Customer Reviews

Invisible Tears

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

 

 

I recently bought this cd, and I enjoyed it! for me this is the "Ray Conniff Country Album", because it captures the energy of the old western spirits, and I think every country fan will be delightfull with this; the best songs for me in this disc are "Everybody Loves Somebody" and "Singing The Blues", but the rhythm touch of "Walk The Line" is excellent (is as excellent as the original Johnny Cash version); another very good one is "Marianne" (very good final for a very good cd), It's impossible to listen "Oh Lonesome Me" and "Waitin'for the Evening Train" without the wish of dance and clap hands (these are wonderful and terrific country-style songs); because is another excellent work of the master Conniff, YOU HAVE TO BUY IT!! YOU ARE GOING TO DANCE AND SHOUT WITH THIS CD!!

Perhaps Ray Conniff's best album.
Clever arrangements that heighten the
appeal of the already catchy material.
Definative versions of the Dean Martin
classic "Everybody Loves Somebody"
and Elvis' "Are You Lonesome Tonight."
If you like how the Conniff Singers sound
on his first two Christmas albums, then you
will love this cd!

This CD represents a time in Conniff history where he began to successfully bring in the full voices of the Singers, rather than the traditional blending of instruments and voices, Conniff's earliest
trademark sound." The recording of the title song, "Invisible Tears," was also the earliest measurable success of that style change, in that it received a lot of attention on the pop charts and radio.

You will find that Conniff's treatment of the title song and the "supporting cast" of selections represent some true listening enjoyment. "Faraway Places," "Are You Lonesome Tonight," and "S'Posin'" are terrific renditions, and the Jimmy Rodgers numbers, "Honeycomb" and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" are as enjoyable as the original versions by that artist.

In summary, great variety in selections and tempos, and real listenability.

When I first bought the lp when it was first published I thought is was great , and now on CD it sounds even greater, it differs a bit with the traditional Ray Conniff sound but still great.

Ray Conniff, etcetera, are great singers, but they DO have a very unfortunate tendency to "jazz things up"; thus songs on this album which would otherwise be excellent (such as "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine") end up downright ruined, a thing I can unhappily say of just about every song here.

However, if you don't mind buying an entire CD for just one song, "Marianne" is EXCELLENT (and saves this CD from an ignominious rating of 1 star). This is the traditional song -- "All day, all night, Marianne / Down by the seaside, siftin' sand..." -- done very well indeed. This is probably more in SPITE of the "jazzing up" than as a result of it, for the song itself, with its Calypso beat, lends itself very nicely to the "Singers" style. At any rate I find it well worth the price I paid for it.

One word of warning: although "Marianne" is certainly very catchy, it may prove offensive to some people -- it was written in a different age, and the person supposedly courting Marianne first insults her mother (twice!), and then expects her to marry him and become a baby factory!!! To be fair, however, this is the fault of the *song*, not the singers. All the same I thought I'd better mention it. Forewarned is forearmed!

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POST REVIEW ADDENDUM: Thanks to upgrades since implemented to Amazon's site, it is no longer necessary to buy the entire CD just to obtain "Marianne" -- or even to buy the CD at all. Thanks to MP3 downloads, you now can just buy and download "Marianne" all by its lonesome self, if such be your pleasure, and for only $0.99, at that! :)