Customer Reviews

Crystal Gayle Sings the Heart & Soul of Hoagy Carmichael

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Once again Crystal Gayle has shown with this collection of Hoagy Carmichael songs what a versatile performer she is. I've heard her sing many different styles of music and always loved it when she sang one of the old standards. I was very pleased when she recorded this album of songs by Carmichael who has probably written as many standards as anyone. This album is a great tribute to him in this, his centennial year. The album is at once nostalgic but at the same time refreshingly new. I've heard most of these songs as a child and now after listening to them again (some after many years) I find myself singing and humming them over and over again. Some of these songs are whimsical like Small Fry and Lazybones. Some are melancholy like One Morning In May and I Get Along Without You Very Well. Some will have you tapping your foot like In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening and Lazy River. The duet with Willie Nelson is a delightful little number. The instrumentation on Buttermilk Sky makes it stand out from the rest of the songs as a western number. This album also shows off the versatility of Hoagy Carmichael's song writing ability as well as Crystal's singing. This recording is a wonderful combination of two great talents I would recommend to anyone.

"Heart and Soul" is a definite must for fans of Crystal Gayle. However, beyond that it's also an album for fans of Hoagy Charmichael and those who just enjoy timeless music. The album has a blues feel to it - with jazzy toe tapping numbers like "In the Cool Cool of the Evening" and "Buttermilk Sky". However it also has classic ballads that tug at the heart strings. "I Get Along Without You Very Well" being the song that leaves a tear in your eye and a lump in your throat. This album has everything - most of all you can tell it was produced and recorded through a respect for Charmichael's music and most of all its fun. Add a great CD book with terrific liner notes and this package turns out to be one of the best and unique products on the market today. While most Country Artists are sticking to their tried and true (and tiresome) formulas, Gayle has stretched her artistic endeavours and delivered a fresh and exciting album by capitalizing on her love for music from eras gone by. Not for the country twang fan - you won't find any jukebox bars or pickup trucks here. Instead you find a classy album thanks to fantastic music/lyrics, a sophisticated voice and great musicians with full orchestration. This one is exciting. Pick it up. You won't be dissapointed!

I have loved Crystal for a long time, but I do believe this is the finest CD she has made. Perhaps my prejudice with this CD comes from loving Hoagy tunes, but, boy, they are "done right" on this album. I am buying this CD for both my father and father-in-law. (Both WWII vets.) Thanks, my dear Crystal.

Crystal rarely visits the recording studio these days, but she can still record albums of the highest quality when she chooses to, as this 1999 tribute to Hoagy Carmichael demonstrates.

This must surely be one of the finest modern tributes to the Great American Songbook. Maybe I'm biased, because I became a Crystal fan in the seventies, but Crystal's voice has not changed much since then, so the qualities which made her a star are still there.

As to the songs themselves, it is sometimes difficult to forget some of the classic versions of these songs - Georgia on my mind (Ray Charles) or Lazy bones (Jeri Southern), for example - but their versions were themselves covers. Hoagy wrote most of these songs in the thirties, so the original hit versions from that era have usually been forgotten anyway (Georgia on my mind was top ten for Frankie Trumbauer in 1931 and three version of Lazy Bones hit the top ten in 1933, including #1 for Ted Lewis, according to Billboard).

The duet with Willie Nelson (Two sleepy people, originally #1 for Fats Waller in 1938) is particularly enjoyable. Among the many standards that Willie recorded (including some that Crystal reprises here), I don't think he ever did that one, so Willie's fans will want this.

Stardust (#1 for Isham Jones in 1931, but top 20 for Irving Mills before that in 1930), I get along without you very well (top ten hits for Red Norvo and Jimmy Dorsey in 1939) and The nearness of you (a Glenn Miller top five hit in 1940) are among the better known songs (even if it's not always the original versions that are remembered), though Willie's fans will also recognise Ole buttermilk sky, which he covered (six versions of this song were top 20 hits in 1946, including #1 for Kay Kyser).

Crystal sings all these songs brilliantly, however famous or obscure they are. If she wants, she could start a whole new career covering the Great American Songbook, and I'd buy the albums, but, after reading the liner notes, I think this was a one-off project. Whatever she chooses to do, I'll watch with interest. Meanwhile, this is a highly entertaining collection that shows she's still in business - occasionally.

Crystal Gayle's incredible vocal ability places her in a treasured arena in the music world: she can sing mostly anything and sound better than anyone else. This latest musical achievement is a marvelous compilation of sound and songs. I was taken away with so many of the songs, and the way she strokes the notes so clearly and beautifully just soothed my soul. It was a long wait since her last original album, but clearly worth it. True to form, she sounds very much at home doing this style of music.

Is there a less appreciated songbird than Crystal Gayle? The lady is simply incapable of a bad performance! I have seen her in concert 5 times over 20 years and she always delivers the goods. Without glitz, theatrics, or overproduction. She captures her audience with the purity of her voice and the warmth of her personality. Every time! This tribute to one of America's great songwriters is on the money! She performs 15 tracks that provide a fine sampler of Carmichael's work. The selections range from the well known like STARDUST, LAZY BONES, and I GET ALONG WITHOUT YOU VERY WELL to lessor known yet fine works like ONE MORNING IN MAY and CAN"T GET INDIANA OFF MY MIND.

Carmichael had the down home good sense to collaberate with great lyricists like Mitchell Parish and Johnny Mercer and Crystal does them all justice in her interpretations. A fine production with great liner notes! Buy it and enjoy!

The Coal Miner's Other Daughter has never been a stranger to the pop standards. Several Billie Holiday songs have appeared on previous albums and in her concerts there are always some on the program. Crystal's voice captures the wistfulness of the Carmichael songs and being a fellow Indianian she really understands the lyrics as written. Nice duet of "Two Sleepy People" with Willie Nelson. Excellent musical accompaniment too whether it is a small group or the full orchestra. Thanks, Crystal, for recording this super album!

I've been a major fan of Crystal's for years. I love old songs and this CD is great. Up the Lazy River has been a favorite so to her sing it is a joy and she sings it so very well. All the songs fit her style. I'd love to hear her do an album of Doris Day's old songs.

My husband and I first heard one of Crystal Gayle's versions of a Hoagy Carmichael song on KABL, San Francisco. We've been fans of Ms Gayle's since 'Don't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue', so it was easy to decide to buy the album. I have several other Hoagy CDs, sung by Mr. Carmichael himself, and while I like them, I've always been disappointed by minimal or non-existent liner notes. This CD is very special. The liner notes are wonderfully detailed, carefully researched and very informative...and they've obviously been written by someone who really loves Hoagy's music.

Fantastic album...only regret is that I was unaware of release of same until this past month. Miss Gayle's voice is like that of a songbird and I can see Hoagy smiling from above. Especially great is that the ochestrations do not overwhelme, or drown out the vocalist like some other CDs. Great lyrics and singing....what a powerful combination. Almost as if Miss Gayle were singing directly to me...Thank You Crystal.