, Think I'll Write a Song, Candle On The Water from Pete's Dragon, and the lesser known Mama, written by Harriet Schock who also penned one of Reddy's gold-sellers, Ain't No Way To Treat A Lady. (I know Reddy is more or less retired, but she should seriously consider an entire album of Schock material.) Saving the best for last (download at iTunes), Reddy has included her original demo of I Am Woman where, accompanied by the rhythmic strumming of a lone guitar, she delivers a gutsier vocal performance than the saccharine-sweetened ear candy that nevertheless topped the charts.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS: The 20th Century Masters Millenium Collection of Yvonne Elliman (who after all originated I Don't Know How To Love Him and curiously shares another Reddy overlap with Somewhere In The Night), the 20th Century Masters Millenium Collection of Rita Coolidge, Bette Midler's The Divine Miss M (to hear how Delta Dawn should be done!), and any of Harriet Schock's CDs, particularly American Romance & Live: From Fairfax To Pasadena -- or for the truly adventurous, her long out-of-print 70's LPs, which may prove more difficult to find but are certainly worth the effort.
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Summary: Wonderful collection of the biggest and best from an important 70's artist
Comment: It has been an awfully long time since Helen Reddy had her last big chart hit. Her music has all but disappeared from the radio. That's too bad. But the fact of the matter is that Helen Reddy was a major force in popular music during the 1970's. For those seeking a pretty complete anthology of her hits Capitol's 2006 release "The Woman I Am: The Definitive Collection" would appear to be an excellent choice. This disc contains just about every one of her important Top 40 hits as well as a number of gems from her LP's. Everyone will remember the great hit singles from her heyday like "Angie Baby", "Delta Dawn", "Ain't No Way To Treat a Lady" as well as the song that made her famous "I Am Woman" from 1972. But if I had to choose my favorite Helen Reddy tunes they would have to be her remake of Cilla Black's "You're My World" followed closely by 1973's "Peaceful". To be honest I had not listened to Helen Reddy's music for quite some time and I had forgotten what a terrific voice this lady possesses.
"The Woman I Am: The Definitive Collection" includes a colorful and informative 12 page booklet. I was surprised to see that another reviewer was quite critical of the sound quality of this disc. I did not find that to be the case at all. In fact, I found the sound quality to be superb and I thought the remastering really enhanced my enjoyment of these 30 year old recordings. A big "thumbs up" on this one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good collection, bad sound quality?
Comment: I'm not a Helen Reddy expert but I'm familiar with her hits and felt like this was the best "Greatest Hits" collection to buy. It has all the hits including "Candle On The Water" from Disney's PETE'S DRAGON and some great covers of classic 60s hits. My only comment would be that some of the songs sound like they were mastered from vinyl - I swear I hear the telltale clicks and pops so common on old LPs. But like I said I'm not an expert on Ms. Reddy's music and don't have any of her other CDs for comparison. Maybe that noise has always been there or maybe it's just unavoidable for recordings 20-30 years old if the masters weren't preserved well. Overall it's not a huge complaint and you have a generous sampling of Helen Reddy's recording career included.
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