Product description

The Songbook Collection

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Binding : Audio CD
EAN : 0013431493327
Label : Concord Records
Manufacturer : Concord Records
Publisher : Concord Records
Release date : 2000-09-26
Title : The Songbook Collection
Format : Box set
Original release date : 2000-09-26
Studio : Concord Records
Number of discs : 6

Customer reviews

review by: alanhouston-texas date: 2008-02-24 rating:

An American classic
Rosemary Clooney was one of the greatest singers of the great American jazz and pop standards. This collection features her work from 1979 to 1989, with some of the best songs of Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Rogers and Hart, and Rogers and Hammerstein...some of the best American song writers of the past century.

The sessions feature outstanding musicians that really make the music come alive. The recordings have that "Concord" sound: you feel as if it is a live performance and you are sitting just a few feet from the band.

Rosemary Clooney brings the experience of a lifetime to her interpretations of this music, making even the oldest songs in the collection seem new again. This is simply one of those "Desert Island" collections that every fan of the "Great American Songbook" must have.

review by: oldprofessor date: 2006-09-28 rating:

Seems like old times
I was in my high school and college when the great female (and male) singers were providing real music. This is a wonderful collection of songs by the master song writers. To the writer who complained about the format of the song I suggest going out and finding a 45 rpm record and listen to the way it was done. To this day we are stuck with the 3 min. song that was the capacity of a 78 rpm record. Sometimes a song would be done on two records because of this limit. This is a WONDERFUL set and I wish they had ones for Kay Starr, Peggy Lee and others. It is only since the CD that this limit gets broken, but those probably won't get air play because the playlists are often set around the old length song.

review by: Hannah Somers date: 2005-09-16 rating:

A fine compilation for fans of jazz or American standards
There are some standouts in the Clooney's Songbook Collection, "When October Comes" and "P.S. I Love You" from the Johnny Mercer CD, for example. Her exurberant rendition of "It's De-lovely" from the Cole Porter Songbook and the tender rendition of Irving Berlin's "Better Luck Next Time" are also standouts and may be the best renditions of those songs ever recorded. But the whole collection is solid. Even if you prefer another interpretation of some of the songs, or, like me, do not want to EVER hear anyone sing "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead" (and, to my astonishment, serious artists insist on recording it), Clooney's versions are always at least good and there are treasures throughout the collection. I highly recommend it.

review by: date: 2004-09-22 rating:

Very little singing
I bought this collection as I first got into the Standards genre. I really wanted to like it, but it seemed like she hardly sang in any of the songs within. Each song (and I do mean every single number) consisted of one or two short verses, followed by a very long instrumental, and ended with a short closing chorus.

review by: Pete the music fan date: 2002-12-19 rating:

Mellow but brilliant set of oldies
Rosie recorded several songbook albums between 1980 and 1990 - six of them are collected together in this beautifully packaged box set. There are not many up-tempo songs here, but it does not matter because Rosie was such a great ballad singer.

The first CD focuses on the lyrics of Ira Gershwin. George composed the music for all except two of the songs, the exceptions being Long ago and far away (Jerome Kern) and The man that got away (Harold Arlen). Perhaps the best-known songs here are Fascinating rhythm and Nice work if you can get it.

Rosie raided Cole Porter's catalog to get the songs for the second CD. Perhaps I get a kick out of you is the best-known, but several of the others are not far behind.

The third CD covers the music of Harold Arlen. The most famous songs here are Ding, dong, the witch is dead (from Wizard of Oz) and Stormy weather.

The fourth CD is a tribute to Irving Berlin, which includes Cheek to cheek, There's no business like show business and Let's face the music and dance, together with several less well-known songs.

For the fifth CD, Rosie sings some of Johnny Mercer's great songs. By far the most famous here is I remember you, with which Australian singer had considerable success in the sixties (it was a number one in Britain).

Richard Rogers is the focus of the last CD, with lyrics by Hart or Hammerstein, of which The lady is a tramp is the most famous.

Of course, anybody with any knowledge of the Great American songbook will recognise a lot more songs than those I mentioned, but Rosie did not always record the obvious songs, so most people will find songs here that they haven't heard before. This is a truly magnificent collection which is essential for anybody interested in the Great American Songbook.

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