Customer Reviews

HMV Sessions, Vol. 7: 1930-1934

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

 

 

This an another amazing CD from Vocallion. "Midnight the stars and you", featured in the movie, The Shining, finally made it to their CD copilation. Every song has superb music and Al's voice has never been better! Get this CD, then again, get all the CD's in this collection!

Ray Noble`s band and the voice of Al Bowlly - a magnificient combination!
One can feel the style of those years, with an elegance which seems to be lost now. 1930ies: A complicated and dangerous world ( both then and now! ), but music like "pennies from heaven"!
The sound is quite good, except for a few blurred instances ( but still, five stars ).

That heading could equally apply to all ten CDs in this magnificent series. This seventh volume completes the October 1933 session, and covers a further six dates, up to and including 16th February 1934. There are no novelty numbers here, unless you include "This Little Piggy Went To Market". Rather there's a selection of timeless tunes, including two Ray Noble compositions, namely the brooding "Love Locked Out" and its very opposite "Happy And Contented". On the latter Al duets with Eve Becke, one of two duets here, the other being "When You Were The Girl On The Scooter" with Dawn Davis.

Listen out for Al's deliberate inversion of the final two lines in the carefree "My Hat's On The Side Of My Head". Also the song "Midnight, The Stars And You" which came to public attention (and gained Al a new generation of fans) by virtue of its use in the empty ballroom scene in the film "The Shining". Finally, we have both takes of "Who Walks In When I Walk Out?", one of the hottest of the songs in this series by virtue not just of the accompaniment, but also for Al's vocal abandon.

Tis True, the title to the track "Happy and Contented" truely describes this album. Rest assured, Vocalion (Dutton Labs)remastering is most impressive.