How Glad I Am/Gentle is My Love

Nancy Wilson (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 13, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: DRG
• ASIN: B002MT3BQW
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,255 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

These bewitching LPs hit #4 and #17 in '64 and '65, yielding the hits (You Don't Know) How Glad I Am and I Wanna Be with You . Yet this twofer brings them both to CD for the first time with two unissued bonus cuts! Also here: People; Quiet Nights; Time After Time; a song with Cannonball Adderley 25 tracks.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sunny Sounds of the Sixties, October 14, 2009

By 

Ernest C Tong "pdxet" (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: How Glad I Am/Gentle is My Love (Audio CD)

In 1964, Nancy Wilson won her first Grammy singing "How Glad I Am" and was nominated again the next year for the exquisitely sung "Gentle Is My Love." How glad we are that DRG Records has combined these two exciting recordings into one newly released CD!

Received my copy a few days ago and am happy to report the mastering by Alan Silverman (who also mastered the recently reissued Peggy Lee DRG CDs) is superb. The twofer includes "It's Time for Me" which was omitted in later pressings of the "How Glad I Am" album. Will Friedwald's liner notes delight the fan unraveling decades old mysteries of the stories behind the sounds. There are three bonus tracks, the most unusual to my ears being Nancy's cover of an old Drifters' tune "Such A Night." The CD concludes with the follow-up single to "How Glad I Am" entitled "Something's Going On." It's a pleasant enough tune that reminds me of "No One Else but You" from Nancy's "A Touch of Today" album, but pales in comparison to the Grammy winning song. The Sid Feller arrangements compliment Nancy's soaring interpretations perfectly and beautifully in ways this listener never tires of hearing.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm GLAD!, November 4, 2009

By 

"jiffy" jim link (Hoboken, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: How Glad I Am/Gentle is My Love (Audio CD)

My parents purchased a collection from "Plaza House" (a mail-order company) of Capitol's greatest hits when I was a pre-teen. The collection was 4 LP's spanning the 30's, 40's, 50's & 60's. It opened up a great world of music to me and one of my favorite tracks was Nancy Wilson's "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am". It was in brilliant stereo sound and I loved the beat and sway of the song. I've purchased the song twice on two separate Nancy Wilson collections. It was on the 2nd, a budget "Greatest Hits" collection that it sounded almost as good as on that vinyl edition.
Well, today I got my 2fer collection and it was like "WOW" the incredible sound of these albums. Love them both and was in a state of bliss from the minute "How Glad I Am" started. It sounded just like it did the first time I heard it...the plunk of the beat, the incredible bass, the tinkle of the piano AND, OF COURSE, THE INCREDIBLE VOCALS OF NANCY WILSON. Another revelation, to me today, was the song "Never Less Than Yesterday". I could hear shades of Dinah Washington in Nancy's voice yet it's all Nancy Wilson magic! Her vocals really soar on that particular track. I was blown away.
Another thing I love about this collection, besides the wonderful Nancy Wilson, is the backdrop of the incredible sound of Capitol Records. It's an understatement to say they had a knack for sound in the 50's and 60's (Nelson Riddle springs to mind as well as Les Baxter). But while listening today I couldn't help but think of the legend that is their recording catalog: Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland just to name a few of my favorites. Vocals and instruments just seem so much more ALIVE when they come from Capitol Records Studios.
These are 2 great albums to have in your collection. There are fantastic liner notes as well. The three bonus tracks are very worthwhile also. My favorite of the 3 is "Such A Night" from 1961...the song itself almost sounds like it could have been teeny-bopper material for Connie Francis (who I also like a lot & coincidentally, purchased her "Fallin' - Best of the Early Years at the same time as this purchase) but, once again, it's so much more coming from Capitol Studio's "High Fidelity" and from Nancy.
Also of note, the front cover of the CD is actually the "Gentle Is My Love" cover and the back cover is the "How Glad I Am" with modified titles. Too, I know some will say these albums are more pop than jazz recordings but that really is the dual legacy of Nancy Wilson. I say enjoy all her recordings in both styles.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY!, January 21, 2010

By 

Brooklin (Linden, NJ, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: How Glad I Am/Gentle is My Love (Audio CD)

Fist of all, this is not a 5 star review. Take every star you see above you each, night, multiply it by infinity, and that's how i rate this release.

I found "Gentle Is My Love" on used vinyl in the village of Manhattan back in the early 90s and fell in love with it. Though it was dusty and had a minor skip on my second favorite tune (Who Can I Turn To?), i played it incessantly nonetheless. To hear her "beg...steal...or borro-o-o-o-ow" her share of laughter still makes my heart palpitate. I can still hear my older sister screaming at me to shut-up roaming through the house singing exaggeratedly from "When He Makes Music": "everytime (s)he breaths a sigh, a symphony begins/everytime (s)he says goodbye, a million violins/start crying." And my personal favorite, the title tune, is a killer with a "punchline" that makes everyone i play it for flip.

Well, after years of searching, and even trying to clean it digitally and convert it to mp3 myself with so-so results, i finally have a pristine digital copy of this gem of an album. Kudos & thank yous to the powers that be that finally made it happen, but even more of the above to Ms. Wilson & her arranger for creating such a splendid masterpiece to begin with.