The Very Best Of Easy Listening (豆瓣)

表演者: Various Artists
条形码: 0069845331120

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　　Effortlessly cool and full of class, this 3 CD compilation presents 45 essential songs from the world of Easy Listening. Andy Williams watches the girls go by, Tom Jones longs for the green, green grass of home and Nina Simone's baby just cares for her - it's the ultimate Easy Listening experience.
　　CD1
　　1
　　Andy Williams
　　Music To Watch Girls By
　　Andy... (展开全部) 　　Effortlessly cool and full of class, this 3 CD compilation presents 45 essential songs from the world of Easy Listening. Andy Williams watches the girls go by, Tom Jones longs for the green, green grass of home and Nina Simone's baby just cares for her - it's the ultimate Easy Listening experience.
　　CD1
　　1
　　Andy Williams
　　Music To Watch Girls By
　　Andy Williams originally recorded this Sid Ramin song in 1967 for his album Born Free, but it was first an instrumental hit for the Bob Crewe Generation which gained popularity through its use in a Diet Coke ad. Unselfconscious at the time, it was later re-issued constantly in the 90s as an archetypal Lounge tune.
　　2
　　Jack Jones
　　Wives And Lovers
　　Burt Bacharach recorded this himself, as did Ella Fitzgerald and Lena Horne, but Jack Jones was also well qualified to interpret the estimable composer’s songbook. His 1963 version revealed the mainstream, Sinatraesque style which proved of durable appeal due to his gentle baritone, engaging personality and careful choice of material.
　　3
　　Lulu
　　To Sir With Love
　　Don Black’s composition attracted all manner of artists from Al Green and King Curtis to the Ventures and Lulu. The robust Scottish vocalist who shot to fame with 1964’s raucous Shout enjoyed the hit from the eponymous 1967 movie starring Sidney Poitier and also featuring Wayne Fontana and the Mindbenders in what was a very 60s curio.
　　4
　　Neil Diamond
　　Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon
　　Written by Diamond himself, this song appeared on the New York singer/songwriter’s 1967 album Just For You which also featured Red Red Wine, Cherry Cherry, Solitary Man and I’m A Believer, his spirited composition which launched the spectacular career of the Monkees in the same year.
　　5
　　Perry Como
　　Killing Me Softly With His Song
　　The Crosby-influenced “Mr.C” ‘s genial crooning racked up sales of over 50 million with an eclectic repertoire which included this 1973 hit for Roberta Flack. The gifted, gospel-inspired singer had followed up her breakthrough with The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face with this lustrous ballad, taken to No.1 in a hip-hop version by the Fugees in 1996.
　　6
　　Jamie Cullum
　　You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You
　　Russ Morgan wrote this standard and recorded it with his own orchestra before Dean Martin’s suitably swaggering approach revived its popularity. Young prodigy Jamie Cullum has shown a refreshing taste for standards as well as more contemporary compositions and he employs his infectious enthusiasm with persuasive results.
　　7
　　Barry White
　　Just The Way You Are
　　Billy Joel’s classic love ballad Just The Way You Are gave the Beatles-influenced singer/songwriter a major breakthrough in 1978, after his autobiographical Piano Man and My Life had documented early struggles. Barry White’s intimate, half-spoken vocal gave it a very personal stamp in 1979, after a distinctive string of hits in the disco era.
　　8
　　Clare Teal
　　Our Love Is Here To Stay
　　A brace of Gershwin tunes follow next, both energetically performed by Gene Kelly in An American In Paris. Ella Fitgerald’s Gershwin cycle was also justly exalted but the acclaimed young English singer Clare Teal has been hugely impressive in her recordings to date, and gives her own interpretation of this urbane love song.
　　9
　　Gabor Szabo
　　Sealed With A Kiss
　　Jason Donovan took this tuneful teenage lament to No.1 in 1989, 27 years after Bryan Hyland’s hit which followed his less thoughtful Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. Guitarist Szabo’s work generally fused jazz with the folk traditions of his native Hungary, and he blossomed in 60s California with fellow experimentalists Chico Hamilton and Charles Lloyd.
　　10
　　Michel McLean
　　She
　　Charles Aznavour wrote songs for Juliette Greco and his personal friend Edith Piaf before cementing his own reputation as a singer and strongly Gallic performer with concerts at Paris’s prestigious Olympia Theatre. He enjoyed international success with The Old-Fashioned Way in 1973 and then a No.1 with the affecting ballad She.
　　11
　　Jacqi Dankworth
　　Blue Moon
　　Jacqi, daughter of singer Cleo Laine and bandleader/composer Johnny Dankworth, has already proved herself a deserving member of the family’s musical dynasty with a promising vocal technique. Here she challenges the hundreds of others, from Elvis to Dylan and the Marcels to Mel Torme, who have also been drawn to Rodgers & Hart’s standard.
　　12
　　Larry Page Orchestra
　　Bluebird
　　A mercurial 60s producer and manager, Larry Page worked with the Kinks and the Troggs before recording with his own orchestra, as here, and forming his own label Page One. He fell out with both the volatile but highly talented Kinks and the less sophisticated Troggs, but returned to manage each of them again in the 70s and 80s.
　　13
　　Salena Jones
　　An Affair To Remember
　　This urbane Harry Warren composition from 1957 was also recorded by Nat King Cole, Vic Damone and Julie London, and ranks alongside his Oscar-winning songs like You'll Never Know and Lullaby Of Broadway. Sophisticated cabaret singer Salena Jones' style was initially influenced by Lena Horne and Sarah Vaughan, before she made a strong European impression as a 22 year-old at London's Ronnie Scott's in 1966.
　　14
　　Ian Rich Orchestra
　　Moonraker
　　A John Barry soundtrack song for the James Bond movie, Moonraker ranks alongside Goldfinger and Diamonds Are Forever among the most enduring themes for the long-running cycle. Shirley Bassey again enjoyed the greatest success with it but Ian Rich’s orchestral version also captures the mood.
　　15
　　Guillaume et Nathalie
　　Je T’Aime…Moi Non Plus
　　Serge Gainsbourg rather haughtily described Chanson as “a minor art”, and did indeed establish himself as a more serious writer. His flirtation with pop success, however, came with this explicitly erotic song first intended as a duet with Brigitte Bardot; the star withdrew, however, but English actress Jane Birkin joined him on their 1969 No.1
　　CD2
　　1
　　Burt Bacharach
　　I’ll Never Fall In Love Again
　　Everyone from Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones, the Carpenters and Ray Conniff, Bing Crosby and Bobbie Gentry tackled this theatrical ballad which has a more blatant dramatic impact than most of its writer Burt Bacharach’s work. Jones sold most records, but it appeared under the composer’s name on 1969’s album Make It Easy On Yourself.
　　2
　　Tom Jones
　　Green Green Grass Of Home
　　Manager Gordon Mills shrewdly performed an effective makeover on Dorsey to become Humperdinck, a smoother version of his more earthy protégé Sir Tom Jones, as he then wasn’t. Jones’ raw energy first proved popular with 1965’s It’s Not Unusual, but he diversified into more thoughtful material like this No.1 in the following year.
　　3
　　Engelbert Humperdinck
　　Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
　　The 1969 Academy Award for Best Song went to Bacharach and David’s Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head, a chart entry for both B.J. Thomas and jazz guitarist-turned heart-throb balladeer Sacha Distel. Its relaxed romanticism sat as perfectly with the suave Frenchman as it did with the former danceband vocalist Gerry Dorsey.
　　4
　　Dusty Springfield
　　I Just Don’t Know What To Do With Myself
　　Five years before Britain’s finest white female singer of her time made the seminal Dusty In Memphis album in 1969, she was also beginning to record a series of a dozen or so singles which illuminated the charts. This subtle Bacharach/David song allowed her soulful, moody vocals full opportunity to express the desolate angst of the lyrics.
　　5
　　The Mamas & the Papas
　　Dedicated To The One I Love
　　The Five Royales made an excellent mid 50s R&B recording of this Ralph Bass song highlighted by co-writer Lowman Pauling’s blistering guitar and Bill Doggett’s church-fuelled organ. Superior girl group the Shirelles did it justice, too, as did hippy icons the Mamas & the Papas who heralded the Summer Of Love with it in April 1967.
　　6
　　The Lovin’ Spoonful
　　Daydream
　　John Sebastian’s 1967 No.1 hit Summer In The City was a brilliant evocation of urban torment and he also wrote several magical love songs for his group the Lovin’ Spoonful. Daydream, however, was probably his masterpiece as he emulated the subtly pensive quality of writers like Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael and Burt Bacharach.
　　7
　　Eartha Kitt
　　Hurdy Gurdy Man
　　An unusual 1995 album Sentimental Eartha contained the distinguished diva’s take on Herman’s Hermits’ My Sentimental Friend and two hits by Donovan. Initially labouring under the label of “the British Bob Dylan”, the Scottish singer scored with the folky Catch The Wind in 1965 but psychedelia overtook him by the time of this spacey composition three years on; Kitt’s version is typically eccentric.
　　8
　　Harry Belafonte
　　Island In The Sun
　　The “King Of Calypso” made traditional West Indian music accessible and popular during a long and worthy career which began in the Village Vanguard in the 50s. Island In The Sun and Mary’s Boy Child followed Banana Boat Song into the pop charts in 1957, and Belafonte became a highly respected figure in the Civil Rights movement.
　　9
　　Mel Torme
　　The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
　　The “Velvet Fog” of Mel Torme earned unreserved respect for his singing of both jazz and popular material. Roberta Flack had first recorded this Ewan MacColl song in 1969, but it really launched her career three years later when Clint Eastwood personally chose it for prominent inclusion in his atmospheric stalker movie Play Misty For Me.
　　10
　　Cleo Laine
　　Send In The Clowns
　　This melancholy Stephen Sondheim song from A Little Night Music proves an ideal vehicle for one of Britain’s few truly internationally famous jazz singers. Laine has enjoyed a rich career, with many projects undertaken with husband Johnny Dankworth highlighted by musical settings of Shakespeare, Dickens and Kurt Weill.
　　11
　　Stacey Kent
　　S’Wonderful
　　Stacey Kent has also garnered generous plaudits from the critics, and here chooses a different side of Gershwin’s writing with the buoyant optimism of S’Wonderful. Fred Astaire competed with rival hoofer Kelly when his version of the song appeared in Funny Face and proved his superiority, as a singer at least.
　　12
　　Rio Combo
　　Summer Samba (So Nice)
　　Recorded by the Gilbertos, the dreamy Astrud in 1965 and talented contemporary artist Bebel in 2000, this essential slice of Brazilian sensuality was also recorded in gentle ballad style by Johnny Mathis and Andy Williams, and with a characteristically adventurous orchestral treatment, by vintage Sinatra arranger/bandleader Billy May.
　　13
　　Chris Ingham
　　Have You Met Miss Jones?
　　This sophisticated Rodgers and Hart composition was used in the popular show I’d Rather Be Right and also featured in the movie Gentlemen Marry Brunettes starring Rudy Vallee and Jane Russell. Lorenz Hart’s lyrics rivalled Porter for intelligence and wit, and his partnership with Rodgers yielded his finest work before their split in 1941.
　　14
　　EJQ
　　Summertime
　　One of the most memorable of all the songs from the Gershwins’ 1935 masterful folk opera Porgy & Bess, Summertime has become a revered standard in the American Songbook. Anne Browne sang the original, while hit versions have included wilfully quirky accounts by Billy Stewart in 1966 and the Fun Boy Three in 1982.
　　15
　　Guillaume Lelopoup
　　La Mer
　　Charles Trenet was perhaps the greatest, certainly the most affectionately remembered, of all performers of French Chanson. La Mer remains his best-known song, a sunny evocation of his love for his country later recorded orchestrally by Percy Faith and reworked in English as Beyond The Sea on Bobby Darin’s popular hip account in 1960.
　　CD3
　　1
　　Paul Anka
　　Can’t Get Used To Losing You
　　Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman enjoyed numerous successes as a songwriting team, and Andy Williams took this polished love song to No.2 in 1963, almost emulated by the Beat’s No.3 version exactly 20 years later; Paul Anka wrote My Way and crooned to No.1 with Diana in 1957, and his smooth vocal talent proved ideal for this song, too.
　　2
　　Nina Simone
　　My Baby Just Cares For Me
　　This 1930s song was recorded by Ambrose and the smooth crooners Pat Boone and Maurice Chevalier before its breezy charm appealed to pianist/singer Nina Simone. A serious polemicist as well as a talented musician, Simone usually favoured more sombre material, but its re-release in 1987 gave her career new impetus long after its beginnings.
　　3
　　Dinah Washington
　　Mad About The Boy
　　Another gifted vocalist to enjoy a late flowering, the revered jazz/R&B singer Dinah Washington had previously only troubled the pop charts once, in 1962 with the poignant ballad September In The Rain. Thirty years later, however, her knowing account of Noel Coward’s Mad About The Boy reinstated her with the help of TV exposure.
　　4
　　Walker Brothers
　　Make It Easy On Yourself
　　Jerry Butler and Dionne Warwick recorded fine covers of this compelling Bacharach/David song, but Scott Engel’s ethereal sound gave his trio a 1965 No.1. With echoes of Phil Spector and Dusty Springfield, the vocal group enjoyed two more dramatic ballad hits before the leader pursued a determinedly individualistic solo career.
　　5
　　Esquivel
　　Begin The Beguine
　　“How could anybody in his right mind figure to make a hit out of a dead tune with a crazy title?” said Artie Shaw with remarkable lack of prescience of his imminent theme tune which writer Cole Porter also initially regarded as a flop; Juilliard-trained Mexican pianist Esquivel made it a success during his rediscovery in the 90s Lounge revival.
　　6
　　Johnny Mathis
　　Misty
　　Jazz pianist Erroll Garner wrote Misty in 1954, with words added by Johnny Burke, and rerecorded it for Clint Eastwood’s movie Play Misty For Me. Johnny Mathis leant his gentle voice to it in 1959 after establishing himself with similarly Nat King Cole-influenced ballads like The Twelfth Of Never and A Certain Smile.
　　7
　　Carole King
　　(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman
　　Written by Carole King with her regular partner Gerry Goffin, A Natural Woman must rank as one of the very best of the duo’s exalted output, featured on her landmark solo album Tapestry in 1971. Many regard Aretha Franklin’s version as a pinnacle of her career, too, but King’s soulful yet dignified vocal is also executed to perfection.
　　8
　　José Feliciano
　　California Dreamin’
　　Written by John and Michelle Phillips, their group with Mama Cass and Denny Doherty, the Mamas & the Papas scored their debut hit in 1966 with this characteristic paean to the West Coast. The blind singer/guitarist Feliciano cleverly reworked the Doors’ Light My Fire two years later and also revived this melodic composition very adroitly.
　　9
　　Paula Santoro
　　The Girl From Ipanema
　　The lyrical saxophonist Stan Getz had a surprise hit with guitarist Charlie Byrd in 1962 on Jobim’s Desafinado, leading to a series of popular albums of Latin music. He also collaborated with another guitar player, Joao Gilberto, whose wife Astrud gave a sultry vocal performance of the evocative The Girl From Ipanema, another pop hit in 1964.
　　10
　　Lena Horne & Gabor Szabo
　　Fool On The Hill
　　Lena Horne enjoyed universal acclaim for her appearances in the innovative 1942 movies Cabin In The Sky and Stormy Weather, giving a definitive version of the title song. Blacklisted through her association with Paul Robeson, she returned to experiment imaginatively, here with guitarist Szabo on this Beatles’ piece of English whimsy.
　　11
　　Percy Faith
　　Windmills Of Your Mind
　　Canadian Percy Faith was an early 50s founding father of lush orchestration quickly labelled easy listening, peaking with his Theme From A Summer Place. This Michel Legrand song was an oddball one-off hit for Noel Harrison, son of actor Rex, who capitalized on its exposure in the 1968 Steve McQueen movie The Thomas Crown Affair.
　　12
　　Cal Tjader
　　What The World Needs Now
　　Although it was Dionne Warwick who was most successful with Bacharach/David material, this song gave the underrated Jackie DeShannon her first hit in 1965 after work with Ry Cooder and the Byrds. West Coast vibes player Tjader led respected Latin jazz bands, impressed Carlos Santana, and was a prominent figure in the 50s Mambo craze.
　　13
　　Ray Conniff
　　Laughter In The Rain
　　Neil Sedaka wrote this assured 1974 No.1 with partner Phil Cody and included it on his album Sedaka’s Back. At the time when both easy listening and mannered rock were unfashionable, the Moody Blues were derided as “the Ray Conniffs of pop”, but the accomplished Conniff made an imaginative blend of harmony singing with sensitive arrangements.
　　14
　　Frank Ifield
　　I Remember You
　　Often in partnership with Harold Arlen or Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer wrote Too Marvellous For Words, That Old Black Magic, Fools Rush In, Lazybones, Blues In The Night and One For My Baby, as well as this song first performed by Bob Eberly with Jimmy Dorsey’s band in The Fleet’s In; Ifield made it a 1962 No.1 with trademark yodel.
　　15
　　Grupo Cabana
　　Wave
　　Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Wave was naturally covered by sympathetic guitarist Charlie Byrd, and also by a host of others during and after the early 60s fashion for bossa nova. A jazz flavour was added by Rosemary Clooney and Tony Bennett, more obviously by Brubeck saxophonist Paul Desmond, by Joao Gilberto and the composer himself.
　　16
　　Paris Express
　　Chanson D’Amour
　　The melodic Chanson D’Amour became a 1977 No.1 hit for Manhattan Transfer, the dazzling vocal harmony group who had made their initial impact the previous year with a typically imaginative version of the Glenn Miller staple Tuxedo Junction. Wayne Shanklin’s tender composition proved an engaging success, sensitively rendered here.