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Can't Help Singing: The Life of Eileen Farrell

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Eileen Farrell is the only opera star to date who can sing pop songs and not sound like an opera singer. Just listen to her dazzing CD THE EILEEN FARRELL ALBUM where she sounds like a red hot mama. Her biography is well done. She tells it like it was. She never starved along the way for quite soon after arriving in New York she had her own radio show. The book is delightful throughout as she talks about TV, the Met and her family. She grinds no axes nor does not paint the world through rose colored glasses. It is a great read by a delightful lady.

This book is tremedously fun to read. I am a fan of the pop singer Eileen Farrell -- but I'm not an opera fan -- so I was thrilled to discover it reads more like a romp through the history of entertainment in America than a libretto. I'm not sure how Brian Kellow did it, but the writing makes me feel as if Eileen Farrel was calling me up to dish about anything and everything. Her sense of humor and (delicious!) candor are a treat!

Eileen Farrell is one of the most gifted and celebrated American singers of the twentieth century. She is both a classically trained dramatic soprano and a talented songstress of pop songs and the blues. Can't Help Singing: The Life Of Eileen Farrell is a superbly crafted memoir in which she shares candid reminiscences about her professional career and her personal life. With humor and affection she surveys her New England childhood, her sudden success at the age of twenty starring in her own CBS radio show, dubbing for Eleanor Parker in the MGM movie "Interrupted Melody", her many guest appearances on television, and her operatic work, including an historic debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Alceste in 1960. Eileen also recollects her sometimes troubled marriage of forty years to New York police officer Robert Reagan and her frustrating tenure as a faculty member at Indiana University. In this wonderful memoir we meet the famous figures of music who were her contemporaries, fellow performers, and associates from Leonard Bernstein to Maria Callas, from Ethel Merman to Carol Burnett. Can't Help Singing is a marvelous biography that will hold great interest and appeal for her many fans and for students of 20th Century American music.

It's like sitting across the table from the great Farrell, over a cup of coffee and listening to her tell you stories of her career. She is honest, self-deprecating and funny. While this book was neither deep nor insightful, it was a great read and enjoyable. It is also well-written, keeping the story moving in an interesting, readable way. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys Farrell's singing (in whatever genre).

Thank you, Eileen Farrell, for a wonderful career and for your candor in telling your very personal and inspiring story. I couldn't put the book down! As a professional singer myself, I found your experiences from your innocence at the first audition to your regular radio show moving and encouraging. Your book is as honest and refreshing as your performances and a must-read for even those with no interest in opera.

Do not confuse this witty, sparkling memoir with the stilted, egocentric ("I" this and "I" that) memoirs you may have encountered. Farrell, one of the Met's most underused artists - yet one of its greatest, writes with charm and style that enthrall the reader making us wish she had easily written a book twice as long. Brava! Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a great read and "meeting" a great lady.

Like another reviewer I found the biography too short. Surely Miss Farrell could divulge with her writer's help more anecdotes. And SURELY Sony/CBS could re-release more of her albums, particulary the Puccini Arias. Thank God there are historical recordings available, for which, unfortunately, Miss Farrell doesn't get royalties. I would happily send her a check anytime.

Classical, jazz, and pop singer Eileen Farrell comes across as a down-to-earth, generous, happy, and satisfied person in this book. What's not to like?

Short and sweet...From scat in the classroom to Opera at the Met.

If you think Opera is boring I dare you to read Eileen Farrell's own words. She loved music. All music. You will be surprised at what she taught.
Delightful, easy to read. Eileen becomes alive. You will see the woman behind the stage. By the time you close the book you will agre with Mr. Bernstein that the human voice is the most exciting musical instrument there is. See for yourself.
jal