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Rosemary Clooney: A Seventieth Birthday Celebration
ByThis amounts to a catalogue of the riches of American show tunes, and Rosemary Clooney has a beautiful voice for this material. This anthology spans her Concord career and contains material dating as far back as 1977. Certainly she's lost a bit of her edge on the later recordings, but they glow with a worldly sophistication that carries the day.
The problem on this disc – and, since it is an anthology, on much of her voluminous work for Concord – is with the arrangements. Syrupy strings and Osmondian backup singers bring much of this material perilously close to kitschville. Rosemary Clooney deserves better, but on the other hand, she's been recording this way for a long while, so perhaps she has found her niche. And certainly the abundant charms of her voice are much in evidence. This is a fine introduction to an American institution.
Track Listing
Secret of Life; Oh, What a Beautiful Morning; I Got Lost in His Arms; Come Rain or Come Shine; One for My Baby; I'm Beginning to See the Light; But Beautiful; Just One of Those Things; Thanks for the Memory; It's Only a Paper Moon; (Have) I Stayed Too Long at the Fair; Hey There; Long Ago and Far Away; Turn Around; Falling in Love Again; From This Moment On; For All We Know; Ol' Man River; (Our) Love Is Here to Stay (70:22).
Personnel
Rosemary Clooney
vocalsVarious personnel including the Woody Herman Band, the L.A. Jazz Choir, Kim Richmond, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vach
Album information
Title: A Seventieth Birthday Celebration | Year Released: 1998 | Record Label: Concord Music Group
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