Eileen Farrell - Sings Johnny Mercer

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1991
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 47:41
Size: 109,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:24)  1. Too Marvelous for Words
(4:30)  2. Skylark
(2:42)  3. I'm Shadowing You
(3:22)  4. Moon River
(3:00)  5. I Remember You
(3:47)  6. Laura
(4:10)  7. You Grow Sweeter as the Years Go By
(3:16)  8. I'm Old Fashioned
(4:55)  9. I Thought About You
(3:22) 10. Weekend of a Private Secretary
(3:58) 11. Day In, Day Out
(4:50) 12. Early Autumn
(3:17) 13. Autumn Leaves

Another in a series of works with noted operatic singer Eileen Farrell turning to works by pre-rock composers. Her renditions of Johnny Mercer songs were delivered peerlessly, although she didn't always provide the emotional shadings and textures others brought to the lyrics. The 1991 album again featured arrangements by Loonis McGlohon, as well as Manny Albam on four tunes, and a slightly altered instrumental lineup. ~ Ron Wynn https://www.allmusic.com/album/eileen-farrell-sings-johnny-mercer-mw0000074649

Personnel:  Eileen Farrell - vocals; Loonis McGlohon - piano; Doug Burns - acoustic bass; Bill Stowe - drums; Jim Pugh - trombone; Joe Negri - guitar; Phil Thompson - flute, alto saxophone; Doug Henry - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Jon Thornton - trumpet

Sings Johnny Mercer

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Eileen Farrell, Luther Henderson And His Orchestra - Here I Go Again

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:29
Size: 96,6 MB
Art: Front

(5:06)  1. My Funny Valentine
(3:01)  2. Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)
(3:58)  3. I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good
(3:00)  4. Somebody Loves Me
(3:20)  5. Dreamy
(2:48)  6. Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams
(3:44)  7. The Man I Love
(3:22)  8. Solitaire (The Game Of Love)
(3:25)  9. To Be In Love
(3:15) 10. A Foggy Day
(3:31) 11. The Second Time Around
(2:52) 12. Taking A Chance On Love

While opera singers who dabble in popular music are common, those who do so successfully are rare, and those with large dramatic voices who do so are rarer still. Eileen Farrell was as authentic and natural a blues and jazz singer as she was an operatic soprano. She was in fact much more comfortable on the concert stage, on radio, and in the recording studio than in the opera house. She sang relatively few fully-staged performances and was ambivalent about opera and particularly opera house management throughout her entire career (when she taught at Indiana University, she hung a sign outside her office that read, "Help stamp out opera.") Her voice was huge, but capable of great nuances in volume and expressiveness as well as rapid and accurate coloratura, letting her sing bel canto roles such as Cherubini's Medea, the spinto-coloratura Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore, the verismo Santuzza in Cavalleria Rusticana, and the great Wagner parts of Isolde and Brünnhilde (in concert). Her parents were both singers, The Singing O'Farrells, and recognizing her potential, sent her to study voice in New York. She auditioned for various radio shows and was hired by CBS for chorus and ensemble work. In 1941, she got her own program, Eileen Farrell Sings, where she performed songs and lighter classical music. She remained with them until 1947, when she began to explore other venues, including the Bach Aria Group. 

She also began studying with Eleanor McLellan, who helped her hone her vocal technique, particularly helping her develop a pianissimo. In 1955, she sang for the film dramatization of singer Marjorie Lawrence's life, Interrupted Melody (Eleanor Parker acted the role), and the music, ranging from folk to Brünnhilde's immolation scene, showed off her power, rich voice, and versatility. In 1957, she appeared for the first time on the opera stage, as Santuzza in Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana in Tampa, FL, and two years later, sang for the first time in London, in a recital. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1960 in the title role of Gluck's Alceste, and in 1962, won a Grammy for her recording of Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder and the "Immolation Scene" from Götterdämmerung, conducted by Leonard Bernstein. Her relationship with Met management was an uncomfortable one, partly due to differences of personalities and her finding the repertoire they offered unchallenging, and her contract was allowed to drop in 1965. Towards the end of the decade, her voice was beginning to show signs of wear at the very top, and Farrell moved back into jazz and blues recordings, and taught music at Indiana University. She made her last record in 1993, at the age of 72. Farrell died on March 23, 2002. ~ Anne Feeney https://www.allmusic.com/artist/eileen-farrell-mn0000179714/biography

Here I Go Again

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Eileen Farrell - Sings Torch Songs

Styles: Vocal 

Year: 1990

File: MP3@320K/s 

Time: 57:11 

Size: 131,5 MB 

Art: Front

(6:43)  1. Stormy Weather

(3:23)  2. When Your Lover Has Gone

(4:48)  3. 'Round Midnight

(3:23)  4. The End of a Love Affair

(5:26)  5. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry

(4:49)  6. Something Cool

(5:08)  7. I Get Along without You Very Well

(6:04)  8. Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most

(5:00)  9. Black Coffee

(4:31) 10. Don't Explain

(3:15) 11. Get Out of Town

(4:35) 12. This Time the Dream's on Me

Singer whose style and approach have jazz connections, but whose sound is more in a show business, pre-rock pop vein than an improvising mode. 

She has recorded albums of standards in '90s for Reference label. ~ Ron Wynn https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/eileen-farrell-sings-torch-songs/995325617

Sings Torch Songs

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Eileen Farrell - Sings Rodgers & Hart

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1989
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 42:07
Size: 97,0 MB
Art: Front

(2:34)  1. I Could Write a Book
(2:10)  2. I Wish I Were in Love Again
(3:13)  3. Wait Till You See Him
(3:08)  4. I Didn't Know What Time It Was
(2:01)  5. Love Me Tonight
(3:14)  6. Nobody's Heart
(5:28)  7. It Never Entered My Mind
(2:40)  8. Mountain Greenery
(2:29)  9. Sing for Your Supper
(2:52) 10. Can't You Do a Friend a Favor
(3:01) 11. Lover
(2:50) 12. My Heart Stood Still
(3:39) 13. Little Girl Blue
(2:41) 14. You're Nearer

Eileen Farrell won acclaim and fame as an opera singer. She proved an effective, sometimes impressive standards and pre-rock performer, although she wasn't a jazz singer in any sense. This is a 14-song package from 1989 with arrangments by Louis McGlobon. The backing band includes fine trumpet and flugelhorn solos from Joe Wilder and an unusual instrumental bonus with the inclusion of vibist Jim Stack on some cuts. ~ Ron Wynn https://www.allmusic.com/album/eileen-farrell-sings-rodgers-hart-mw0000202465    

Personnel: Eileen Farrell - vocals;  Joe Wilder - trumpet, flugelhorn;  Jim Brock - percussion;  Loonis McGlohon - piano;  Bill Stowe - drums;  Doug Henry - flute, saxophone;  Greg Hyslop - guitar;  Jim Stack - vibraphone;  Terry Peoples - bass

Sings Rodgers & Hart

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