Search - Perry Como :: Perry-Go-Round

Broadcast quality recordings.

townsend@istar.ca | Nova Scotia, Canada | 02/16/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"If these recordings are legal then the laws are from Sherwood Forest and the producer's real name must be Robin Hood. Technically, they are known as legal "bootlegs" because supposedly the copyright has either expired or no one appears to care. The majority of these recordings are from the audio track of Perry's popular television show while some are from a radio broadcast. The recordings are drawn from two of Perry's 1956 broadcasts of "The Perry Como Show" ( March 10th and November 17th ); one broadcast of "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show where Perry was the guest ( January 13th, 1957 ); with one song from "The Perry Como Kraft Music Hall" which was broadcast March 3rd, 1959. The February 14, 1957 radio broadcasts are from a show honouring Perry & Dinah Shore, voted best male and female vocalist by the Disc Jockeys of America. These broadcasts appear to be excerpts from the original studio recordings and not "Previously Unreleased Performances" as claimed on the compact disc jacket. As may be expected, the recording quality is not great but there is some interesting material here nevertheless. Perry's performance of the popular song "Cindy, Oh Cindy" may have been a dry run for a Como single which never happened or it may have just been his cover of a popular song at the time. Interestingly, Perry performs the song "When You're Away" which he recorded the previous year for his popular album "So Smooth" but the song was cut from the final album and never released. The duets with Dinah Shore and guest Brenda Lee are also interesting but one has to wonder whether a better recording exists for these same performances ( need I say legitimate? )The radio broadcast recordings "Round and Round" and "Don't Let the Stars Get In Your Eyes" and "My One and Only Heart" are perhaps the most deceptive tracks within this compilation because they are excerpted versions of the studio originals ( in other words, they are not complete ) yet still broadcast quality! One has to wonder why they were included here but perhaps Robin Hood and His Merry Men aren't as familiar with the material as the actual owners. It would have been much more meaningful to have included additional program content from these shows. In closing, all of these performances suffer from the lack of the video portion. Perry was notorious for clowning around on his television shows, or gesturing to the audience, and that is clearly missing here. But this CD is clearly fun to own if you have no problem with the ethics of it's origin."