Customer Reviews

From Broadway to Bebop

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Her sparkling intelligence, honeyed voice, and above all her flawless taste made Susannah McCorkle a singer to treasure, and when I learned of her untimely death, _From Broadway to Bebop_ was the CD I turned to. Knowing the circumstances of her death, of course, no one can escape the pat irony of track 8 ("Away with the Seconal / The fall from the building tall"), but to listen to this album in its entirety is to experience a formidable singer and interpreter of songs at the height of her powers.

The title says it all: over the course of twelve tracks, Susannah McCorkle gives us something of everything and leaves us wanting more: the Broadway belting of "Guys and Dolls", the intimate croon of "I Remember Bill" and "Once You've Been In Love", the Brazilian swing of "Chica Chica Boom Chic", and when I listen to her scat on "Moody's Mood" I swear I can hear a bop saxophone playing in unison. Often sweet but never cloying, admirably precise but never precious, Susannah's voice was a quiet rebuke to the many prodigiously talented show-offs (Whitney, Mariah, Celine) who couldn't tell a good song from a bad if their lives depended on it; and her respect for the material an equal rebuke to singers (Barbra) for whom songs are mere vehicles for their own egos.

"Nights are long since you went away, I think about you all through the day... Miss your voice, the touch of your hand ... Your buddy misses you." Indeed.

Many of the cuts on this CD are fabulous. My favorite rendition of Guys and Dolls. She likes to do ALL the lyrics and it makes songs more fun. The others listed artists bought tend to be more jazz like (Patrica Barber, Karrin Allyson,Diana Krall) are not nearly so Broadway like and IMHO not nearly as good as Susannah McCorkle. I love "friend like me" (from Aladin). Fun to listen to.

Susannah established a reputation as a distinctive interpreter of the Great American Songbook and this is one of many albums that provide the evidence.

As ever, there is a mix of famous and obscure. The set opens with Guys and dolls, the rousing title song from the show of the same name - but with slightly different lyrics. Next, for a total contrast, is Once you've been in love, an outstanding ballad written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman with music by Michel Legrand. This is followed by a whole series of classic songs - Chica chica boom chic (generally associated with Carmen Miranda), My buddy (a number one hit in 1922 for Henry Burr), It's easy to remember (a number one hit in 1935 for Bing Crosby) and Don't fence me in (a number one hit in 1944 for Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters), though you won't mistake Susannah's version of Don't fence me in for any other.

The only original song here, One of the good girls, is excellent. Susannah never recorded many original songs but always chose them well. I don't think I'll end it all today was written by E Y Harburg, who wrote the songs for Wizard of Oz. Susannah recorded a whole album of his songs (Over the rainbow, well worth listening to as I indicated in my review of it) so he was clearly one of her favorites. Four more great songs including Moody's mood complete this wonderful album, ending with I remember Bill, a tribute to Bill Evans.

Susannah always recorded brilliant albums and this is yet another example.

Concord Records did it again with another superb collectiion of songs from the late Susannnah McCorkle. Her death makes these recordings even more precious, knowing that we won't get to hear her anyhmore. And the band and their arrangements are world class!

As always, Susannah McCorkle chose a wide variety of sources for this effort. Although it is called "From Broadway to Bebop", there is no unifing theme on these songs - it is just a collection of songs that Sunsannah liked.

Some are very recognizable - "Don't Fence Me In', "Chica Boom", and "Guys and Dolls". Again, there is the potential foretelling of Susannah's utlimate fate - "I Don't Think I'll End it all Today" which she eventually did. Strangely, this song was written by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, who wrote those great songs from the Wizard of Oz" (Susannah has a tribute CD of his songs which I have covered in a prior review). The ironic thing is that this song is about not killing yourself. Unfortunately she did not take these lyrics to heart.

Again, the great composers are represented Alan and Marilyn Bergman's "Once You've Been in Love", Cole Porter's "Fence" and Richard Rogers "It's Easy to Remember".

While this is not the best collection of Susannh's work, it nevertheless is a pleasant group of songs. Once hearing Susannah's voice, you will be inspired to pick up on the other CDs in her catalog.

I have many cds by Susannah. This is one that I regret owning. Susannah tried, bless her heart, but couldn't pull this cd off.

I guess the straw that broke the camels back, for this cd, was the repertoire. It seems too many unknown songs were used. On the songs that I knew, it seems like they really didn't work. The band didn't do a very good job playing together. Also I felt like the arrangements lacked a lot of imagination and uniqueness.

I think we should trash this cd and start over from scratch. I believe we could get better results starting over. Let's try!