Get Happy

Harold Arlen (Composer), George Gershwin (Composer), Johnny Mercer (Composer), George Shearing (Composer, Performer), The King's Singers (Performer), Neil Swainson (Performer), John Harle (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: George Shearing, The King's Singers, Neil Swainson, John Harle
• Composer: Harold Arlen, George Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, George Shearing
• Audio CD (August 16, 1991)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: EMI / Angel Records
• ASIN: B000002RS1
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #281,413 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Sweet and Low-Down, song (from Tip-Toes, musical)

2. The Half of It, Dearie, blues song (from Lady, Be Good!, musical)

3. The Real American Folk Song (Is a Rag), song (from Ladies First, musical by

4. Any Place I Hang My Hat, song

5. Ill Wind, song

6. I Got Rhythm, song (from Girl Crazy, 1930)

7. Out of This World, song (from the film "Out of This World")

8. Somewhere Over the Rainbow (for the film "The Wizard of Oz")

9. One for My Baby (and One More for the Road), song

10. Oh, I can't sit down

11. But Not for Me, song (from Girl Crazy, musical)

12. It ain't necessarily so

13. It's a new world

14. Get Happy, song (used in "9:15 Revue")

15. When the Sun Comes Out, song

16. My Shining Hour, song (for the film "The Sky's the Limit")

17. Lullaby of Birdland

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of Shearing AND Kings Singers, May 26, 2002

By 

Gontroppo "Music and Theology Lover" (Bathurst, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Get Happy (Audio CD)

This is a fantastic recording. There are interesting arrangements from some of the best popular music arrangers, including Richard Rodney Bennett, Paul Hart and Daryl Runswick, not to mention Shearing's great new 5/4 version of his best-loved song Lullaby of Birdland, which begins with a jazz version of Brahms' Lullaby.

The Kings Singers are in fine form, with their flawless intonation and meticulous attention to creating a great sound.

Each track features just the sextet, Shearing and a double bass (played by Neil Swainson), except for One For My Baby, which adds John Harle on saxophone. That track is one of the three terrific Daryl Runswick arrangements included on the album.

Other stand-outs are:

The-Half-of-It-Dearie Blues, which sounds very similar to their much earlier version of it, i.e. sensitive and sensuous.
Gershwin's The Real American Folk Song (is a rag)
Daryl Runswick's interpretations of I Got Rhythm and Anyplace I Hang My Hat
Over the Rainbow

It is worth getting Amazon to hunt for this album for you: it is one of the very best of many fine albums the performers have made. Getting them together for this disc was a first-class idea.

5.0 out of 5 stars Put A Smile On!, February 3, 2009

By 

Mike Mac (Champaign, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Get Happy (Audio CD)

What a mix - Shearing and the King's Singers! Shearing is always A+, and the King's Singers do the magical, sometimes odd harmonies they're famous for. The song selection is outstanding, including some tunes I hadn't heard before (in that great 1930s Gershwin jazz style) and familiar standards. If this album doesn't put a smile on your face, you need to get your face fixed!