Customer Reviews

In the Land of Hi-Fi

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

Well, despite the carpings of a couple of other reviewers below, if you love classic vocals, you'll dig this CD. No, Patti Page will never be mistaken for Billie or Ella, but that's not really the point. This record ranks up there with some of the best work of '50s pop singers like Doris Day and Keely Smith...and Patti's voice is truly a joy to listen to. A lost gem.

Patti was crooning in a sultry jazz style long before she made the Hit Parade with a string of million selling singles. She continued to sing Ellington, Porter and the rest even when the radio was blaring the TENNESSEE WALTZ, OLD CAPE COD and GENTLE ON MY MIND. When Pete Rugolo took Patti into the studio in 1956 and recorded this collection, he did the music world a favor. And he did Patti Page fans an even bigger favor. These arrangements and vocals are 46 years old!!!!!! They sound as up to date today as they did when recorded. A good recording will always stand the test of time. Every one of these songs seems to have been written for Patti. Whether it's a word packer such as the Rugolo arrangment of NEVERTHELESS or MOUNTAIN GREENERY or my favorite LOVE FOR SALE, these songs and these songwriters never had it so good. In fact these were so successful that Pete arranged two more jazz albums for Patti which were available as individual albums and as a double set (THE EAST SIDE/THE WEST SIDE). We in the states are not yet lucky enough to have those released on CD although they are available on a Japanese import.

If you are expecting an Ella or Sarah rendition of these songs, you will find them on other CDs. No one has or apparently ever will sing like Patti.

High Fidelity Magazine once ran a piece on why Patti Page would never be considered a great American popular singer. But "In The Land of Hi-Fi" and her other two jazz albums demonstrate she was, indeed, much more than a lady who could turn out hit records as fast as you could turn out pancakes. With June Christy's arranger, Pete Rugolo, overseeing the orchestrations, Patti Page turns out to be a nimble, persuasive, inventive and witty artist who can navigate the most tricky musical map. This album is warm, entertaining, surprising and short (barely a half hour) and certainly has stood the test of time. If you'd never heard "Doggie In The Window" you'd think this is one of the great jazz singers. By the way, the musicians who worked on these dates were surprised to find Patti Page a very hip lady, extremely pleasant to work with and very up on what she needed to do here--plus she wore eyeglasses and smoked!

Patti Page treats each of the standards on this collection as if they were especially written for her. Of course the arrangements by Pete Rugolo were written to show off Patti's vocal abilities. All recordings on this collection stand the test of time. It's difficult to believe these recordings were made in 1956 when stereo was "new". Patti's readings of "A Foggy Day", "Mountain Greenery" and "Love For Sale" are outstanding tributes to the writers of these great songs. "Out of Nowhere" and "The Thrill Is Gone" hint at other worlds. As a DJ in the early 1960s I played many Patti Page recordings but IN THE LAND OF HI-FI was the lp I played most often. Of all Patti's work it and the EAST SIDE-WEST SIDE jazz collections remain Patti's very best work. If you are already aware of this collection, you've been waiting for the CD release. If you are only familiar with Patti's scores of hits on the best of/greatest/golden hits cds, this is the collection you should go to a hear another Patti Page.

I've gone through 3 copies of the vinyl lp and the cd is in constant use. Can't believe these recordings sound so up to date. I can't think of better recordings of any of these songs and I have all kinds including Ella, Nat, Frank, Mel.

mr hotjazz must of been listining to someone else ..this is a great jazz cd..

I've seen Patti Page recently on PBS, where she and Margaret Whiting did a tribute to Johnny Mercer, Whiting was great(she's a pop singer that can easily make a succsessful crossover from pop-singer to jazz singer), Page on the other hand couldn't swing unfortionately if you hung her(her tribute ended up an insult to Mercer). It's not that this effort by Page wasn't sincere. In fact Pete Rugalo was assigned to make the arrangements for this album, Rugalo was jazz singer June Christy's favorite arranger. However Page is no Christy. The results are disasterous. The LP would have been better as an instrumental for Rugalo's innovative orchestra, and this lp would be listenable without Page's clumsy phrasing, and lack of sense of swing. Not to mention that she sounds as though she doesn't mean a word of anything she is ever singing(no feeling what so ever, though I wouldn't go as far as saying she's as bad as Barbara Streisand). Stay away from this if you like 50's jazz vocal, or respect jazz or swing in the least, go buy a June Christy CD instead. Also stay away from Teresa Brewer, and Joni James.

Unfortionately Miss Patti Page doesn't have the talent or chops to pull off a jazz session. Backed here by June Christy's regular orchestra, only shows how bad a singer Page is in comparison to the gifted Miss Christy. Miss Page doesn't have the syncopation, rhythm, or phrasing to attempt a project like this. Doris Day, Roseamry Clooney, and Tony Bennett are pop singers who can easily make the cross-over from pop to jazz, but talentless hacks like Patti Page, Teresa Brewer, and Johnny Mathis only make fools of them selves when trying. Stay awa yfrom this and just go out and buy any CD by Anita O'Day or June Christy, but for Heaven Sake's don't buy this.

Patti Page "The Tennessee Waltz Gal" should never have attemted to record a jazz vocal album, for one she lacks the individuality that it takes to be a jazz singer, number two how can anyone take seriously a singer who sings "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window." And three when she sings, she sounds like she doesn't care about what she's singing about, Page is definately not a lyrical singer. Even though Pete Rugalo(the talented jazz vocalist June Christy's regular arranger), who arranged this album, tried to make Miss Page sound listenable, it just didn't work out. Stay away from this CD or any CD that has the name "patti Page" on it.