Customer Reviews

Her Life in Music 1940-1966

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This CD set was released to celebrate Doris's 80th birthday in April 2004.
The concept of this set was to give listeners a beautiful snap shot of the singer's career and versatility as a singer through three themed CDs. Included are 60 recordings which span from her 1940 recording debut with Les Brown and his band ("While The Music Plays On") to her last solo song for Columbia Records in 1966 ("Caprice").

Overall you are in for a treat - as never before has Doris's official label Sony Music pushed out the boat with such time and care! This boxed set really does try to give you everything in one package such as: anecdotal stories about each song, a mini biography, full Columbia album discography, tributes from many of Doris's peers and friends, plus a special message which Doris wanted her fans world-wide to read!

Alongside the 2004 edition of Eric Braun's bestselling biography "DORIS DAY" (ISBN: 0752817159) these two new releases work well together in reminding you what a true star Doris Day is...

This CD set is a must for any lover of good music!!

If you are a "Doris Fan" you definitely need to buy this set of CD's. No matter how many years pass, nor how many new performers come along, no one sings a song like Doris Day. It is no wonder after all these years, there are still new fans being born to her music each day. Such a talent,...such a voice.

And for those who have never heard her sing, this is a good way to get started. I loved every song.

Karen Severino

Albuquerque, New Mexico

This CD is absolutely fabulous. I totally enjoyed it. It is a MUST for any true Doris Day fan! Get your copy now so you can also enjoy. You won't be sorry!

Huge collection of absolutely beautiful songs. If you are a Doris Day fan, this collection is the one you HAVE to have. It's a great collection to sing along with. You'll recognize soooo many of the songs from her movies, Like "With a Song in My Heart" from when her and Kirk Douglas did "Young Man With a Horn". Just listening to this song brings the movie right back to me. That BEAUTIFUL trumpet, while Doris sings! And there are so many other greats. When Doris played Ruth Edding in "Love Me or Leave Me" with Jimmie Cagney, she belted out "Love Me or Leave Me". I think "I'll Never Stop Loving You" was from that movie too. "On Moonlight Bay" was from the movie with Gordon McRae and "Que Sera, Sera" from the Hitchcock movie with Jimmy Stewart. Oh, and let's not forget songs from the movie "Calamity Jane" like "Black Hills of Dakota" and "Secret Love". There are 60 songs in all! Let's not forget "Sentimental Journey, Again, I'll Never Smile Again, Lullaby of Broadway, By the Light of the Silvery Moon" and so many more.

Like I said, if you're a Doris Day fan, get this one!

I LOVE this CD set! My personal fave is "Dream a little dream" Her voice on this song is hypnotic!

Many songs included here that are not found on other cds. Some songs, I'm discovering for the very first time!

I'd give it 10 stars if I could!

As part of my work I needed to get a Cd to cover the best of Doris Day's musical career. After much searching I came across this 3 CD Set covering her Movie hits, Her Golden Greats and her Classic Collaboration. 60 great tracks,many will be old friends, but quite often you will come across a new song that show's off the versatility of Doris. With the notes that accompany each Cd you are reminded of just how popular she is and has been for so long. She is almost 84 years young and about to be given A Grammy special award for her lifetime achievements in music-Long overdue , and well deserved.Buy the Cd and Wallow in pure nostalia of the voice that belongs to the girl from next door -Doris Day,
Harry King

Doris Day first made her name in the heady days of the World War II big band era as "the girl singer" with the likes of Bob Crosby & the Bobcats and Les Brown & the Band of Renown. When her recording of "Sentimental Journey" became an instant classic, its popularity launched her to film stardom--and in some respects this is a pity, for although she would make a series of popular musicals through the 1940s and 1950s, once Day was established as a film star her work as vocalist took a back seat to the demands of film industry: her recordings tended to be of the "contractual obligation" variety, covers of popular material with pleasing but generic arrangements. Even so, her voice transended everything; there truly is something magical about her timbre and phrasing.

Even those who are generally knowledgeable of her vocal work tend to think of Day as a "light" singer. This is a great mistake, for there is absolutely nothing "light" about either the lady's voice or her technique. Her voice has tremendous power--but rather than simply belting her songs in the style of, say, Betty Hutton, Day elected for a combination of power and restraint, and the resulting sound is truly unique. In a general sense, Day usually punctuates the opening note of a phrase with an unexpectedly sharp, intense tone and then suddenly and smoothly subverts it into an exceptionally well modulated, open-throated, velvety and glowing sound. That said, she is also a remarkably witty singer, endowing her lyrics with a sly wink where appropriate. The result is subtly glamorous and covertly sexy and quite unlike the sound created by any other singer then or now.

Released to celebrate her 80th birthday, HER LIFE IN MUSIC is a three CD set that offers a sampling of Day's recording career all the way from the big band era to her retirement from the recording studio. As is the case with all compilations, one can argue about the content: I would have bounced a few of the selections in favor of others. But on the whole, this is a very nice overview, well produced, well organized, and well packaged--and while I can quibble about the indivual songs I certainly can't naysay Day herself.

The first CD is "Movie Hits," and it offers all the recordings that one would expect and then quite a few more. Day frequently recorded title tracks for her films regardless of whether the film was a musical or not, and over the years these recordings have become harder and harder to find--and often in desperate need of a remastering when you do. But there is no such problem with the likes of "Move Over Darling," "Julie," "Send Me No Flowers," and "Teacher's Pet" as presented here, and "Caprice" has never sounded better. Even the throw-away-comic "The Glass Bottom Boat" gets superior treatment, and since most of these songs were created with Day in mind she easily stamps them with her own memorable gifts.

The second disk is titled "Golden Greats" and generally consists of work that Day did purely in the recording studio for album release. It is here that we find a great many covers and a great many re-recordings of songs that were popular at the time, songs that were done and done by everyone who drew breath in front of a microphone. Day's vocals are never less than flawless, but the arrangements are often commonplace and do not always give her voice a proper setting--but when it clicks, it does so memorably. "Autumn Leaves" smolders with passion and loss; her recording of "Three Coins In The Fountain" is easily definative; her take on "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" shows what she could do with sultry Latin rythmns in no uncertain terms; and there is a truly astonishing version of "Something Wonderful" that completely lifts the song from its Broadway setting and explodes with lush power unlike that of any other version.

The third disk is titled "Classic Collaborations" and features Day at work with star bands, star instrumentalists, and in vocal duet. And again she shines. "With A Song In My Heart" finds her with Harry James on trumpet, and the result is a knock-out. The big band classic "If I Give My Heart To You" finds Day singing with back up from the Mellowmen; with "Falling In Love Again" she is backed by Andre Previn; and then, of course, there is her truly legendary recording of "Sentimental Journey" with Les Brown. Day also sparks against the likes of Robert Goulet, Johnnie Ray, Dinah Shore, and John Raitt in one memorable duet after another.

Nothing short of a massive boxed set could do justice to Day--and I must admit that I cringe over the exclusion of "Little Girl Blue" among others--but HER LIFE IN MUSIC is a memorable collection. Strongly recommended.

GFT
with special thanks to Michael Wilk, whose gift this was.

I love this collection of songs! Three CDs full of Doris Day music, and it sounds great!

The condition of the cases was disappointing, however. No damage was apparent on the boxed set, but when I opened the individual cases, two out of three had the centers broken to pieces (the part that holds the discs in place...so the discs rattle around and the cases are essentially useless). Disappointing, but not worth the trouble to send back and wait for a new one... :-( I assume this was a manufacturer defect, since the case box was perfectly intact.

Although described as her life in music (1940 - 1966), I would have liked more of the older material - from the '40s when she was a big band singer. But the collection is a great beginning.Her Life in Music Doris Day (1940-1966)

I love this 3 CD set. My set arrived in beautiful condition. (I am sorry another reviewer's did not). I like the photo on the cover but most of all I like the memories it brings back.
Doris Day singing, in the movies was great. I think Doris Day deserved more recognition for her talents.
Put on one of these CDs and you can hear the happiness and the heartbreak. With a song in my heart was Doris Day!