Customer Reviews

Complete Sessions

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Like a breath of fresh air this music revives the soul. The playing is impeccable(Bobby Hackett's horn just connects with each melody so well) the mood relaxed, the arrangements lush without being boring. Jackie, "that guy from Bushwick" really worked for the working man. He brought us great comedy in the dark days of the Cold War (remember ONE FAMILY around one TV? - something sorely missing today); made us laugh at the Ralph and Norton in all of us. His "Merry Christmas" album will forever be a part of my holiday music - so well arranged, so real, so personal.
Finding this collection is like finding treasures in the attic - can one believe these were created over 50 years ago? The sound is as fresh as today, all the liner notes and artwork are included along with short bios of Jackie and Bobby. Seems like whoever put this together did it as a labor of love.
Let's face it - there may be newer, louder, quicker, hyped, on-steroids playing out there BUT simply stated - Jackie and Bobby have class - these recordings have stood the test of time.

i have looked through hundreds of garage sales to get all the vinyl records of Jackie Gleason (oh, that is in the comedy section!). In this collection is the object of my search. No one can play as smoothly or as hauntingly as Bobby Hackett. Great buy!

For the first time, all 102 of trumpeter Bobby Hackett's smooth but original solos with the Jackie Gleason Orchestra are available in one package. Fine and Mellow, a new firm for me, has combined the Hackett-Gleason renditions of standards and love songs from seven Capitol LPs they recorded between 1953 and 1960. The result is more than five hours of beautiful music for anything you want to do inside or out. If you have one or more of the LPs, the only thing missing from this four-CD set are eight tracks saxophonist Toots Mondello soloed on for the first Gleason-Hackett album, "Music to Make You Misty." Fan reaction to Hackett's playing on that album prompted Gleason to use Bobby as his only soloist on the other six projects. Sound quality is great on this package, and a full-color 24-page booklet reproduces the original covers for all seven albums. I've noticed a variance of up to $15 in new prices for this collection. Buy the set, but you should shop around.

While I await my second set for gift-giving purposes, someone else may benefit from my personal music files and find the following songs just the ones he or she needs to round out an existing collection--or just to discover Jackie Gleason and Bobby Hackett for the first time! Their music never fails to dazzle--in soft ways, of course! But I'll leave the adjectives to the other fine posters commenting on this beautiful set!

1. It All Depends on You
2. The Man I Love
3. I Hadn't Anyone Till You
4. When Your Lover Has Gone
5. Tenderly
6. Dark Is the Night
7. Mickey
8. I'm Thru with Love
9. Once in a While
10. I Can't Get Started
11. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)
12. My Ideal
13. Yesterdays
14. I Love You
15. Unforgettable
16. How High the Moon
17. I'll Be Seeing You
18. Shangri-La
19. I Remember You
20. It Could Happen to You
21. Somebody Loves Me
22. Time on My Hands
23. The Nearness of You
24. The Song Is Ended
25. Ruby
26. Cherry
27. Dinah
28. Sweet Lorraine
29. Stella by Starlight
30. Sweet Sue, Just You
31. Marie
32. Jeannine (I Dream of Lilac Time)
33. Louise
34. Tangerine
35. Marilyn
36. Diane
37. Charmaine
38. Laura
39. Jo Anne
40. Rose Anne
41. You've Changed
42. Cocquette
43. Did I Remember?
44. Guilty
45. It's the Talk of the Town
46. My Sin
47. It Was So Beautiful
48. You're My Greatest Love
49. She's Funny That Way
50. All by Myself
51. I'm Glad There Is You
52. You and the Night and the Music
53. Dancing in the Dark
54. You Call It Madness But I Call It Love
55. Take Me in Your Arms
56. Autumn Leaves
57. Ooo! What You Do to Me
58. Lullaby of the Leaves
59. Darn That Dream
60. Serenade in Blue
61. How Did She Look
62. Moonlight Becomes You
63. Just One More Chance
64. I Love You You Much
65. Get out of Town
66. Just a Memory
67. Ghost of a Chance
68. I've Got You Under My Skin
69. Lover Come Back to Me
70. The House Is Haunted
71. Poor Butterfly
72. Hold Me
73. Our Love
74. If Could Be with You
75. The End of a Love Affair
76. Sentimental Touch
77. The Song Is You
78. Lilacs in the Rain
79. On the Sentimental Side
80. Dansero
81. That's All
82. Why Was I Born?
83. You're My Thrill
84. I Thought About You
85. Oh! What It Seemed to Be
86. A Cottage for Sale
87. Alone Together
88. My Funny Valentine
89. But Not for Me
90. Love (Your Spell Is Everywhere)
91. I'm in the Mood for Love
92. Love Is Here to Stay
93. I Only Have Eyes for You
94. Body and Soul
95. Little Girl
96. I Cover the Waterfront
97. Some Day
98. If I Had You
99. When a Woman Loves a Man
100. A Stranger in Town
101. A Moonlight Saving
102. My Love for Carmen

Wow, it really doesn't get much better than this. 6 1/2 LP's on four CDs, all beautifully mastered and packaged. It even comes complete with a 24 page booklet with informative liner notes, as well as all of the original back cover notes from the original LP's. And hours of luscious, romantic music that doesn't let up. It's great music for studying or relaxing to, and includes Gleason-style versions of many, many standards from the 1930's through the 1950's.

The above information may be reason enough to get it for your grandma, but let me help out a bit with some info for bachelor pad collectors and aficianados like myself. The six and a half LP's here represent all of the LP's Gleason recorded which feature trumpeter Bobby Hackett on them, which is essentially a run of albums from 1952 to 1959.

The "Jackie Gleason Presents" romatic mood music series begins in 1952 with the release of the 10" LP of "Music for Lovers Only" and would continue for about 20 years. The albums were originally released on 10", but all of the 10" versions were reissued as 12" LP's in 1955 with bonus tracks. Subsequent albums would be released on 12" from there on out. Starting in 1957 with the release of "Velvet Brass" (not included on this collection), the albums were released in stereo and mono versions; this continued until 1970, when the final albums in the series would be released in Stereo only.

According to the liner notes, "In discographic terms, this is the first time all of these sessions appear complete in a single edition....[O]ver the years, different LP editions of the same titles entered the market, each including different tunes from the same sessions!! For instance, in some cases the Mono versions of an album had only eight of twelve tunes in common with the Stereo versions. That explains why we have included sometimes sixteen tunes under one album's title." In other words, they saved you a LOT of collecting time, and it sounds better than the LP's would anyway.


Here's a full list of what albums are on what CD's:

Disc 1 (74:26):

1-8: Music to Make You Misty (1953) (first half)*
9-24: Music Martinis, and Memories (1954)

Disc 2 (78:05):

1-16: Music to Remember Her (1954)
17-24: Music to Change Her Mind (1955)

Disc 3 (79:40):

1-10: Music to Change Her Mind (continued)
11-26: Music for the Love Hours (1957)**
27: That Moment (1959)**

Disc 4 (79:41):

1-11: That Moment (continued)**
12-27: Music for Lovers Only (1952)

* Half of the "Music to Make You Misty" sessions were recorded with alto saxophonist Toots Mondello and do not feature Bobby Hackett, so therefore half of that LP is not available here.

** "Music For the Love Hours" and "That Moment", the final two LP's recorded with Hackett, are not available on CD ANYWHERE else, which in and of itself makes this collection a must for Gleason and bachelor pad collectors. All the albums recorded before these two (which is everything else on this collection) were recorded in Mono, fyi.


As for my personal favorite disc, that would be Disc One, the one with "Misty" and "Music, Martinis, and Memories" on it. The sound is the warmest and the songs are most memorable on this disc in my opinion. But you may have other preferences, and believe me, every bit of this collection is great.

The only downside to all of this for collectors is that this compilation does NOT cancel out the bonus tracks on the individual Collector's Choice releases of "Music to Remember Her", "Music, Martinis, and Memories" (which also has the "Tawny" LP on it), "Music to Change Her Mind", and "Music For Lovers Only"/"Music to Make You Misty". So if you want everything, you're going to have to buy everything twice. But even still, this collection is an amazing clean-up job on Gleason's catalog.

Now I say let's move on to reissues of "Oooo!" (the album featuring classic 1950's "Ooo" vocals throughout, hence the title), "Riff Jazz" and "Rebound" (with their smaller band sound), and "Aphrosidia", so in other words, the second part of the Gleason saga the runs from about 1957 to 1963...

These arrangements go back to the 50's and 60's, when easy listening music was popular on FM radio. Easy listening or mood music helped take the edge off everyday life, as it played day and night quietly in the background in offices, stores, and homes. Gleason designed a formula for mood music, written specifically to help ease into and enhance intimate romance. This music was smooth and silky enough to never disturb the mood, and had a certain predicable ebb and flow that provided subtle but tantalizing cues for lovers. Gleason's formula: Start gently with string orchestra and bass, and maybe a little tinkling piano for added allure. Then Bobby Hackett joins in, adding a velvety, romantic trumpet solo to the texture. The flowing strings then grow and swell to an impossibly ecstatic climax, sometimes with Hackett playing fills to add to the pleasure. Then, to provide relief, the song ends quietly, but not before Hackett plays a wistful coda or two to prolong the ecstasy for one last fleeting moment. Baby boomers noticed that playing a little of this music on their stereos helped them unwind in the evenings, and perked up the passion in their living rooms and bedrooms. Housewives stayed tuned to easy listening stations, taking pleasure in how a few Gleason selections here and there spiced up the day with quiet suggestions of blissful romantic interludes. Many FM stations added extra Gleason and Hackett to their evening programming, knowing listeners were enjoying themselves as Bobby's codas drifted off into the midnight hour. The widespread delight with Gleason's simple formula paved the way for album after album of luscious romantic music and countless nights of rapture. It's no wonder people liked to stay tuned to mood music stations in those days. Best of all, this music is still just as effective today in the shuffle mode on your ipod; a perfect musical background to help you and someone special relax together and just let everything go. This is all 102 tracks of it, and it's certain to satisfy....

The authentic '50s lounge music in this set is just wonderful. The orchestra is lush and warm, and Buddy Hackett's horn stylings are always understated and very tasteful.

The 4-disc collection of 100+ songs covers seven of the albums Gleason released between 1953 and 1960. Eight songs from the MUSIC TO MAKE YOU MISTY sessions aren't here, though; they featured Toots Mondello on horn. Most of those tracks are available on CD elsewhere.

Unfortunately, the sound quality varies quite a bit. Most of the tracks sound as if they were dubbed from a vinyl disc. The engineers did a pretty good job at this, but you can occasionally hear a bit of rumble and surface noise, especially at the end of songs.

Some tracks are presented in simulated stereo, others in the original monaural (which is much preferable). Oddly, the tracks that actually WERE available in true stereo (from the post-1957 albums) aren't in true stereo here.

None of these audio issues will matter if you're just using this as background music, as it was originally expected to be heard. Besides, there's no other way to get most of this music unless you're willing to track down the original records. So forget the sound and enjoy this calming, slightly melancholy cocktail music from another era.

If you like lounge music, cocktail music, make-out music with a fifties sensibility, or relaxing background music to play after a long day at work, the team of Jackie Gleason and Hackett can't be beat. This is the original chill music. I put this on and I zone out - sometimes, I even fall into a wonderful nap where dreams of suburban peace and comfort fill my head. I used to buy these albums at garage sales for twenty-five cents each and rush home as if I had discovered gold. Now you can get it all on cd. Love this.

At 6:00 PM I pour myself a Martini and turn on this CD set. It takes you to a better time and place.
God bless the Great One.

Great set and great design on the packaging. Does this company (Fine and Mellow Records)have a website? If so I can't find it....