Search - Frankie Carle :: The Very Best Of The Columbia Years/Big Band Classics

Carle does it Again!

Timothy A. Quale | Ogden, Utah | 05/01/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First of all this CD has fantastic sound! A lot of the older material(s) used for sound recording did'nt hold up very well..but this one does a very good job of making this sound clean. Many, many highlights on this CD,"Beg your Pardon" by Marjorie Hughes and "Peggy O'Neil" by Gregg Lawrence is a real nice novelty number. And of course the gems of any Carle collection- "Carle Boogie" and "Rumors are Flying". 25 tracks in all make this well worth buying and keeping in your collection for a long long time!"

11 hits!! amazing

Charles R. Mackley | Hanover, PA United States | 12/12/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you're reading this you probably guess I save hits of
popular music from 1940 forward to today. Frankie Carle had
14 hits according to Billboard, and 11 of them are here. What
else has to be said? But it if you want your collection to
reflect what was popular in the era you're reviewing, then this
is a must buy."

This WAS A Pleasant Surprise

Timothy A. Quale | 08/13/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Considering that Collectables put this one together, it's a 5-star pleasant surprise. Oh, their sound quality is always impeccable, and their packaging and liner notes first class, but they do have an annoying habit of leaving off a hit or two in most of their "best of" and "greatest hits" compilations.



And this one is no exception in that regard, omitting his first for Columbia in 1944 - Charmaine, and his second-last from 1948 - Twelfth Street Rag. But all the other 12 hits he registered with his big band from 1944 to 1949 are here and those, coupled with the other selections, makes this a must-have, whether you are a Frankie Carle fan in particular, or just a big-band afficionado in general.



Born Francis Carlone in 1903 in Providence, RI, this accomplished pianist played with Mal Hallet as well as Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights before forming his own band and securing a contract with Columbia Records.



Following the instrumental Charmaine, which reached # 20 in October 1944, he hit it big with A Little On The Lonely Side, Saturday Night (Is The Loneliest Night In The Week), and one of my all-time favourites, Evelina, from the Broadway musical Bloomer Girl. Released almost simultaneously early in 1945, they rose to # 4, 8 and 19 respectively in March, with Phyliss Lynne doing the vocals on Saturday Night, and Paul Allen on the other two.



They were followed several months later by Counting The Days which peaked at # 17 in July, again with Allen doing the vocals. For his next seven hits, however, the vocals would be handled by his daughter Marjorie Hughes. And her first was his all-time best, Oh What It Seemed To Be, which went to # 1 early in 1946 and stayed there for ELEVEN weeks, spending a total of 20 weeks on the charts. That was almost unheard of in that era.



Four more hits followed that year, with One More Tomorrow hitting # 10 in June, I'd Be Lost Without You reaching # 14 in August, Rumors Are Flying giving him his second # 1 that October, and finishing the year off with It's All Over Now [# 6 in December].



1947 produced just one hit single, Roses In The Rain [# 9], followed by two in 1948 - Beg Your Pardon [# 5 in April], and Twelfth Street Rag which was billed as follows: At The Piano .... Horace Heidt Presents Frankie Carle. In 1949, with the big band era in free fall, he, daughter Marjorie, and The Sunshine Serenaders combined to register the fourth best version of eight hit renditions of Cruising Down The River, topping out at # 8 in May.



At this point he folded his big band and formed a smaller group known as Frankie Carle And His Girl Friends, but no further hit singles ever ensued before he decided to continue on his own as a pianist in 1955. He passed away in March 2001.



Collectables are to be congratulated for this fine effort which establishes for posterity most of the hits of one of that era's unsung big bands AND one of the most underrated female big band vocalists. A pure delight in every respect."