IS IT REALLY YOU, ESTHER?

 Original released on LP Philips PHM 200-185

(US, 1965)

When was the last time you were knocked over by an impossibly great and new talent? If you can remember how you dusted your pants off and straightened your tie, then prepare yourself once again for that particular kind of rare moment, for Esther Ofarim has a way of bowling you over. The first time I saw and heard her I was astonished. Her voice is an amazing instrument. She can run the gamut from folk songs to sophisticated ballads. In fact, her voice is literally an extension of her body. When she performs it is as if  her whole body were a reed. The fact that she is petite does not in any way hinder the quality or intensity of her voice. She is young and she is beautiful. She was born in Israel and has traveled throughout Europe and the United States. She speaks, to my knowledge, French, Hebrew, German and English. She is also a gifted actress. She appeared in the Otto Preminger movie “Exodus”. Among all of these gifts that she possesses, the one that I have not mentioned, and which may be the most valuable one of all, is her special brand of believability that she seems to put into every song she sings. You only need to listen to Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere” from West Side Story, to see what I mean. To arrange for Esther is to know no limitations. No matter how strongly the arrangement would drive her she was as good – and better – on every occasion.  I wish I could say that about every artist I have worked with. She can belt when she has to – she can understate – she can be rare or simple. Esther is that one in a million combination of all the right ingredients that make for stardom, and when I say stardom, I don’t mean it in the loose sense. What I mean is, she will sit eventually on one of the highest peaks of the entertainment industry’s Olympus. The title for the album is "Earthquake". When you hear the album you will know why we used the title. Prepare yourself now to be knocked over and as you fall, be sure you don’t hit me laying there.

Bobby Scott, liner notes of the LP