Customer Reviews

Can't We Be Friends? (24bt) (Mlps)

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

 

 

Let's get the price of this CD out of the way first. Yikes! Yes, it's a Japanese pressing, yes the buyer is paying for it's limited printing, and yes, the buyer is also paying more because it's imported. That said, this remains one of Jane Powell's best recordings. Her full rich voice has never sounded better than when she made a few recordings for Capitol Records (The Girl Most Likely) and here for Verve. It's a shame that this CD did not include her singles for that label which included a best selling song for her; "Mind If I Make Love to You." Under the direction of Buddy Bregman, "Can't We be Friends" is an album of songs about love. And it's on the ballads where Powell's soprano voice shines: "Imagination", "Ev'ry Time" (from Best Foot Forward), "Let's Face the Music and Dance", "The Things We Did Last Summer" and the title song. I'm not as crazy about her singing style when she reverts to her alto voice in the more up-tempo selections as I feel it's a bit pushed. Still, I give this CD a "five" as the sound quality is exquisite (damn that it was not recorded in stereo!!!) and the packaing is quite handsome with its miniture cardboard LP jacket and the printed lyrics to all of the songs. Perhaps American Verve will eventually reissue all of her material including "Ruggles of the Red Gap" which includes her best recording, "Did You Ever Ride on a Rainbow".

By 1956, the "Golden Age" of movie musicals was all but over, and Jane Powell's screen career was at a standstill. On her 1956 solo album, CAN'T WE BE FRIENDS?, the bubbly blonde songbird swapped her sunny, operatic repertoire for a more mature nightclub sound; strongly-supported by Buddy Bregman's intimate arrangements. The results were nothing short of magic.

With selections like "Ev'ry Time", "Imagination", "My Baby Just Cares for Me" and "Comes Love", we know for certain that the pert ingenue of such beloved movies as A DATE WITH JUDY and ROYAL WEDDING is well and truly all grown up. Powell really warms to the lush yet simple cabaret-style atmosphere of the album. She'd later adapt her incredible talents to the musical theatre stage, in such productions as THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN, MY FAIR LADY; and went on to replace her former on-screen "sister" Debbie Reynolds (TWO WEEKS WITH LOVE, ATHENA) in the title role of IRENE on Broadway in 1974.