Customer Reviews

How Glad I Am/Gentle is My Love

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I have these two on album, and love them both. I'M 40 yrs. old and i'm a BIG BIG Nancy Wilson fan, and i have most of her music on CD, from two albums on CD issues. now i'm beginning to purchase albums that are out of print, or not on CD yet. And the funny thing is , i just purchased these two albums like two weeks ago from amazon collectors. they have minor scratches,which is ok for some, but me i want to hear very instrument, but can listen to it, i had no choice, but now, that this CD is out i'm deleting the albums, i put on my ipod, and put this on. both albums are very good, but i love, love gentle is my love, its very classy and jazzy a milder softer Nancy. my favs are who can i turn to, gentle is my love,if ever i would leave you, the other are good too, but those stick out for me, and the how glad i am album , is good too, epspecialy the title cut, dont rain on my parade, the classic , i wanna be with you, love the arrangement of the song, and the song People, love it! and its time to go.. all vintage nancy of who nancy really is. take it from a nancy wilson fan, and i am DEFINITELY one, you won't be disappointed at all!

I AM THE ULTIMATE NANFY WILSON FAN...HOW GLAD I AM WAS ENJOYABLE,COMPETENT NANCY, BUT GENTLE IS MY LOVE HAD BRILLIANCE,GENIUS, AND ULTIMATELY WAS ONE OF THE FEW PURELY SEEMINGLY PURELY HEARTFELT OF HER ALBUMS..SHE CROSSED THE FIRE AND ICE LINE AND SIMPLY UNWOUND ..PART OF HER CULT AND GODDESS LIKE STATURE WITH HER FANS IS HER ABILITY TO BE ACCESSIBLE AND REMOTE. SHE RESPECTED HER AUDIENCE BUT DID EXACTLY AS SHE PLEASED, FOR BETTER OR WORSE..SHE WAS A LOT LIKE THE EFFECT OF HEROIN..YOU KNEW SHE WAS MUSICALLY PROBABLY NOT A GOOD THING TO HANG AROUND TOO LONG, BUT YOU GET HOOKED.. WHETHER IT MADE MUSICAL SENSE OR NOT..YOU GO INTO DENIAL..AND KEEP CHASING THE HIGH..RICHARD "BUTCH "WILLIAMS LONG BEACH, CALIF

This is one of the finest albums ever made. It is Nancy Wilson at her best. All 25 songs are works of art. Whether you like Nancy or not, you will love this album. A MUST buy.

The reason why I said these 2 albums are the best of her career is because they made me a fan back in the 60s. I have often wondered why they are not on CD. Perhaps they kept the best for last?!

Why this LP has taken all these many years to be released on CD has to be one of the strangest mysteries in the history of CD releases. "How Glad I Am" is unquestionably one of Nancy Wilson's greatest artistic acheivements, not to mention its unquestioned commercial success after the title song won Nancy a grammy award in 1965. Hall of Fame arranger Oliver Nelson's writing here is on target, which makes this a solid package. Jump on this one while you can, before it drops out of print again for another 20 years.

Nancy Wilson is the ultimate songtress; I've waited/searched for years and years for these albums to be offered on CD, and now it's happened. The Nancy in these two albums is at the height of her vocal development. The orchestral arrangements are simply the best. I nearly petitioned Capital Records myself to get these albums out on CD, and now I won't have to. My order will be an 'EXPRESS' one!

How Glad I Am/Gentle is My Love is a sweet album. i suggest to all lovers of this chick to get it asap 'cause there are not many left on tht net or anywhere else. Amazon was the only place i could find it. get it get it get it!!
rb
ceo/mdi