Customer Reviews

Best of Columbia & Monument Sides

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Before commenting on how great Don Cherry THE VOCALIST sounds on these sides I feel it necessary to say this;The idiots amongst us should not be allowed to write reviews...One need only read some of the reviews for this album to know EXACTLY which idiots I refer to...I mean,REALLY,Don Cherry the vocalist,and Don Cherry the jazz horn player are two very different people..One is black and the other isn't,for starters,and wouldn't someone who knew ANYTHING about the jazz artist know the difference,especially BEFORE buying an album sight unseen over the internet?Instead of writing ridiculous reviews telling us the obvious,i,e.THIS ISN'T DON CHERRY THE JAZZ ARTIST,shouldn't these bozos check out the difference FIRST?
Don Cherry the vocalist had a tremendous singing voice..Fortunately for him(and,alas,unfortunately for the rest of us,who appreciate that voice)he made enough money in his day,and invested it well,so that he could play golf rather than continue recording songs...He once boasted that he would rather play golf than sing,and had the wherewithal to do so.."Band Of Gold"was cherry's signiture song,but he was at home singing most fifties ballads,and had very little trouble interpreting some of the easy country and western music of that time period...these are the original,"hit"sides,rather than re-recordings offered on some other Don Cherry albums available and,therefore,should be your first choice when buying music by this superb singer....

Like Eddie Fisher, Don Cherry was snowballed by the avalanche known as R&R in 1955/56. Before that, however, his was among the more pleasant vocal sounds to rule the airwaves from the end of WW II to 1955/56. After a brief stint with Jan Garber & His Orchestra, and a flirtation with the golf circuit [he was a scratch golfer], he began his solo career with Decca in 1950, scoring five hits before the end of 1951.

This collection, however, picks up his career after he moved over to Columbia, beginning with Band Of Gold, a solid # 4 Billboard Pop Top 100 hit from late 1955/early 1956 b/w Rumble Boogie, with the backing of the Ray Conniff orchestra. His second release, Wild Cherry b/w I'm Still A King To You, was a double-sided hit in April 1956, again with the backing of Conniff, going to # 29 and # 72 Top 100 respectively in May. So too was his third release, Ghost Town b/w I'll Be Around, reaching # 22 and # 78 Top 100 respectively in August, once more with Ray Conniff.

Things were looking good - that is, until names like Presley, Berry, Domino, and Little Richard took hold. Consequently his next release, Namely You from the Broadway show Li'l Abner, only made it to # 65 in October b/w If I Had My Druthers, this time with the orchestra of David Terry. After that there were no more hit singles with Columbia.

Moving over to Monument, he re-surfaced briefly in 1966 with the # 30 Adult Contemporary hit, Married, from the Broadway hit Cabaret (b/w I Know Love), and again in 1968 on the Country charts with the old Everly Brothers hit Take A Message To Mary which made it to # 71 b/w In My Youth. And that was all she wrote.

With the exception of Married, all those hits are here, however, along with some other selections which, although not hits in the true sense of the word, are still well worth a listen. Among them I'd recommend Mr. Teardrop, The Tip Of My Fingers, There Goes My Everything, and Between Winston-Salem And Nashville, Tennessee.

I had to chuckle at the reviewer who cautions us not to confuse this Don Cherry with the jazz artist. I think anyone who knows the latter's music would recognize from the song listings that this wasn't the same person. That's like me, as a Canadian, cautioning you not to confuse this Don Cherry with the one in the loud suits who appears on Coach's Corner between periods of Hockey Night In Canada!

For old timers like me who remember the first half of the decade of the Fifties, this CD will bring back many pleasant memories.

DON ALWAYS HAD A GREAT VOICE AND HIS ARRANGEMENTS WERE HIS OWN STYLE------YOU ALWAYS KNEW A DON CHERRY SONG BEFORE HE STARTED TO SING----TO THE MAN WHO SAID THIS IS NOT THE DON CHERRY,JAZZ MUSICIAN,WAS RIGHT AND THE JAZZ MUSICIAN IS NOT THE SINGER THAT DON WAS.
THIS ALBUM HAS ALOT OF MEMORIES AND I LOVE IT.

A collection of lesser known of Don's songs, but also including some of the best known as well, ie, Band of Gold, Wild Cherry, There Goes My Everything, and Between Winston-Salem and Nashville Tennessee. Don, the singing golfer, remains his outstanding self. An excellent addition to any collection.

I purchased this CD primarily to get "Ghost Town", a song I particularly liked when it came out. Sometimes you have to buy an album get a single.

Of course, I also liked "Band of Gold", Don's biggest hit, but I already had a copy.

These two songs sounded very good and original. I wasn't particularly interested in the other songs although I do like Don Cherry's voice.

FYI: I'm a record collector of 55 years and a sometimes deejay.

This CD is NOT by the free jazz trumpeter Don Cherry. It is by the SINGER Don Cherry.....two different people.

Just a word of caution. This is not the Don Cherry of free jazz/world music fame. This is the male vocalist of the 50's and 60's. However if you like the swing movement of that era this album may be for you.