How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Not applicable
Value for Money
Excellent
Advantages:
Class Acts
Disadvantages:
None
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
This is a compilation double CD, of classic jazz/blues tracks all by women singers from the past 5 decades. Issued originally in 2002 - remember when Norah Jones was all over the radio? Well, she is track number 1, on Side 1, with her hit song 'Don't Know Why'. Apart from this, most of the artisits I recognise from their own work, or hearing them over the years and you certainly get a lot of music for your money.
~~~ Track Listings
Disc: 1 1. Norah Jones - Don't Know Why 2. Dinah Washington - Mad About The Boy 3. Aretha Franklin - All Night Long 4. Peggy Lee - The Man I Love 5. Nina Simone - I Wish I Knew How It Felt To Be Free 6. Sarah Vaughan - Lover Man 7. Ella Fitzgerald - Its Only A Paper Moon 8. Julie London - Go Slow 9. Nancy Wilson - The Nearness Of You 10. Billie Holiday - Georgia on My Mind 11. Dinah Washington - Baby Won't You Please Come Home 12. Erma Franklyn - Light My Fire 13. Dusty Springfield - You don't Have To say you love me 14. P.P. Arnold - First cut is the deepest 15. Ann Peebles - I Cant Stand The Rain 16. Irma Thomas - Time Is On My Side 17. Esther Philips - How Blue Can You Get? 18. Ernestine Anderson - What A Difference A Day Makes 19. Lou Rawls and Diane Reeves - At Last 20. Julie London - In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning 21. Cassandra Wilson - Time After Time 22. Eva Cassidy (Duet with Chuck Brown) - Need Your Love So Bad 23. Keely Smith - Night & Day
Disc: 2 1. Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares For Me 2. Gladys Knight - Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me 3. Bobby Gentry - I'll Never Fall In Love Again 4. Nina Simone - I Loves You Porgy 5. Aretha Franklin - Unforgettable 6. Sarah Vaughan - All or Nothing At All 7. Maxine Brown - Oh No Not My Baby 8. Peggy Scott - Every Little Bit Hurts 9. Carla Thomas - I Like What You're Doing To Me 10. Nancy Wilson - Here's That Rainy Day 11. Sue Rainey - September In The Rain 12. Julie London - The Thrill Is Gone 13. Keely Smith - Someone To Watch Over Me 14. Dinah Shore - My Funny Valentine 15. Kay Starr - I Cry By Night 16. Betty Hutton - Hit The Road To Dreamland 17. Billie Holiday - Love Me Or Leave Me 18. June Christy - Looking For a Boy 19. Sarah Vaughan - In A Sentimental Mood 20. Karrin Allyson - Moanin' 21. Peggy Lee - As Time Goes By 22. Julie London - Around Midnight 23. Billie Holiday - Night and Day
~~~ Review Sorry about all that detail, it is a bit longwinded, but now you can see what tracks are on the CDs. I'm not a music expert, but I do like Nina Simone and many other favourites who crop up here. For those new to this sort of music, it's laid back, late night, problems with my man, but what the hell sort of sentiment...
~~~ CD1: Many early artists here, including US black soul singers Dinah Washington and Aretha Franklin from the 1960's. If you've never heard Franklin, then she is the Queen of Soul, godmother to Whitney Houston and unmissable over a long career (and still performs occassionally).
Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Peggy Lee and Billie Holiday were the most famous singers of their day in the 1950's. Simone died only a few years ago, while Holiday fell foul of drugs, only after a career that challenged the segregation of the southern states. Her most famous track concerned the lynching of an innocent black man, and this CD collection is named in her honour.
Irma Thomas, of a smiliar era, is or was, based, in New Orleans until last year and made an appearance on Jules Holland's 'Later...' show on BBC2 earlier this year.
Dusty Springfield's contributionhere is perhaps her best known hit, 'You Don't Have to Say You LOve Me', (Track 13). This was a monster smash in teh Swingin Sixties - Dusty wore loads of mascara, sounded like a Motown girl but in fact was a white girl from the UK.
In the closing tracks of this first CD you may recognise the voice of Eva Cassidy, a singer-songwriter who shot to fame, partly through being put on the Radio 2 playlist a few years ago, with her powerful cover of 'Over the Rainbow'. Here she duets with one of the (very) few men to feature, Chuck Brown, with whom she also made an LP 'The Other Side' in 2001, although this track does not appear on it.
~~~ CD 2 has more Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee, and also some more artistes with whom I was unfamilar. It opens with Nina Simone's classic hit, the upbeat but gentle 'My Baby Just Cares For Me.'
Moving on to Gladys Knight, and her backing band the Pip: This song -' (You're the) Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me' - was a huge hit in the 1970's, with its majestic vocals and aching lyrics. Highly recommended. Track 4, also by Nina Simone -' I Loves You Porgy' is from the musical Porgy and Bess.
Track 14, My Funny Valentine by Dinah Shore is a song I know well, although I had not heard of the singer before.
~~~Recommendation If you a familiar with these names, then I hope that there would still be a some tracks and musicians new for you to discover here. If like me, you know a few a few of the names, I found it a great way to get to know other singers.
If you want to get maudlin, this CD is a superior two or three steps up from I Will Survive, but you can also find plenty to inspire and uplift, and it would be denigrating it to reduce it to merely this level. It also makes a fantastic introduction to the work of so many different women, from different eras.
While you can certainly mix and match the tracks to suit your mood, it's great late night mood music for everyone, simply played straight through from beginning to end.
~~~Availabilty Should be in all decent high street and music shops. On-line, Amazon is selling it for £13.99 (with free P&P if your order tops £15), or on offer used from £8.47. Issued on the Virgin label.
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Outstanding
Cover / Inlay Design and Content
Good
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