Search - Various Artists :: Capitol Sings Cole Porter

Yeah, Cole Porter's tunes, but man those lyrics!

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 02/10/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It is interesting to note that until you get to the last three tracks on "Anything Goes," the Capitol Sings collection of Cole Porter tunes, the songs are arranged in alphabetical order from "All of You" by Annie Ross to "You're the Top" by June Turner. Go figure. The main thing is that these songs harken back to the old days when hearing the words was important to enjoying the song. Certainly Cole Porter's lyrics are even more fun than his melodies. "Anything Goes" features the standard mix of big names such as Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and Nat King Cole with lesser known talents such as Martha Tilton, June Christie, Jeri Southern, Trudy Richards and Jean Turner. Actually, this album probably has more great songs by the latter group than any other in the Capitol Sings series. The lasting appeal of Porter's songs is represented by having songs covered by both Judy Garland and her daughter Liza Minelli. It is really hard to just pick a few favorites from this one: Gordon MacRae's "Begin the Beguine," Tony Bennett's "Anything Goes" with Count Basie, Louis Prima and Keely Smith ripping through "I've Got You Under My Skin," and Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae's tender duet of "Wundebar" easily spring to mind. This album also features a couple of previously unreleased tracks: Martha Tilton singing "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" and Chris Connor's cover of "I Get A Kick Out Of You." As always you get a wide mix of musical stylings, from the most up-tempo version of "In the Still of the Night" you will ever hear done by Helen O'Connell to a somewhat slow but still swinging version of "True Love" by Dino. With "Anything Goes" you will hear some quite different versions of your favorite Porter tunes gathered from the Capitol vaults, and virtually every song has those remarkably witty lyrics."

Great Series -- Perfect Gift

F. Kelly | Atlanta, GA USA | 08/31/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There are a couple of these series of composer's "songbooks" culled from the archives of various record labels. The Verve series and the "Capitol Sings" are the best of the bunch. The Capitol collections tend to be a bit more pop, while the Verve disc are "jazzier," but with artists like Stan Kenton, Gerry Mulligan, Peggy Lee and Nancy Wilson, Capitol was no slouch in the jazz department, either.This collection is especially fine, start to finish. It's a nicely diverse selction of Porter tunes performed in a variety of styles, from Broadway to near be-bop. It's impossible, even if you're a fan of the more improvisational stuff, not to love Judy's Garland's weirdly majestic "I Happen to Like New York" or the tender Jo Stafford/Gordon McCrae "Wunderbar." And hooray for Louis and Keely, and Peggy Lee with George Shearing, for giving us fresh treatments of canonical tunes that make them evergreen.This is a great gift for people who don't know how great the American pop standard can be."

Fine compilation album--with great recording artists at thei

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 04/17/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Capitol Sings Cole Porter: Anything Goes is a fine compilation album of some of the great singers at Capitol Records who sang these Cole Porter tunes like the fine artists they always were! The sound quality is wonderful; and I really like that artwork as well. This is an excellent album.



"All Of You" gives us Annie Ross singing her heart out on this fine tune; and the musical accompaniment makes this ballad shine even brighter! Peggy Lee signs on with her splendid rendition of "Always True To You In My Fashion;" this is a great recording by Peggy and she never misses a beat! Peggy always sang so well; she could sing the phonebook and when she was finished you'd be applauding and begging for more!



"Blow, Gabriel, Blow" gets the royal treatment from one of my very favorite songbirds, the great Martha Tilton. Martha isn't remembered as well as she should be but just one listen proves that she could sing alongside the best of them. In addition, Judy Garland sings "I Happen To Like New York." Actually, this is one of my least favorite songs on this CD even though I am a huge Judy Garland fan; the best and the melody just doesn't "do it" for me. Oh, well.



Louis Prima & Keely Smith do a wonderful, awesome rendition of "I've Got You Under My Skin;" together Louis and Keely were an unstoppable pair and this song tells you why. Nat King Cole also outdoes even himself as he sings so sweetly that it was "Just One Of Those Things." Nat never sounded better; his voice is rich and very full of masculine warmth. The music is also very pretty and it makes the perfect accompaniment for Nat King Cole's vocals.



Margaret Whiting does a wonderful job of singing "Why Shouldn't I;" this is a fine ballad and I always liked Margaret Whiting. She's another underrated singer who deserves more recognition then she receives! Listen also for Nancy Wilson to do a smash-up job on "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To;" Nancy never sounded so good ands she never sings a superfluous note; this impresses me greatly.



The CD closes with the wonderful Andrews Sisters performing their very best on "You Do Something To Me." I think you'll enjoy this ballad very much; and The Andrews Sisters really do this one up right!



Overall, what an incredibly fine compilation CD this is! You get some great Cole Porter tunes and the talented artists on this disc make them shine brighter than the sun. People who enjoy the music of Cole Porter will want this one for sure--and if you like classic pop vocals you will want this CD in your collection, too.

"