Joni James - Dream A Little Dream Of Me

Styles: Vocal 
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 63:20
Size: 146,0 MB
Art: Front

(2:33)  1. Dream A Little Dream Of Me
(3:21)  2. All Or Nothing At All
(3:04)  3. I Love You Much Too Much
(2:59)  4. There Will Never Be Another You
(1:43)  5. Can't Get Out Of This Mood
(3:09)  6. Manhattan
(2:53)  7. Heart And Soul
(1:59)  8. Lover
(2:20)  9. Just One Of Those Things
(3:46) 10. They Can't Take That Away From Me
(3:12) 11. Basin Street Blues
(3:48) 12. I Almost Lost My Mind
(2:14) 13. Baby, Won't You Say You Love Me
(2:31) 14. You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby
(3:33) 15. I'll Walk Alone
(4:07) 16. My Melancholy Baby
(3:53) 17. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
(4:57) 18. Imagination
(3:38) 19. But Beautiful
(3:31) 20. I Can Dream, Can't I?

Pop songstress Joni James was born Giovanna Carmella Babbo in Chicago on September 22, 1930. After studying drama and ballet throughout her adolescence, she joined a local dance troupe on a tour of Canada upon graduating high school, later working as a chorus girl at the Windy City's Edgewater Beach Hotel. A fill-in gig at an Indiana roadhouse convinced James to pursue a career as a singer, and while appearing in a TV commercial she was spotted by executives at MGM, signing to the label in 1952. Her single "Why Don't You Believe Me" sold over a million copies, topping the U.S. charts for six weeks and falling just shy of the Top Ten in Britain. An overnight sensation, James enjoyed an incredible run of hits over the next year, among them the double-sided "Have You Heard"/"Wishing Ring," "Purple Shades," Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Is It Any Wonder," "Almost Always," "My Love, My Love," "You're Fooling Someone," "Nina-Non (A Christmas Lullaby)," and "You're My Everything." By 1954, however, James' early success seemed to dissipate entirely, and after returning to the Top Ten twice the following year with "How Important Can It Be?" and "You Are My Love" she never reached to the upper rungs of the charts again, although she continued cracking the Top 100 for the remainder of the decade. In 1964, she retired from music to tend to her ailing husband, musical director Anthony Acquaviva, and spent the next three decades essentially removed from the public eye; finally, during the mid-'90s she returned to touring while also supervising the re-release of her classic MGM recordings. ~ Jason Ankeny https://www.allmusic.com/artist/joni-james-mn0000224113/biography

Dream A Little Dream Of Me

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Joni James - The Broadway Hits

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:28
Size: 111.0 MB
Styles: Vocal, Easy Listening
Year: 2012
Art: Front

[4:23] 1. Hey There!
[3:31] 2. Till There Was You
[3:36] 3. I've Grown Accustomed To His Face
[4:21] 4. Bali Ha'i
[3:29] 5. Isn't It Romantic
[4:47] 6. If I Loved You
[4:31] 7. Mr. Wonderful
[3:55] 8. Baubles, Bangles And Beads
[4:29] 9. Bewitched
[3:18] 10. Hello Young Lovers
[4:22] 11. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
[3:41] 12. The Party's Over

Pop songstress Joni James was born Giovanna Carmella Babbo in Chicago on September 22, 1930. After studying drama and ballet throughout her adolescence, she joined a local dance troupe on a tour of Canada upon graduating high school, later working as a chorus girl at the Windy City's Edgewater Beach Hotel. A fill-in gig at an Indiana roadhouse convinced James to pursue a career as a singer, and while appearing in a TV commercial she was spotted by executives at MGM, signing to the label in 1952. Her single "Why Don't You Believe Me" sold over a million copies, topping the U.S. charts for six weeks and falling just shy of the Top Ten in Britain.

An overnight sensation, James enjoyed an incredible run of hits over the next year, among them the double-sided "Have You Heard"/"Wishing Ring," "Purple Shades," Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Is It Any Wonder," "Almost Always," "My Love, My Love," "You're Fooling Someone," "Nina-Non (A Christmas Lullaby)," and "You're My Everything." By 1954, however, James' early success seemed to dissipate entirely, and after returning to the Top Ten twice the following year with "How Important Can It Be?" and "You Are My Love" she never reached to the upper rungs of the charts again, although she continued cracking the Top 100 for the remainder of the decade. In 1964, she retired from music to tend to her ailing husband, musical director Anthony Acquaviva, and spent the next three decades essentially removed from the public eye; finally, during the mid-'90s she returned to touring while also supervising the re-release of her classic MGM recordings. ~ Jason Ankeny

The Broadway Hits

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Joni James - I Feel A Song Coming On

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:52
Size: 79.8 MB
Styles: Vocal
Year: 1962/2011
Art: Front

[2:06] 1. 'deed I Do
[3:10] 2. You Came A Long Way From St. Louis
[3:40] 3. In Other Words
[2:00] 4. I Feel A Song Comin' On
[2:42] 5. Lullaby Of Birdland
[2:50] 6. You Do
[2:23] 7. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
[4:04] 8. My Melancholy Baby
[3:14] 9. Basin Street Blues
[3:09] 10. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
[3:45] 11. By The Way
[1:43] 12. September In The Rain

After over a decade as a top-charting female vocalist, Joni James' early- and mid-'60s output is comparatively jazzy, featuring some of her most mature and progressive sounds to date. I Feel a Song Coming On (1962) saw James shed her pinup image for a dozen tracks culled from various American pop music songbooks. This effort's free-form and improvisational accompaniment lends itself well to the vocalist's unique and fresh interpretations of a wide variety of popular standards and, concurrently, new additions to the otherwise traditional lexicon. Joining James is Jimmie Haskell, whose scores are equally inventive as each arrangement swells and ebbs with the unmistakable energy and unity of a spontaneous jam session. The singer's earlier encounters with Stan Kenton's orchestra seem to have paid off quite a dividend as James weaves some post-bop mastery into the uptempo reading of "'Deed I Do" as well as the equally hot-steppin' "On the Sunny Side of the Street." The extended instrumental intros foreshadow the lightly maneuvered vocals that follow. Granted, James is no Ella Fitzgerald; however, she is able to swing with authority on George Shearing's "Lullaby of Birdland" and adds an exceedingly soulful inflection to Duke Ellington's "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)" and, most profoundly, the Creole-steeped "Basin Street Blues." Her more refined style of balladry is highlighted on the gentle "Fly Me to the Moon" and the bluesy torch reading of "My Melancholy Baby." Few vocalists, male or female, have repeatedly proven their versatility and emotive adeptness as has Joni James. I Feel a Song Coming On proves not only her continued relevance as a vocal interpreter but also as an innovator, by stretching her boundaries and displaying her limitless talents. ~Lindsay Planer

I Feel A Song Coming On

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