I've Been There

I've Been There is a studio album by American singer Johnny Hartman, released in 1973 by Perception Records.

Similar to his previous album – Today (1972) – Hartman includes several popular tunes by contemporary songwriters such as Paul Simon, Kris Kristofferson, and Antonio Carlos Jobim.

On rock-flavored tunes, such as Rainy Days, the backing sounds like dedicated jazzmen self-consciously trying to appeal to the bubblegum set."

Stephen Thomas Erlewine at AllMusic gives the album two out of five stars, calling it "a polished collection of contemporary pop and soul hits as sung by the gifted jazz vocalist.

But Hartman is simply not suited for this straightahead style – he is too idiosyncratic to put himself into this straightjacket.

[2] In The Last Balladeer: The Johnny Hartman Story, biographer Gregg Akkerman calls I've Been There "an album of considerably poor quality.

The only positive note, Akkerman claims, is the song "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head," which he calls "the highlight of the album.