Search - Various Artists :: Sentimental Journey: Pop Vocals 1-4

Zeppelin rules!... and so does this.

kevin m antonio | rumford, ri United States | 07/26/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Yep, Im a big Led Zeppelin fan, BUT I also have this box set in my music collection. I have to hear it at least twice a year.It has it all; ballads, novelties, schmaltz, and classics.
Disc 1 opens with "Sentimental Journey" sung by Doris Day, who can get cutesy and polite with her singing, but then you listen to something like "It's Magic" from Vol. 2 and all is forgiven. She actually shows emotion in singing that song. Bing Crosby represents with "Swinging on a Star" and "Far Away Places". In the former notice how little singing Der Bingle does. As for the latter you'll be packing your bags and hitting the road before it's done: Bing captures the song's yearning perfectly. Vaughan Monroe is the wrong choice for "There! I've Said it Again", but his rendition of "Riders in the Sky (A Cowboy Legend)" is the reason god created this man. It's the definitive version, truly scary and the background voices are the definition of "haunting".
Judy Garland's "The Trolley Song" will always remind me of SNL's Sweeney Sisters. "Doctor, Lawyer, Indian Chief" is marvellously racist, you'll be phoning the local Native American Anti-Defamation League after hearing Betty Hutton whoop it up. And I'm sure Mexicans must love Peggy Lee's "Manana" (I know I do!). As for her version of "Fever", don't let any music critic fool you into thinking Little Willie John's version is better. Unh-uh. Any heterosexual male whose fever doesn't rise whilst listening to Miss Lee is definitely playing for the wrong team.
Lena Horne's "Stormy Weather" is immortal. Frank's "Night and Day" is enh... he'd show us what he could really do with that song when he moved from Columbia to Capitol. "If I Knew You Were Coming I'd've Baked a Cake" by Eileen Barton (the 1940s Cyndi Lauper?) is the happiest song in the world. Mel Torme's "Again" has one of the strangest arrangements for a mainstream song during this era; dig those crazy bongos!
Georgia Gibbs loses all control on "Kiss of Fire". No straight guy could ever turn down Rosemary Clooney on "Come On-A My House", the cleanest dirty song ever. And Dinah Shore is wonderful on "The Gypsy" and "Buttons and Bows" (the male chorus singers belting out "And I'm all yours in buttons and bows" made homosexuality safe for, like, 3 seconds...). "Music Music Music" by Teresa Brewer is glorious silliness. Dino checks in with "That's Amore" (of course) and "Memories Are Made of This" (my wife and I swear those background singers are frogs...). Bobby Darin outswings Frank with "Mack the Knife". Dinah Washington exudes subtle sultriness all over "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes". And Guy Mitchell whistles his tuchis off in "Singing the Blues".
Les Paul invents the electric guitar on "How High the Moon". Listen and understand why he's revered by rock guitarists all over; he's inventing their language. Gogi Grant gets props for "The Wayward Wind" just for being named "Gogi".
BUT...
alas, this is not a perfect set. Thankfully the clunkers are few, and they are..... any song by Billy Eckstine. I know he's revered, but his style is annoying. Just listen to "I Apologize", or, from Billy's mouth, "I Apawlogize". Al Martino had to have been the Michael Bolton of his day as "Here in My Heart" proves. Art Lund, who sings "Mam'selle" sounds like he needs to be woken up. Debbie Reynolds is... icky-sweet icky on "Tammy" (my wife loves this song and can't believe I'm criticizing it). And the last song, "That Old Black Magic" is torpedoed by Sammy Davis Jr's shameless schtick at the end of the song.
But overall it's a great set. There are a lot of collections called "Sentimental Journey" out there, but this is THE one to get."