Great voice, not so well known performances
Bruce R. Gilson | Wheaton, MD United States | 03/04/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The company that produced this CD, Collectables, mostly does CD reissues of albums that were once available on LPs (1 CD for 2 LPs, or sometimes 3). This one is different; the originals for this collection were singles recorded by Dinah Shore for Columbia in the late 1940s into 1950.
Many people think of Dinah Shore in her later role as a TV show hostess and do not realize how good a singer she was. This CD ignores her big hits in the late 40s, such as "Buttons and Bows," and, as its title suggests, concentrates on lesser-known recordings. So it certainly shouldn't be your first Dinah Shore album if you don't know her work. But it is a nice collection of her recordings to go to after you've gotten her biggest hits.
Some of the songs, like "Bill" and "You're the Top," are certainly well-known songs, though the Dinah Shore versions are not the best-known. (Everyone's got to know "Dixie"!) Others are truly obscure songs, not familiar to me in any versions. All sound very good.
Of course, as was usual in the 1940s and 1950s, songs were assigned to singers by A&R men, not picked out by the singers, so one wonders what Dinah Shore (Jewish, though this did not get much publicity) must have thought about having to sing "The Old Rugged Cross"! But that is an aberration; most of the songs are good songs suited to her.
Dinah Shore does a number of duets with male singers in this collection; the best are the four with Buddy Clark, who could have been one of the great male singers of the 1950s if he hadn't died in a tragic accident in 1949. Listening to these reminded me just how good a voice Buddy Clark had (he also did some great duets with Doris Day and solos as well, of course!) and these are more reason to get this CD.
"
Track Listings (25) - Disc #1