| Cigars, Acappella, Candy | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | the Belmonts |
| Cover: | Cigars, Acappella, Candy.jpg |
| Released: | 1972 |
| Genre: | Doo-wop, a cappella |
| Label: | Buddah |
| Producer: | Bob Feldman |
| Next Title: | Reunion: Live at Madison Square Garden 1972 |
| Next Year: | 1973 |
Cigars, Acappella, Candy is an album by the American singing group the Belmonts, release in 1972.[1] [2] To coincide with a doo-wop television special, , the album was rereleased by Elektra Records in 1990, at the same time as the Persuasions' Chirpin'.[3]
The album was produced by Bob Feldman.[4] "Street Corner Symphony" is a medley of 14 early pop, doo-wop, and rock and roll songs. The version of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord", which includes a snippet of the Chiffons' "He's So Fine", employed kazoo and percussion.[5]
The New York Times labeled Cigars, Acappella, Candy "more interesting" than the Dion and the Belmonts reunion album, and deemed "Street Corner Symphony" "a miracle of compression."[6] Robert Christgau praised the album but expressed his preference for the Persuasions. Richard Price, in a Rolling Stone interview with Dion, similarly considered the album second only to the work of the Persuasions.[7] The Chicago Tribune wrote that the Belmonts "handle the a cappella format well, producing a hefty sound with swooping falsetto, vibrant bass, and tight harmonies."[8] The Commercial Appeal noted the "superb three-part harmonizing."[9] The Buffalo Evening News determined that the Belmonts sing the songs "with style, a little flash and not too much pandering."[10]
In December 1979, the music critics Ed Ward and Greil Marcus included the album on their Village Voice ballots for the 10 best albums of the 1970s.[11] In 1992, The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll called Cigars, Acappella, Candy "some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful doo-wop singing ever recorded."[12] In 2010, Spin listed the album as one of eight "essential" doo-wop albums, writing that the Belmonts "sing music that still feels transmitted from space."[13]