Essential Hoagy Collection!
Charles Ford | Whittier, CA | 09/07/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I ordered this as soon as I became aware of it, and I am not disappointed. Nine discs of Hoagy's own recordings, including the WWII-era V-discs, plus a CD of other people doing Hoagy's songs (mostly to represent song not otherwise included). Great stuff by a master - nice packaging, great booklet with complete discographical details, lots of photos, just a fantastic buy. Carmichael is one of the giants of American music, and this box set is a terrific tribute. It does not include Hoagy's 1956 album Hoagy Sings Carmichael (it stops just short of that) and that too is essential."
THANKS to Avid for this set.
Niemann | 08/15/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"At first I was uncertain whether I wanted to pay the cost for this 10-CD set ... but I now have no regrets. As a longtime Hoagy fan, this for me is the ultimate collection.
I'm partial to Hoagy's earliest, less polished recordings -- with his insecure singing limitations and all -- and here have finally found some of his earliest ones, recordings I've wanted to hear for years. Also, there are early and obscure recordings which I have had on record albums, but have been unable to find on CD until now.
Aside from the early recordings, I was also very pleased to find the V-disc sessions, includes outtakes, and between-takes talk by Hoagy that I have on record, but not on CD. (I also have CD set of the V-disc recordings, but that one excludes this behind-the-scenes chatter.) Here one gets a rather touching, behind-the-scenes glimpse of Hoagy when he was not "on" -- haltingly practicing and mumbling his way through songs to try to remember chords and lyrics; criticizing of his own performances ("It stank.") and lamenting painfully, "That was terrible. It's corny. It was too fast. I can't play this fast stuff," while the engineer assures him it was good ...
As the first reviewer said, this set is indeed essential for any die-hard Hoagy lover."