Customer Reviews

Eartha Kitt - Purr-Fect: Greatest Hits

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I had the pleasure of seeing Miss Kitt for the third time in Georgetown last week, and I must say that she never ceases to amaze me. I have several of her older albums on CD, but the vocal quality of this disc is far superior. I only wish there were a more comprehensive collection of her more recent work (aside from the 5-disc "Eartha-quake" box set covering her early work). Many people don't realize that she has continued to record throughout the 90's, but it is very difficult to track down these recordings. She performs several of these newer songs during her current performances; yet, there is nowhere for these recordings to be found. Still, "Purrfect Greatest Hits" is a great collection.

Eartha Kitt's voice is incredible and her delivery of lyrics is truly impressive. I'm surprised that I had never really heard of her as a recording artist until recently; her talent is much greater, in my opinion, than that of more "famous" artists of the 50's; it's too bad that rock-and-roll cut her recording career short. Also, the technical aspects of this recording are excellent; there is virtually no hiss or pop and both the lyrics and music are vividly rendered; excellent engineering job.

A stupendous album from a stupendous talent! There is probably no better single-disk introduction to the musical phenomenon of Eartha Kitt than this one. Miss Kitt invented the term "sex kitten", and her own genre and legend. She has the skill and sophisticated humour to bring any song to life, even one's you've heard before. Her rich voice is as subtle as her wicked humour, and she sings each song differently dependant on the character of the song itself. A testament to her talent is that one of her first US hits was sung in Turkish with only witty remarks made in English (Uska Dara, track 18). This album is full of her classics which don't date, just get better with each playing. Her songs "Just an old fashioned girl", "The heel" and "Santa baby" will never be surpassed in lyrical sophistication.

This CD is absolutely perfect. Excellent voice, excellent recording, excellent equalization and excellent proportions of sound images make this CD an excellent buy. I didn't know too much about Eartha Kitt but now I have fallen in love with her sexy purr. All songs are highly entertaining and Eartha performed each one in perfect pitch with ease. I believe the producer and the recording engineers of this CD should be given the audiophile awards. This is definitely a must-buy!

Eartha Kitt needs no recommendation. She was in a class of her own. The songs are the best of the 50's and 60's and her best.
The CD is perfect.

One Miss Eartha Kitt, she's definitely a unique vocalist in the history of popular song. A sultry character, she vamps her way through classic after classic on this hit collection. Some of the most noteable tunes would include "I Want To Be Evil", "Mink, Schmink", "Let's Do It", "Lilac Wine", and "My Heart Belongs To Daddy". Almost every track is a fun listen, especially her holiday classic, the notorious "Santa Baby". This is definitely a fun collection of songs. All wonderfully interpreted by the thrilling Eartha Kitt.

Ever since I was a little kid, I've loved hearing Eartha sing "C'est Si Bon" and "Santa Baby" ...the latter became just about my favorite Christmas song, in fact. :o) I've read all her books, and I don't know how I managed NOT to buy any of her music until now. I was very satisfied --the product and shipping were as advertised, and I'd be happy to purchase from this seller again in the future. LOVE my Eartha CD!

I received this item very quickly.
The quality was as if it were new.
Love the music.
Thank you.
Esther

Just loved every song on this album. I think she is the alltime epitome of black female singers, not only of that era but of this era as well.

Eartha Kitt (1927-2008) was conceived in South Carolina when her mother, half American Indian and half African American, was raped by a man thought to be of Dutch or German origin. The circumstances were concealed from her and she drifted from home to home, never really sure of her parentage until she was at last sent to live with her biological mother in New York. She got her first break with the Katherine Dunham Company, an all-black troup of entertainers that sang, danced, and played sketch comedy--and had considerable success both in New York and on tour. Kitt remained with the group for no less than five years, one of its star attractions, before moving on to film, television, and perhaps most importantly the nightclub circuit, where she became a particular favorite. In the late 1960s she raised a ruckus when she replaced Julie Newman as Catwoman in the popular television series BATMAN; she raised even more of a flap when she came out against the Vietnam War right in the middle of a celebrity luncheon with President Johnson and his wife Ladybird, who was reportedly so upset by Kitt's comments that she fled the table in tears. The incident effectively destroyed her career in America, but Europe beckoned, and Kitt was soon even more popular in Europe than she had been in America, fluent in four languages but best known for her performances in French.

Kitt would go on to many more successes, including a return to the United States, Broadway successes, and hit recordings; she would remain as controversial as ever, coming out strongly in favor of same-sex marriage and frequently appearing at AIDS benefits long before such stances were considered tolerable. But PURR-FECT: GREATEST HITS collects her work from the 1950s and 1960s, the first phase of her career. Kitt liked songs that allowed her to play the role of sex kitten with self-mocking humor, and PURR-FECT offers a host of memorable songs of this style: "An Old Fashioned Girl" (I want an old fashioned house with an old fashioned fence and an old fashioned millionaire), "I Want to Be Evil" (I want to be horrid, I want to drink booze, and whatever I've got, I'm eager to loose), and the slinkiest versions of Cole Porter's "Let's Do It" and "My Heart Belongs To Daddy" you've ever heard. But Kitt was not simply a novelty singer who relied on sly delivery; she possessed a unique voice particularly notable for its purring-like vibrato, and she could turn it to "straight" songs, ballads, and love songs in multiple languages. She really was an astonishing artist, and it can be truly said that she had a voice unlike any other.

As usual with any greatest hits collection, there will be some argument about what should have been kept in and what should have been thrown out and so on, but on the whole this is a really, really nice portrait of Eartha Kitt's gifts in the first half of her career. Strongly recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer