Search - Dinah Shore :: For the Good Times

Wonderful music from a fine performer!

Dan H. "Seventies Guy" | New York, NY USA | 04/03/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have loved Dinah Shore ever since I grew up watching her "Dinah!" program and I always wished she had recorded music in the 1970s during the time she was doing her talk show. Well, she actually did an album for Capitol in 1976 that remained unreleased until now...and it was well worth the wait. Her lovely voice and pleasing personality come through on classics from the era and her versions of "I Write the Songs," "Do You know Where You're Going To" and "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" give the originals a run for their money. Other highlights include a beautiful version of John Denver's "Fly Away" and a fun take on Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover." But the best moment of this excellent disc happens on the first track. "Paradise" starts off sounding like an old scratchy 78 and segues into a slow and sexy dance groove. Remarkably, that one song brings Dinah from her 1940s period right smack into the disco era...much like Dorothy in "The Wizard of Oz" stepping out from black & white into color. It's brilliant and worth the price of the CD alone!"

Good but...

Scott Vaughn | Tennessee | 11/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Dinah is in good voice here for Dinah. But I've always thought of her as having pitch problems and those seem to be prevalent here, although I think she does well with this material. And her version of "The Hungry Years" makes this well worth your money. I will say in her behalf that the the product here is not really campy or even to be considered of the "so bad it's great" category.



For the most part her easy take on these songs works well, but there's still that nagging pitch problem."

Hidden treasurer

Jim Andrews | Chicago, Illinois USA | 05/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Capitol was the only record company who knew what to do with Dinah in the album era (her RCA LPs are models of non-concepts, uncreative covers and flat recording techniques). Each of her Capitol albums was a gem. Now comes out of nowhere this

almost unknown Capitol project that repositions Dinah from standards to contemporary music. The ingenious opening track starts as a 1930ish recording of the subversive

"Paradise" (a romantic lyric that was actually about sexual climax and thusly was banned from many radio stations in the '30s and '40s) and morphs into a disco number. From there on Dinah takes one then-current pop hit after another and interprets each with fresh insight. I first heard this C.D. driving in a pouring rain in St. Louis and in a way the album was like that storm, as Dinah blows straight through song after song with nary a hesitation, bringing a refreshing breeze to each. She is up to every lyric and melody in totally modern terms, including Paul Simon's sly

"Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover." Dinah just never seemed to grow old, stale or out-of-touch an artist. If this had been packaged and promoted commercially when it was recorded, it would have proven a hit."