3 comments about Noel Coward at Las Vegas.

1. Very few of us lesser mortals can compete with the genius of Noel Coward, however we certainly can enjoy it! A master of lyric, pun, innendo, and rhyme, Noel will keep all laughing throughout this collection.



2. This is a live recording of a Noel Coward performance in the 1950's at the Desert Inn. The songs are quite a bit racier than his usual studio recordings from the 1920's and 30's; all very witty and very fun. A stand out performance of Cole Porter's "Let's Do It" features references to everyone from Somerset Maugham to Senator Joe McCarthy. Unique.



3. My old LP was lost in a recent move! I have loved this album along with "Noel and Gertie" since I first heard it at the age of twelve. Sir Noel Coward is not to be missed.

5 comments about Au Carnegie Hall 1956-1957.

1. The email responses were great and timely along the way from immediate order. Mail delivery was good and my Mom said the CD was pretty good!



2. This an excellent collection of Piaf's best soungs, but the quality of the recordings was lacking. Some of the songs have a such a vibration to the tone that it muddles the sound. But I don't regret the purchase, just wish it was better in quality. I was under the impression that it had been remastered.



3. This CD is breathtaking. I purchased 3 different CD from Edith Piaf . I love them all , but this one is specially wonderful, live concert, although i do not understand French but when she gives some sweet introduction before each sung in English you feel connected. It is a powerful performance, I truly feel I am in this concert hall and become deeply absorb in the moments and forget everything else around me.



4. The EMI / Capitol CD release of PIAF au Carnegie Hall has thrilled and frustrated me since I acquired it a few years ago. Better planning of the tracks included in this important musical document would have made for a much more enjoyable listening experience.
   
   In 1977, Peters International Records, a division of EMI, released a two disc vinyl LP titled "Edith Piaf at Carnegie Hall". The set contained the complete January 13, 1957 concert, 22 tracks. The two CD release, Piaf Au Carnegie Hall, contains her previously unreleased January 4, 1956 Carnegie Hall recital (21 tracks) and 16 of the 22 tracks that made up January 13, 1957 Carnegie Hall recital. The 1957 recital, which comprise tracks 3-18 of disc two of the CD release, are missing the following six tracks that appeared on the 1977 vinyl LP:
   
   1. Les Feuilles Mortes (Autumn Leaves)
   2. Mariage
   3. Le petit homme (One Little Man)
   4. Je n'en connais pas la fin (A Merry Go Round)
   5. L'accordeoniste
   6. Monsieur Saint Pierre
   
   While each of these songs is represented in the 1956 concert on the CD, as are many of the songs in the 1957 concert, there are severe problems, which could have been avoided with better planning. Firstly, the missing 1957 tracks of the six songs are, in most cases, arguably the superior performances, as are many of the 1957 songs when compared side by side against the versions in the 1956 previously unreleased tracks. But track one on the first disc, Je n'en connais pas la fin (A Merry Go Round), is a brief instrumental version, played as an introduction to Piaf's entrance. It is puzzling that EMI decided to omit Piaf's vocal of this song from the 1957 recital, which was one of the highlights of the vinyl release.
   
   Aside from the performances, far more frustrating is the fact that several of the 1956 tracks are technically inferior to the 1957 tracks of the songs that were omitted from the CD. In particular, the 1956 version of the song Le Pettit Homme (One Little Man) suffers from a severe tape flutter that not only makes Piaf sound like she were submerged in water for most of the second half of the track, for me, this imperfection ruined the entire CD, as her extremely touching (if somewhat melodramatic) performance of that song was one of my favorite moments on the vinyl release. Not only did EMI make a major blunder by releasing the CD with an imperfect track of the song while omitting the technically perfect (and artistically superior) 1957 version entirely, there is no mention or apology in the liner notes that addresses the poor recording quality of this and several of the other 1956 tracks. This leads me to believe that their technicians did not even listen carefully to the tracks as they remastered them.
   
   I am hoping that EMI will discover their goof here, and at least release the complete 1957 Carnegie Hall concert in the future. While I am grateful to have the previously unreleased 1956 concert, I am appalled that EMI managed to mangle the 1957 tracks. Piaf is considered one of the 20th Century's greatest musical artists, and she deserves more careful treatment than she is afforded here.



5. I love the fact you can find anything on Amazon. This was a gift I purchased for my mother. She loves Edith Piaf. It came quickly, I gave it to her for Christmas. She loves the CD. I would have spent a lot of time going to different stores to find this CD, it is not top of the charts. Thank you Amazon.

2 comments about Olympia 1962.

1. Since this is near the end of Piaf's life, here is a certain added intensity to this performance. It is a great moment in popular music history to be able to hear!! Wonderful!!



2. I was born in that year of her albume ,needless to say its alas that i just heard of her this yr .her angelic voice in all her songs like a mixture of fine choclate.

1 comments about Great Ladies of Rock & Roll: The 50's.

1. There were five ladies who held their own on the charts throughout the earliest years of the birth of R&R, and three are among the first four appearing in this compilation from Collectables. Two are in the R&R Hall Of Fame - and the other one should be.
   
   LaVern Baker, who leads off with her late 1956/early 1957 smash Jim Dandy (# 1 R&B/# 17 Billboard Pop Top 100 billed to LaVern Baker and The Gliders) was inducted in 1991. Brenda Lee, who appears on the 4th track with her 1960 hit Sweet Nothin's (# 4 Billboard Pop Hot 100.@ 12 R&B) was so honoured in 2002. Connie Francis, who racked up 56 Pop hits, and saw 8 cross over to the R&B charts, including the featured tune Lipstick On Your Collar (# 5 Hot 100/# 10 R&B in summer 1959), is still on the outside looking in! How ridiculous is that?
   
   Also inducted (in 1993) were Ruth Brown, who appears at track 8 with her 1957 hit, Lucky Lips, (# 6 R&B/# 25 Top 100), and Dinah Washington at track 12 with her 1959 mega-hit What A Diff'rence A Day Makes (# 4 R&B/# 8 Hot 100), although in her case she was brought in in the "early influence" category. A distinction without a difference in my opinion.
   
   The sound quality is excellent on all cuts, and with the fold-out insert you get artist-by-artist and track-by-track comments written by Al Fichera. Although I do question his entry on The Co-Eds and their tune Love You Baby All The Time where he says "this hit single was released in 1956 by the Old Town label." If it was a hit it had to have been on some obscure chart because it certainly did not make either the Billboard Pop Top 100 or the R&B charts.
   
   Even so, with lead Gwen Edwards, it's still a hidden gem and sure to be pleasing to collectors of the "girl group" sound, along with the other non-hits Lullaby Of The Bells by The Deltairs (in 1957 on Ivy Records), To Be A Part Of You by The Clickettes (1959 with lead Barbara Jean English), and the hard-to-find hits Cry Baby by The Bonnie Sisters (# 18 Top 100 in February/March 1956 on Rainbow Records), and Please Mr. Disc Jockey by The Sensations (# 13 R&B in May 1956 on Atco).

1 comments about Souvenir.

1. Anna Bergman has given us a delightful and varied collection of musical selections that show off her lovely even voice and her ability to deliver the texts inner meaning.

   The selections, all in the original keys, display her wide vocal range and well balanced tone. She is able to sing in the rich and lusty low register with the same ease that she displays in the top soaring tones of her voice.

   I hope to hear more from her soon.

1 comments about 'Nuff Said!.

1. The record 'Nuff Said! was recorded live the day after Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. Nina Simone's performance is a unique testament of that era combining an excellent performance with genuine emotions. Her voice delivers the songs with dignity, achieving a quality I haven't heard on any of her other live recording since. Nearly forty years onwards it proves the outstanding qualities of this often misunderstood lady.

5 comments about Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.

1. The 2006 production of this show was excellent, and the CD is also excellent. Some thrilling and some very moving performances by a very talented group of singers.



2. I had heard of Jacques Brel, and I knew two songs from the show. But what made me buy the CD was the performer Gay Marshall who I had seen in Las Vegas when she performed the role of DIANA in A CHORUS LINE in the 1980's.
   Surprise surprise! She was terrific, of course, and I fell in love with the rest of the show, which I will recommend to community theatres to produce here. I am also buying the DVD---break a leg, Gay! Teri



3. It should be noted that this is NOT the original, or even a revival (though I believe they call it that). This is a reworking of the original. It has deleted many of the songs from the '60s version, including "Marathon". Now before you wail too loudly, the replacement will knock your socks off: the powerfully rendered "Ca Va" sets the tone with an even darker humor than the original. There are other additions and deletions, but I swear, you won't mind. And you won't have to decide which version is better, because they are different. Also having seen this production (the week before this recording was made), sitting in my living room in Kansas I was transported back to the Zipper Theatre and the magic created by this spectacular cast and their incredibly talented musical director (you hear him singing on the "The Middle Class"). Sit back, close your eyes and enjoy!



4. I may be slightly biased because i've seen this show with this cast seven times so far, but it is utterly magnificent. the cast album is beautiful and the vocal ranges are spectacular. Each song is a complete story, some dealing with love, despair, anguish, war, ageing, joy and just about all aspects of human emotion.
   
   If you saw the show in the sixties or have the CD from that show, you will totally disregard it after you have heard this cast. These performers are so talented that they are thrilling. You owe it to yourself to experience the joy of this cast album.



5. ...but the off-Broadway revival of which it's a recording was fantastic. Like unbelievably fantastic. I was raised on Brel (a younger brother was named after him), and this is simply the finest I've ever heard. Buy it, but it, buy it.
   Everyone involved should be very, very proud. Kudos!

3 comments about The Very Best of Peter Allen.

1. This album was originally released in 1982 under the same title and was repackaged in 1995 with instrumental selections from the Australian documentryPeter Allen - The Boy From Oz then again. The description is a little inaccurate, there is ann earlier version from Down Under with the original 1998 artwork.



2. This CD has 16 of Peter Allen's Best songs on it, songs which everyone knows and loves such as I Go To Rio; Everything Old is New Again; Tenterfield Saddler and of course, I Still Call Australia Home. Before his death, he was asked if he intended to write his autobiography, to which he replied that his songs WERE his autobiography. Listening to this CD left me with more than a touch of nostalgia and a little melancholy as this vibrant, hugely talented man sings from the heart and lets his listeners hear it. For Peter Allen fans, this CD is a must!



3. The untimely death of this star deprived so many the opportunity to see and hear him live. If want experience a small piece of that magic, do yourself a favor and but this album. Peter Allen was a true talent who could make you want to samba on top of the piano one minute and cry shamelessly the next. Wow, what a loss!

4 comments about John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman.

1. Recognized for years as a Jazz Classic, an essential recording . . . one of those desert island recordings; there is very little that can be added that has not already been written about this recording. The qualities of these great artists came together on this very special recording. It is simply that good. The technology through the years has improved and fortunately the remastering of this classic has been done well enough to give honor to the original vinyl rendering.
   
   Hartman sounds as if he were in your room while Coltrane simplifies his music to support the vocal (his only recording to do so). It takes genius and great self esteem to keep it within the boundaries of the entire ensemble. Coltrane did this on this recording to his credit / genius.
   
   This recording is a "must have" for any serious music fan. A wonderful start (or finish) to any evening.



2. John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
   
   THIS IS A GREAT REPRODUCTION OF THE ORIGINAL LP. I'VE BEEN BOTH A JOHN COLTRANE AND JOHNNY HARTMAN FAN FOR A LONG TIME. HOWEVER, I NEVER GOT AROUND TO PURCHASING THE ORIGINAL LP ALBUM. I'M ALMOST GLAD I WAITED. THE CD IS GREAT AND SOUNDS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL ON MY NEW SYSTEM. GOOD CHOICE.



3. A wholesale improvement in sound quality when played back in SACD mode over the impulse release. Other than some tape hiss, terrific presence and very much a "you are there" quality to the sound. Hartman was a fabulous singer and Coltrane is at his best doing ballads. If you like romantic jazz with up front vocals and sax, this is a must have disc. I own about 2000 CDs. This is in my top 10 favorites.



4. As a saxophonist, I have been a Coltrane lover for twenty years, and have avoided any vocal contamination of his and other jazz greats' works. All of that changed when I listened to this album! The polished intensity of Coltrane's tenor sax blended with the baritone crooning of Johnny Hartman make this one of the most romantic albums in jazz (and that is saying something).
   
   Johnny Hartman, while a star in his own right, has never has inspired me as much. And while, "A Love Supreme," released a year and a half later in 1965, is arguably Coltrane's greatest work, "John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman," is more intimate and at the same time, accessible for the listener. The struggle to describe the radiance of divinity and reverence is replaced by the more tangible themes of a human's trials and triumphs in love. If you only get one album to share with your sweetheart, this is the one to get!

5 comments about Flappers, Vamps And Sweet Young Things.

1. This was special music from a special time in music history. My whole family litened to it.



2. Flappers, Vamps and Sweet Young Things offers twenty marvelous tracks that give us great insight into just how much women enjoyed their new found romantic freedom during the jazz era of the 1920s. These recordings may have surface noise but they remain enjoyable to this day and this is one CD you'll listen to over and over again. Just one listen proves it all!
   
   The CD opens with the upbeat number entitled "I'm Gonna Meet My Sweetie Now;" Jane Green performs this with all her might and the musical arrangement remains timeless to this day. Jane's voice is rich, warm and vibrant--awesome! The CD then makes a complete about face for the next track entitled "Am I Blue?" performed by Libby Holman. Libby sings of a lonely woman who wants a new romance in her life now that her man has suddenly left her. Libby Holman delivers this with panache and sophistication, too.
   
   Other gems on this CD include the then extremely popular Helen Kane singing "Dangerous Nan McGrew;" this number is about a woman who makes her own rules and enjoys men strictly on her terms. "Maybe, Who Knows" features a young Kate Smith singing magnificently about her life after her man has left her; and Mildred Hunt delivers the classic "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone." "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" lets Mildred Hunt sing of how she doesn't want to be bad mouthed now that her romance with her man is finally over. Mildred also sings the opening verse before the chorus of the song which is something you don't always hear; this enhances the beauty of the number.
   
   Sophie Tucker belts out advice with "If Your Kisses Can't Hold The Man You Love;" this number lets Sophie tell women to go out and make the best of things with a new romance if their man leaves them. She even encourages them to cheat on their men if they discover that their man is unfaithful! The bold advice represents the new freedom women experienced during the 1920s jazz age. The Brox Sisters also perform a number about a "Red Hot Mama" who enjoys her life and makes her own decisions about her romances with men.
   
   This concept album wraps up nicely with "Ya Gotta Know How To Love" performed by Esther Walker. Esther sings of a woman taking control of a romance. This was a bold, revolutionary theme for the 1920's; but women enjoyed their new found freedom and there was no looking back once women discovered the joys of power.
   
   The liner notes tell us the difference between ladies who were "Flappers," "Vamps" or "Sweet Young Things;" there is some discussion of the type of lady who was a "Red Hot Mama" too. The liner notes give you all the song credits and recording dates along with an essay about the female singers on this CD and how the lyrics to these songs celebrate the exuberance of the 1920s. The art work is excellent, too.
   
   I highly recommend this CD for fans of early jazz and female singers from the 1920s; and people who want to get acquainted with these fine songbirds would do well to use this CD as a starting point.
   
   Let's hear it for the roaring `20s!!! Great job, everyone!!!



3. Like most compilations there are some great songs, some good songs and some stinkers but over all it is a fun CD. The songs cross the spectrum from women in love in the infectious "I'm gonna meet my sweetie now" to the heart broken "Moanin' low" with a strong dose of get over it in Sophie Tucker's "If your kisses can't hold the man you love" You can almost taste the bath tub gin while listing to Red Hot Henry Brown. I gave it an extra star for having both Helen Kane & Annette Hanshaw.



4. What were once called "girl singers" are featured on FLAPPERS, VAMPS AND SWEET YOUNG THINGS. The 20 songs span the years 1924 to 1931, with only three being from the pre-electric recording era. Condition of source material is spotty, which is to be expected with antique 78s. Fine print-sized liner notes comment on all tracks.
   
   This collection gets a middling rating for a persistent usage of lesser-known songs and B sides. Many of these ladies had far more entertaining records. Recommended mainly for completists. (3½ stars)
   
   TOTAL RUNNING TIME -- 57:03



5. I am a fan of the Brox Sisters, and I was so happy to find a CD with them singing on it! They are so spooky! In their movies they always come out dressed like a three-headed monster! They have great voices and they were really popular in the 1920s. They were the first poular sister team, I think. They came before the Boswells. Hooray for Bobbe, Patricia, and Lorriane Brox! There are also some nice clear recordings of great artists like Annette Hanshaw, Ruth Etting, Sophie Tucker, Blossom Seeley, and others. Once again, HOORAY FOR THE BROX SISTERS!!!