Search - Mavis Rivers :: Take a Number / Hooray for Love

LOUNGE ACT DIVA MAKES GOOD!

Giovanni | Chicago, IL | 04/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Until I read of her in the recent biography of Nelson Riddle, I had only heard of Mavis Rivers in passing. I decided to give this CD a try, knowing what good product EMI put out (especially these great "twofers" they do) Once again, I was pleasantly surprised and not disappointed in any way. Mavis Rivers has a velvety voice that will be a welcome addition to your collection. She handles ballads as well as swingers with equal beauty; take any of the tracks from her debut album, TAKE A NUMBER, arranged by the aforementioned Riddle, and you can't miss. Starting with the torchy ONE MINUTE TO ONE, by the time you "count three" you should be hooked on this very talented lady. It is my understanding that Mavis Rivers has a worldwide following, which isn't hard to swallow considering this Samoan songstress learned off of popular US hit records, then took it on the road to entertain the troops. Pairing her with Riddle was genius on Capitol Records' part back in 1959. His charts for the wistful TWO LOVES HAVE I and the swingin' FIVE O'CLOCK WHISTLE really urge Mavis to give us her all, but my favorite is the seductive swing of SIX LESSONS FROM MADAME LA ZONGA, one of those commercial tunes the 50's and 60's tied some artists down with. The HOORAY FOR LOVE sides were arranged by Jack Marshall, another house arranger at Capitol in the 50's and 60's, who did great work for the artists there, most notably arranging one of the last recordings of Judy Garland's OVER THE RAINBOW. He sounds a little like Riddle on some charts (but then, in those days, everyone sounded like Riddle at some point, considering his stature among arrangers in Hollywood) I particularly liked Mavis' versions of the ballad THERE IS NO BREEZE (To Cool The Flame Of Love) and her reading of the sumptuous saloon song, IN LOVE IN VAIN. If you're looking for a CD that swings from somebody other than Ella or Carmen or Sarah or Billie, give Mavis a try! This lounge act diva makes good indeed!"

Welcome back, mavis.

Giovanni | 01/21/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mavis Rivers was a great singer. Ask Frank Sinatra--she was one of the first he signed up when he started Reprise. For those unfamiliar with her, a little background info: she was Samoan, sang for USO, came to the US, and had three albums with Capital and three for Reprise, all with top flight arrangers. Here are two of the Capital outings: Take a Number, arranged by Riddle, which has a "theme" that demands some lesser songs but also some familliar ones that she does a great job on, like 3 Coins in the Fountain, About a Quarter to Nine, and Five O'Clock Whistle, and Hooray for Love, arranged by Jack Marshall. Marshall leads off with a pretty noisy march-like arrangement of Hooray for Love, but things improve with a good repertoire of songs, including the beautiful lesser-known Duke Ellington number "Like Love." Mavis is a classic--subtle and elegant, like Lena; swinging, like Ella--and the fact that any of her albums are not on CD is utterly ridiculous."