Search - Andy Russell :: Spotlight on

Andy Russell was too marvelous for words !!!

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 04/24/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Spotlight on Andy Russell has quite a few great tunes sung by the wonderful Andy Russell. I'll never understand why there aren't more CDs out there by this incredible singer; he was so wonderful when he sang. The sound quality is excellent and the artwork is very nicely done.



The album begins with Andy Russell crooning so well on "Too Marvelous For Words." This Johnny Mercer tune sounds as if it were written just for Andy Russell to perform; he delivers this so well with all his heart and soul. "Pretending" is yet another tune made so wonderful by Andy's fine interpretation of it; and the strings are used to great advantage. The backup chorus works well for "Pretending," too. In addition, "The Very Thought Of You" features Andy front and center--right where he belongs! The orchestration is lush and it enhances the natural beauty of this ballad when Andy Russell sings it so well.



"I Cried For You (Now It's Your Turn To Cry Over Me)" is a classic pop vocal tune that Andy takes to new heights when he sings this with panache. He handles the subtle tempo changes very well and this proves beyond a doubt that Andy Russell could sing along with the best of them! "They Say It's Wonderful" also gets the royal treatment when Andy Russell sings it; he handles the lyrics with great sensitivity and "They Say It's Wonderful" lacks nothing--it's THAT good.



"Easter Parade" has Andy Russell singing the title song from the movie of the same name; and he aces this effortlessly. The strings sound great and the music that goes along with Andy's singing fits in perfectly! "Let's Fall In Love" also sparkles when Andy delivers this flawlessly; he slows down the tempo a bit and this works to make "Let's Fall In Love" a most romantic ballad. "What A Diff'rence A Day Made" is a song Dinah Washington loved to sing; but when Andy performs this tune it really stands out as a major highlight of this album. Andy never misses a beat and this is amazing.



"Yours" places Andy right in the spotlight and he doesn't disappoint. "Yours" has a great arrangement for the harp and the strings sound great. "Always" is another highlight of this CD; Andy gives this a particularly sensitive treatment and it's very romantic; "Always" could never sound better! The CD also ends strong with Andy Russell performing "Goodnight My Love." "Goodnight My Love" benefits from the harp and the percussion while Andy sings this to perfection--and beyond!



Andy Russell certainly was one of the best male vocalists we've ever seen; and I hope that he will always be remembered fondly. This CD proves just how great he really was; and fans of Andy's will want this for their collections. People who appreciate classic pop vocals will also want this album.

"

WHAT A GREAT PERFORMER...

Philip Scott | U.S.A. | 06/19/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Until this particular cd came out, I didn't know the name Andy Russell. Since i bought this cd i have just about worn it out playing it. What a wonderful voice, Andy has. He reminds me of Eddie Fisher. For this cd the vocals are great and the material is good. I strongly recommend this cd."

Why Omit Five Of His Twelve Hit Singles?

Alfred Vidal, Jr | 08/01/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Capitol missed the boat here when, in compiling this 18-selection Spotlight" on Andy Russell, they omitted five of the hit singles he had for them between 1944 and 1948. I mean, it wasn't as if they were dealing with someone like Jo Stafford and had to choose from 38 hits. Andy only had twelve charted singles in that period, so including ALL of them wouldn't have been a problem.



The first three 1944 hits are here [Besame Mucho - # 10 in April; Amor - # 5 in July; and What A Diff'rence A Day Made - # 15 in November] as are hits 6 to 9 [Laughing On The Outside - # 4 in June 1946 and its flipside, They Say It's Wonderful - # 10; Pretending - # 10 in September 1946; and Anniversary Song - # 4 in April 1947.



What they left out are I Dream Of You [# 5 in January 1945]; I Can't Begin To Tell You [# 7 in January 1946]; and his last three -I'll Close My Eyes [# 15 in March 1947]; Je Vous Aime [# 22 in August 1947] and Underneath The Arches [# 13 in October 1948 with The Pied Pipers].



On his first two hits he was backed by Al Sack & His Orchestra, and on the remainder by Paul Weston.



Andy, who was born Andreas Rabajos in Los Angeles of Spanish-Mexican parents in 1920, took over in 1947 for Frank Sinatra on the radio version of Your Hit Parade. After his hit records dried up, and with the advent of R&R halting the careers of contemporaries like Eddie Fisher, Andy moved to Argentina where, from 1958 to 1965 he hosted his own TV variety show.



In the late 1960s he made a brief North American comeback, still with Capitol, when his version of Wynn Stewart;s Country smash It's Such A Pretty World Today reached # 1 in the summer of 1967 on The Adult Contemporary (AC)charts and also # 119 on the Billboard Hot 100 "bubble under" charts. He followed that in October with I'm Still Not Through Missin' You (# 10 AC), Your Love Is Everywhere (# 32 AC in December 1967), and If My Heart Had Windows, a Country hit for George Jones which he took to # 29 AC in February 1968.



The missing hits not only would have been a nice touch and a lasting tribute to this unheralded but obviously talented vocalist, who passed away in 1992 at age 72, but would have been highly appreciated by completist collectors like me. Are we ever going to see a Volume 2?"