Customer Reviews

Best of the Ames Brothers

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Best Of The Ames Brothers is yet another CD that baffles me in a way because it's such a fine album--yet it's out of print! The sound quality is excellent and the artwork is very nicely done. This is a must-have for fans of The Ames Brothers and it also makes a great starter CD for people just discovering the four brothers.

"Rag Mop," a favorite number of mine because it's so cute and mildly amusing, sounds great when The Ames Brothers do this one up right! The big band arrangement works very nicely and these men really give this all their might! They swing brightly and they succeed at making this a fine beginning number for the CD. "Sentimental Me" is a charmer song that works well even today--all these years alter! The strings are used to great advantage and the four brothers sing this with all their heart and soul. They harmonize and sing their various lines just right; and the effect is that we get a very pretty melody.

The Ames Brothers also do my favorite version of "Undecided;" "Undecided" was a big hit for Ella Fitzgerald and Chick Webb; and man, how they would be proud of The Ames Brothers when the four brothers sang that song! The Ames Brothers may not have had 1005 of the success that Ella and Chick had with "Undecided;" but it was a hit for The Ames Brothers nonetheless. "Melodie D'Amour (Melody of Love)" gets the royal treatment from The Ames Brothers who sing this to perfection--and beyond! The subtle Latin twist on this tune really adds a lot of punch to it and that's fantastic.

"You, You, You" is a pretty tune that highlights Ed's vocals a bit more than his brothers' vocals; and the chorus that bolsters their performance works well. The Ames Brothers make good on "You, You, You." In addition, "A Very Precious Love" has that classic love song type of melody to it and it will make you want to dance with your sweetheart all alone in your living room very late at night--how romantic! "The Man With The Banjo" does indeed have a fine banjo arrangement even though the banjo isn't highlighted in the arrangement; The Ames Brothers harmonize flawlessly and "The Man With The Banjo" is a good highlight of this album.

"To Each His Own" is a tune that stuns me with its beauty every time I hear it; and The Ames Brothers bat this out of the ballpark rather effortlessly--their talents really lead them through these classic ballads even when the music had complicated tempo shifts and key modulations. Great! "Midnight Cocktail" features The Ames Brothers back in the spotlight; and the CD ends strong with The Ames Brothers singing "Moments To Remember." "Moments To Remember" is another classic pop vocal and the brothers do great justice to this ballad with their excellent interpretation of this number.

Overall, The Ames Brothers were one terrific act and CDs like this prove it more than amply. I highly recommend this CD for their fans and people who like classic pop vocals. It also is a great starter CD for newcomers to the artistry of The Ames Brothers.

Some of the tracks on here are re-recordings of Coral hits that the Ames Brothers did when their Greatest Hits lp was released by RCA in 1958. The songs are offered here in somewhat crappy sound, with tape dropouts, rechanneled sound, and other things to distract the listener from enjoying the music. Instead of this cd, I would recommend the Sentimental Me: The Best of the Ames Brothers cd on Varese Sarabande, which covers many of their Coral chart hits and other classics for the label, and also the Very Best of the Ames Brothers on Taragon, which takes care of their RCA career, except for the fact that they put Destination Moon on the cd instead of the classic, Stay, which they had to flip a coin to decide which track to put on. They went with the wrong song, honestly...but avoid this crap, get BOTH of the 2 cds ive mentioned here on Varese and Taragon, they CARE about sound quality.

If you are like me, you prefer the original hits as they were first recorded. This CD, though not horrible, is comprised of re-recordings. You can take it from there yourself.

I can't imagine anyone being an Ames Brothers fan and "not" having this CD. Almost all of the songs for which they became famous are on it. The rich quality and the unmatched harmony of their voices really shines on this recording. Even if you're not old enough to remember the music of the 1950s, the beauty of such songs as "It Only Hurts For A Little While", "You, You, You", "A Very Precious Love" and "Moments To Remember" are timeless. All of the other selections are beautiful as well. If you want to hear some of the most beautiful music sung by probably the finest quartet ever assembled, this CD is a "must have".

My first Ames Bros. disc was their LP "Destination Moon," which I just about wore out. This CD has different songs, but their great harmony is the same. It's such a shame Ed decided to leave the group and go out on his own.

Bought this for my Grandparents who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. Their wedding song was on it. I had this playing during their anniversary party and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Good old fashioned music.

This Ams Bros. collection of 1950`s hitsis great. The "Sentimental Me" selectionis one of the great examples of group harmony! The blend of voices is perfect!