Search - Kate Smith :: At Carnegie Hall

Live musical journey with a truly magnificent vocalist!

08/29/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This album reveals the truly magnificent voice of one of America's all time great musical talents - Miss Kate Smith. Forget When The Moon Comes Over The Mountain and God Bless America - this live performance, including What Kind Of Fool Am I, As Long As He Needs Me, and When Your Lover Has Gone, is truly one of the most heart-wrenching recordings of all time. She was truly THE Artist of the Millennium. Early recordings never really captured the true greatness of this wonderful artist, as did this moving performance in New York's Carnegie Hall. Bravo! Miss Kate - there'll never be another quite like you..."

Astounding performance--beyond any rating

W. Hooper | Duluth, GA United States | 08/23/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Kate Smith, Skitch Henderson, Carnegie Hall, RCA Victor engineering..all at their very best. A precious moment in entertainment. A remarkable song selection revealing Ms. Smith's range, sincerity, power, tenderness...This is all I ask, When your lover has gone (my favs), How deep is the ocean, to name a few of the absolutely startling renditions.



When I first heard this album (yes, album) in the cold winter of 1963, in a room full of GI's huddled around a stove in the northern tip of Maine, I remembered trying to hold back (OK-hide) tears pretending not to be touched by Ms Smith's tenderness and sincerity. And I don't think I was alone. The very next night, they played Jerry Vale's I Remember Russ. Today, I still try to hide the tears when I hear either of these incredible performances.



Ms. Smith announces that "we won't have Puccini tonite, but we will have Mancini, Gershwin, and Berlin". She masterfully combines classics along with current (circa 1961-1963) hits (Moon River, What king of fool am I, This is all I ask). She doesn't merely sing these newer songs to be current. Not at all. She sings these songs to OWN THEM. And she does.



Of course, WTMCOTM is included on this recording, and many of us frankly over-associated Ms Smith with it (for God's sake , it was her theme song...how many artists have a theme song anymore?). But this wonderful recording introduces Ms. Smith to both older and younger audiences as an absolute treasure in a crystal clear recording void of any studio voice-over and track management....just pure talent that will never pass us by again.



Whether you are already a fan of Ms. Smith or simply want to lose yourself in another time and place listening to a complete master, BEG, BORROW, OR STEAL for this recording. I got my CD and LP from VinylRevolution.com , which I can only hope can be associated with Amazon sales. These two class organizations would do well to work together making classic recordings available once again on a CD format. The CD from Vinyl Revolution was extremely clear, without any detectable fidelity loss. This was quite an undertaking for them, considering Ms Smith's range and power would task the best recording equipment.



I actually feel privileged attempting to rate this magnificent work.

"