Various - Capitol Sings Johnny Mercer

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:03
Size: 162.7 MB
Styles: Vocal, Easy Listening
Year: 1991
Art: Front

[3:17] 1. Ella Mae Morse - Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive
[3:11] 2. Martha Tilton - And The Angels Sing
[2:49] 3. Gordon MacRae - Autumn Leaves
[3:12] 4. Jo Stafford - Blues In The Night
[1:53] 5. Blossom Dearie - Charade
[3:40] 6. Judy Garland - Come Rain Or Come Shine
[2:22] 7. Nat King Cole - Day In-Day Out
[3:16] 8. Matt Monro - Days Of Wine And Roses
[2:47] 9. The Pied Pipers - Dream
[2:32] 10. Benny Goodman - Goody Goody
[2:52] 11. Johnny Mercer - Glow Worm
[2:55] 12. The Four Freshmen - I Thought About You
[2:49] 13. Dinah Shore - I'm Old Fashioned
[2:57] 14. Dean Martin - In The Cool Cool Cool Of The Evening
[2:16] 15. Stan Kenton & His Orchestra - Jeepers Creepers
[2:22] 16. Vic Damone - Laura
[3:26] 17. Lena Horne - Moon River
[3:03] 18. Johnny Mercer - On The Atchison, Topeka & The Sante Fe
[4:13] 19. Harold Arlen - One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)
[2:58] 20. Kay Starr - P.S. I Love You
[2:21] 21. Nancy Wilson - Satin Doll
[4:00] 22. Hoagy Carmichael - Skylark
[2:54] 23. Keely Smith - That Old Black Magic
[2:47] 24. Andy Russell - Too Marvelous For Words

Singer/songwriter Johnny Mercer was one of the founders of Capitol Records in the early '40s, so it's appropriate that he rates his own volume in the label's various-artists songbook compilation series of the 1990s (one that has already had discs devoted to Cole Porter and George Gershwin). As a lyricist working over a long career, Mercer provides a varied range of material for inclusion. This is a man who was setting words to 1930s swing hits like "And the Angels Sing," "Goody Goody," and "Satin Doll," and was still going strong in the 1960s, when he was writing movie themes like "Moon River" and "The Days of Wine and Roses" with Henry Mancini. In between, there were standards of the ‘40s such as "Blues in the Night" and "That Old Black Magic," and ‘50s favorites like "Autumn Leaves" and "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening." Capitol was devoted to singers, which allowed it to take advantage of the post-swing era of the late ‘40s and ‘50s when singers ruled. Tops among them was Frank Sinatra, a Capitol artist, who apparently didn't allow his recordings to be compiled on this sort of collection. But many other important singers are included, among them Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Dinah Shore, and Dean Martin. And Mercer himself pops in several times, as do a couple of his composer collaborators, Harold Arlen and Hoagy Carmichael. Although Mercer has an identifiable writing style, full of a self-invented Southern slang ("swingeroonie!," "my huckleberry friend"), his teaming with different sorts of composers allows for many different musical styles on this disc, making it one of the rangier volumes in the series. ~William Ruhlmann

Capitol Sings Johnny Mercer

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Matt Monro - Essential

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:38
Size: 129.7 MB
Styles: Vocal, Easy Listening
Year: 1990/2006
Art: Front

[2:53] 1. My Kind Of Girl
[2:46] 2. Portrait Of My Love
[2:32] 3. From Russia With Love
[2:57] 4. Who Can I Turn To
[2:31] 5. Let's Face The Music And Dance
[3:17] 6. Jeannie
[2:33] 7. April Fool
[2:09] 8. Cheek To Cheek
[3:21] 9. Softly As I Leave You (Mono) [single Version]
[2:00] 10. Here And Now
[2:46] 11. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
[2:12] 12. How Little We Know
[2:20] 13. Stardust
[3:37] 14. Small Fry
[3:17] 15. Skylark
[3:02] 16. One Morning In May
[3:57] 17. I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)
[2:59] 18. Memphis In June
[2:27] 19. Blue Orchids
[2:52] 20. I Have Dreamed

He was the "British Sinatra" and sings with beautiful phrasing on these recordings from the early '60s. This is Monro at his most Sinatra/Riddle-like. Several of the tracks are from his Hoagy Carmichael album and his renditions of "Skylark," "Blue Orchids," and "Stardust" are masterful ballad treatments. His "One Morning In May" and "Small Fry" swing with Basie-like big-band arrangements behind him (note especially the hip and attentive drumming on these swing charts).

His breath control is one of the most extraordinary in all of popular singing; there is at least one phrase in each ballad performance that is nearly impossible to speak, let alone sing, in one breath. But there's subtle swing phrasing with great breath control too -- notice the second time he sings the bridge on "Let's Face the Music and Dance" after he sings a 4-bar lead-in and then the ENTIRE bridge on one breath. Literally breathtaking singing, and mature phrasing that does not call attention to the technical prowess (very much like Sinatra). "My Kind of Girl" was Monro's swing masterpiece, a record so fine that even Sinatra had to record it -- the ultimate tribute. ~Peter Sokolowski

Essential mc
Essential zippy

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Matt Monro - That Old Feeling: The Complete Recordings 1955-1962

Size: 173,1+133.5+124.2 MB
Time: 73:39+57:45+53:02
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Pop
Art: Front

CD 1:
01. Strange Lady In Town (1:46)
02. Everybody Falls In Love With Someone (1:44)
03. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind (1:44)
04. Gone With The Wind (2:31)
05. My Old Flame (2:31)
06. The Garden Of Eden (2:17)
07. Love Me Do (2:14)
08. My House Is Your House (Mi Casa Es Su Casa) (2:58)
09. The Bean Song (Which Way To Boston) (2:44)
10. You Always Hurt The One You Love (2:16)
11. A Cottage For Sale (3:08)
12. That Old Feeling (3:01)
13. Memories Of You (2:32)
14. What Can I Say After I Say I'm Sorry (2:21)
15. Do You Ever Think Of Me (1:57)
16. Dancing With Tears In My Eyes (2:34)
17. Once In A While (3:16)
18. I Cried For You (2:53)
19. The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else (2:19)
20. I'll Never Have A Sweetheart (2:36)
21. The Golden Age (2:25)
22. A Story Of Ireland (2:39)
23. Another Time, Another Place (2:27)
24. Prisoner Of Love (2:27)
25. Have Guitar Will Travel (2:07)
26. Bound For Texas (2:32)
27. I Should Care (Live) (3:00)
28. I'm A Fool To Want You (3:35)
29. You Keep Me Swingin' (2:51)

CD 2:
01. Portrait Of My Love (2:43)
02. You're The Top Of My Hit Parade (2:14)
03. The Ghost Of Your Past (3:02)
04. Quite Suddenly (2:55)
05. My Kind Of Girl (2:57)
06. This Time (2:35)
07. Can This Be Love (3:01)
08. Why Not Now (2:25)
09. Gonna Build A Mountain (2:46)
10. I'll Dream Of You (2:47)
11. Love Is The Same Anywhere (2:19)
12. Jeannie (3:13)
13. Let's Face The Music And Dance (2:29)
14. Such Is My Love (2:47)
15. The Thing About Love (2:55)
16. Come Sta (2:48)
17. Cheek To Cheek (2:09)
18. April Fool (2:36)
19. Mirage (2:36)
20. There Are No Words For Love (2:46)
21. No One Will Ever Know (3:32)

CD 3:
01. Softly As I Leave You (3:20)
02. Is There Anything I Can Do (2:21)
03. When Love Comes Along (2:19)
04. Tahiti (2:15)
05. My Love And Devotion (2:57)
06. By The Way (2:47)
07. Stardust (2:20)
08. Small Fry (3:36)
09. How Little We Know (2:11)
10. The Nearness Of You (2:59)
11. Georgia On My Mind (4:29)
12. Skylark (3:17)
13. One Morning In May (3:05)
14. I Get Along Without You Very Well (3:56)
15. Memphis In June (2:59)
16. I Guess It Was You All The Time (1:52)
17. Blue Orchids (2:24)
18. Rocking Chair (3:50)

Matt Monro was perhaps one of the most underrated performers of his era, especially in view of his popularity amongst other singers, most notably Frank Sinatra and more recently Michael Buble. This superb 3CD set from Jasmine contains all of his releases up to the end of 1962 and by this time he had become widely acknowledged as the finest singer Britain had produced and who continued to enjoy international success throughout the beat group era. Features three complete albums: 'Blue And Sentimental', 'Love Is The Same Anywhere' and '... Sings Hoagy Carmichael' plus a plethora of singles including many charting hits such as "Portrait Of My Love", "My Kind Of Girl" and "Softly As I Leave You", This is a real collector's item and is a must for Matt Monro fans as well as fans of the great singers of the 50s and 60s.

That Old Feeling:The Complete Recordings 1955-1962 Disc 1,2,3

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Matt Monro, Nelson Riddle - Matt Sings, Nelson Swings

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:34
Size: 102.0 MB
Styles: Vocal, Swing
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[2:33] 1. Brother John
[2:16] 2. Come Back To Me
[2:59] 3. What To Do
[2:32] 4. Let's Face The Music And Dance
[3:01] 5. In The Arms Of Love
[3:16] 6. Walk Away
[2:48] 7. It's Alright With Me
[3:58] 8. Born Free
[5:26] 9. When You Become A Man
[3:16] 10. Shadow Of Your Smile
[4:43] 11. The John F. Kennedy March
[3:16] 12. Softly As I Leave You
[4:25] 13. Strike Up The Band

Neither Matt Monro or Nelson Riddle need any introductions as they are both legends in their own field of work. Matt the versatile crooner with a string of hits and great recordings behind him and Nelson one of the most successsful arrangers and orchestrators ever, having worked for Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee and Nat King Cole amongst many others. This album is a recording of the one and only time that Matt and Nelson worked together. It was recorded in front of an invited audience at the BBC Television Centre in 1967. The recording has been remastered giving it a top quality sound.

Matt Sings, Nelson Swings

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