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From the Vault...
10/18/1998
#599 |
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info
Doris Day
"16 Most Requested Songs"
© Legacy/Columbia Records
Year of Release: 1992
Rating:
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track listing
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Sentimental Journey
My Dreams Are GettingBetter All The Time
It's Magic
Love Somebody
Again
Bewitched
Would I Love YouLove You Love You
(Why Did I Tell YouI Was Going To)Shanghai
Sugarbush
A Guy Is A Guy
When I Fall In Love
Secret Love
If I Give My Heart To You
I'll Never Stop Loving You
Whatever Will Be Will Be(Que Sera Sera)
Everybody Loves A Lover
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Doris Day
"16 Most Requested Songs"
Yes friends, we journey through the times when music was music, men were
men, and women were women. Not like today, where some music is hard to listen
to (thrash metal), offensive/violent (gangsta rap), and bizarre artists (Marilyn
Manson).
The music before Rock and Roll came along was the Big Band Era, where great
bands such as Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman were banging out instrumentals
with their full orchestral ensembles. As for singers, there were male and
females that were dominating the music scene, just as their instrumental
counterparts. To name a few: Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Johnnie Ray,
Rosemary Clooney, Kay Starr. And most importantly, Doris Day, and her
Greatest Hits compilation, 16 Most Requested Songs.
What makes this album appreciative to listen to is not only the vocals of
Miss Day, but the big band arrangements by such band leaders as Les Brown,
Percy Faith, Harry James and Paul Weston. What makes a great singer is not
only the singer himself/herself, but the musical arrangements.
With Les Brown and his Orchestra, songs like Sentimental Journey and
My Dreams Are Getting Better All The Time are just great to listen to,
as the big band sound is truly enjoyable. It's Magic is conducted by
Percy Faith (of Theme From A Summer Place fame). This song is much
slower as compared to the upbeat jazz of the Les Brown numbers.
Back to the upbeat jazz of Love Somebody, where George Siravo conducts
this number as Miss Day is joined on vocals with Buddy Clark. The next two
songs are soft crooning tunes like It's Magic, as they are both conducted
by John Rarig: Again, and Bewitched. Both songs feature Doris
with with help from The Mellomen. Would I Love You, Love You, Love You
is a little more upbeat, and features Harry James and his Orchestra.
(Why Did I Tell You I Was Going To) Shanghai has the upbeat Johnnie
Ray style, where Doris is joined with Paul Weston and his Orchestra.
From this point on, the big band sound is pretty much eliminated, as
a more early fifties pop sound was created for Doris Day. The previous
songs were from 1944 to 1951, a time where Big Band was King. From 1952 to
1958 (as the remaining tunes on this release are featured), Day's musical
style begins to change in a more pop fashion. Songs like Sugarbush
(with Frankie Laine), A Guy Is A Guy and If I Give My Heart To You
have the "pop" sound. However, I'll Never Stop Loving You returns
the soft-crooning style, as in a romantic Frank Sinatra tune, that has
another great band arrangement.
When I Fall In Love has a more Broadway sound (as I believe this song
was featured in many future Broadway musicals. I think Barbra Streisand covered
this song, and if she didn't, I can visualize her singing this one, as many
other Broadway singers/musicals.) Percy Faith takes the credit conducting
on this one.
And then there's the famous Doris Day tune (well, there were two):
Secret Love, a beautiful composition in sound and vocals, where it is
considered one of THE songs people would relate to, to the name of Doris
Day. The other? Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera). As these
two songs are most loved by females, rather than men, because they relate to
love (Secret Love) and Whatever Will Be relates to the future,
as Doris sings: When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother What will
I be? Will I be pretty? Will I be rich? (I don't think the guys ever
thought about this idea when they were that young...) Like anything else, life
in general is to be experienced day-by-day, and no one really knows what is in
store for all of us. Obviously, our lives have its shares of happiness
and heartbreaks, as we all learn from both experiences throughout our lives.
Closing the album is the bouncy pop song, Everybody Loves A Lover,
which is a very happy-go-lucky tune. Listening to this kind of music has its
finest moments, as we compare this music to the music of today. Different in
sound, different in lyrics. And, this style of music is back in the 1990s.
Harry Connick Jr. brought back the crooning style of the late 1940s and 1950s,
singing songs in the style of Frank Sinatra. Doris Day's 16 Most Requested
Songs has big-band jazz, likewise the soft-crooning jazz, and the sound
of the early Fifties long before Elvis Presley and Rock & Roll dominated the
music scene.
The big-band jazz is back today, as The Stray Cats' Brian Setzer features
a big-band orchestra displaying the big-band style with his covers of popular
hits from the big-band era. His latest release, The Dirty Boogie,
features Louis Prima's Jump Jive 'N Wail, as well as other big-band
styled songs.
Sometimes when you listen to today's music, it sounds the same, or it
just doesn't have the spark and energy as previous decades of popular music.
But branching back to the different eras of popular music is always an adventure:
Whether its the Doo-Wop/Rock of the Fifties, the British Invasion of the Sixties,
the Classic Rock of the Seventies, the Pop of the Eighties, and, in this week's
case, the Big Band sounds of the 1940s. 16 Most Requested Songs by
Doris Day will hopefully spark an interest in the big-band/early Fifties music,
and hopefully you'll want to rediscover other artists that were popular during
that Era.
© WSVNRadio.net. All rights reserved.
Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
Legacy/Columbia Records
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