Customer Reviews

Jane Morgan - Greatest Hits

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having worked as music director/accompanist for Jane for upwards of 12 years, I was pleased to find that her music is finally becoming available on CD. Now her true and honest sound will be heard by future generations. Having worked with many well-known singers of that same era, I can truly say that she was the finest club performer I have known. Without using the overabused word "charismatic," there is no denying that there was an electrical aura about her on stage that I had never encountered before and have never seen since. If you have never heard her sing, the sound clips on this website should convince you to check out any album you can get your hands on and take the opportunity to explore her marvelous way of getting inside of a lyric. You will not be disappointed. P.S.: I was pleased to learn by reading David M. Piercy's 2-11-2000 review that Jane is alive and well in Malibu, CA! If she would come out of retirement and perform again, we would all be the richer for it.

JANE MORGAN's GREATEST HITS cd was her first ever material on cd and I had waited for it for some time. It is a fine collection...except some one put the wrong version of "Two Different Worlds" on the cd. I love both, but the cd liner notes mention ROGER WILLIAMS (another Kapp artist) on this one, but it is THE TROUBADORS instead. I would have traded Jane's beautiful cover of "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine" for "It's All In The Game" but it got more airplay when it was first released and is on a 45. The first song I ever remember hearing Jane sing is "The Day The Rains Came." It is still one of my all-time favorites...even the French version is GREAT! It was a top 40 here in the USA and reached #1 in England in 1958! All the ingredients are there in Jane's first cd to be a winner....GREAT songs and a beautiful cover...which was used on one of her KAPP albums in 1960...yes, JANE MORGAN is alive and well and living in Malibu, California.

Jane Morgan - Greatest Hits is a somewhat lukewarm album that simply doesn't do justice to Jane Morgan's magnificent vocal talents. There are not enough songs here to justify calling this a "greatest hits" album. However, what we do get is very good quality throughout. The artwork is just about par for the CDs put out by Curb Records but the sound quality is still quite good.

"Fascination" starts off the CD with one of Jane's biggest hits. The strings are elegant and Jane sings this sweetly--and to perfection. Jane's voice is as clear as a bell and her voice is also rich, warm and vibrant. "Fascination" makes a stunning first number for this CD. "My Favorite Things" features Jane singing her best for this classic show tune from The Sound Of Music; Jane delivers this with heart and soul--just one listen proves it.

"Till" gets a lovely interpretation by the great Jane Morgan; she delivers this with panache and the music that accompanies her couldn't be better! It all holds its own very well. "The Day The Rains Come" has that `50s flavor to it; the percussion marks the beat and Jane sings as well as any of the very best chanteuses the world has ever known. Great!

"Fly Me To The Moon" has great drums and percussion to accompany Jane; Jane sings this like the pro she always was! Jane's rendition is probably my very favorite version of this classic love song. "Moon River," from the movie Breakfast At Tiffany's, sounds like a fresh, brilliant masterpiece in Jane Morgan's capable hands--and I'm very impressed. Moreover, the strings on "Tammy" work well to enhance the natural beauty of this ballad.

"It's All In The Game" proves beyond doubt that Jane Morgan had remarkable talent. Jane never misses a beat and her interpretation plays with the tempo somewhat to allow Jane to put her own stamp on this classic love song. "Two Different Worlds" suffers from a bit too much surface noise--however, this doesn't truly detract from Jane stunning performance of this love song. "Two Different Worlds" always tugs hard at my heartstrings whenever I hear it.

The CD also ends very nicely with Jane Morgan performing "Happy Anniversary." This isn't the choice I might have expected but Jane Morgan certainly makes this a fine ending for this album. The music is very pretty and Jane's strong voice makes this a strong ending number.

Overall, Jane Morgan fans will be disappointed that this CD is called a "greatest hits" collection. These people should seek out more substantial CDs for their collections. However, causal fans of Jane Morgan and classic pop vocals just might enjoy this CD after all.

I waited for years to get some Jane Morgan on CD, unfortunately it's fairly muddy as put out by Curb Records, famous for their poor remastering. Jane Morgan and Julie London always go together in my mind, for they both evoke the elegance sought after in the post-war night club era. This is a must-have, but I sure wish someone would remaster this!

I Was 11 years old when I heard Jane Morgan sing "The Days the Rains Came" for the first time. That song has lingered in the cobwebs of my memories till today (in my mid fifties). Finding this song again, and all the other wonderful songs she sings on this album, is like falling in love again for the very first time. I only wish that I could hear her sing today. Her voice was unique. Most of the songs on this album are well known. But they have not been sung more perfectly.

This CD includes her best-sellers and most requested recordings.
"Till" and "Two Different Worlds" are my favorites. "Fascination" is a classic. Her version of "Moon River" is the best version I have heard. A great singer--there should be a volume 2 with "Love Makes the World Go 'Round" and
"What Now My Love". Both songs were singles that did well on the charts in the New York City area in the early 60s.

FOR FAR TOO LONG THIS HAS BEEN JANE'S ONLY KAPP RECORDS' MATERIAL AT A REASONABLE PRICE! THAT "FASCINATION" IMPORT IS FAR TOO COSTLY! I'VE ENJOYED ALL 11 TRACKS OF THIS CD & STILL HOPE HER VAST KAPP MATERIAL WILL BE PUT OUT ON CD AT A REASONABLE PRICE! I THINK THE SOUND QUALITY IS GOOD! JANE'S VOICE IS IN A PERFECT RANGE! IF ONLY MORE FAMOUS SINGERS HAD HER VOCAL CHOPS!

With her creamy voice and absolute lack of any sense of beat or rhythm, Jane Morgan made every song she sang whipped cream. She did do one brilliant album, "What Now My Love" (her take on "Only the Lonely") and one big hit album of covers "Fresh Flavor" but most of what she recorded spins out like cotton candy. Yet her years in France are also revealed in the Continental sense of her stylings and she's always on key and has faultless intonation. In other words, she's a singer of contradictions, and all the more fascinating for it. There's no one like her, so this album is well worth getting.

a great voice coupled with an elegant style. she is without a doubt one of the greatest singers of our time.

To realize that this is the best available Jane Morgan CD covering her hit singles, registered on the Billboard charts from 1956 to 1959, becomes a classic oxymoron when you identify the company that released it. Curb, as one reviewer accurately points out, is not only the purveyor of poor quality sound, but they have to be among the most stingy when it comes to total tracks offered.

Ten to twelve selections may have been de rigueur when CDs first hit the market, but that was almost two decades ago and I really think the buying public today is looking for more, including factual information in the inserts. This offers nothing in that respect.

Having gotten the negatives out of the way, let me now add that this compilation does present ALL FIVE of her charted singles, beginning with her first for the Kapp label in late 1956, Two Different Worlds, which made it to # 41 Top 100 billed to "Roger Williams and Jane Morgan." The flip was an instrumental by Williams [Night In Verona].

Born Jane Currier in 1920 in Boston, she spent a great deal of the early part of her career in France, and that is reflected in Fascination. Billed to Jane Morgan And The Troubadors [with Vic Schoen & His Orchestra], and from the film Love In The Afternoon, the melody has its origin in the 1904 French composition Valse Tzigane. It reached # 7 Top 100 in September 1957 and stayed on the charts for an incredible 29 weeks. The flip was an instrumental version of the same tune with whistling by The Troubadors.

Her next charter (and in my opinion her best) didn't come until a year later when The Day The Rains Came (again with Vic Schoen's orchestra] reached # 21 backed with her wonderful version in French title La Jour Ou La Pluie Viendra, which demonstrated Jane's excellent command of that language. That is missing from this compilation and, in fact, remains impossible to find in CD format.

Almost another full year would then pass before her next hit, With Open Arms, peaked at # 39 in August 1959 backed by Frank Hunter & His Orchestra. The B-side, the old standard I Can't Begin To Tell You, "bubbled under" at # 113. A few months later she had her final Billboard Pop Hot 100 hit, again backed by Hunter, when Happy Anniversary from the film of the same name made it to # 57, b/w C'est La Vie, C'est L'Amour.

She would, however, go on to chalk up seven more hit singles on the new Adult Contemporary (AC) charts, which Billboard introduced in 1961, these being: a cover of the 1953 Kay Starr hit, Side By Side, which made it to # 25 AC in late 1965 b/w Til I Waltz Again With You; a cover of the 1965 Len Barry hit, 1-2-3, which reached # 16 AC and # 135 BBH100 "bubble under" in July 1966 b/w Kiss Away; a cover of the 1966 Bob Lind hit, Elusive Butterfly, a # 9 AC in late fall 1966 b/w Good Lovin'; Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye (Capri C'est Fini), a # 30 AC and # 121 Hot 100 "bubble under" in early 1967 b/w Now And Forever - each of the foregoing for Epic; Somebody Someplace, a # 24 AC in November 1967 from the Broadway musical Henry Sweet Henry b/w This Is My World Without You; I Promise You, # 27 AC in early 1968 b/w Him's A Dope; and A Child, # 39 AC in April 1968 b/w My Funny Valentine - these last three for ABC.

Notwithstanding the overall sound quality, Curb would have had a 3-star CD here had they just gone to 14 selections and included those missing B-sides by Jane, although I am truly thankful they saw fit to include My Favorite Things. For my money hers is the best version ever of that wonderful song from The Sound Of Music.

But what we REALLY need is a quality compilation of all her hits, both Hot 100 and AC.