Legendary

Alberta Hunter | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 8, 1989)
• Original Release Date: June 12, 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Drg
• ASIN: B000000PF6
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #286,079 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #44 in Music > Indie Music > Blues > Vocal Blues

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Refined Alberta Hunter, May 29, 2000

By 

DrDAndy "DrDAndy" (Minneapolis, Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legendary (Audio CD)

Those lusty recordings that A.H. made late in her life were my introduction to her. When I bought this LP back in the early 1980's, I was surprised to hear her refined style, particularly on "Two Cigarettes in the Dark." I came to this site today to see if the LP was available on CD. And it is.

If you're expecting the blues, this isn't it. Her style and the arrangements are very sophisticated and pleasing. I recommend it very highly. I expect it will be back in my collection soon.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Alberta in European Mode: Classy, Elegant, Always Memorable, April 6, 2010

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Legendary (Audio CD)

Alberta Hunter (1895-1984) led an extraordinary life. Born in Memphis, Hunter clawed her way to the top of Chicago's nighclub scene in the 1910s, most famously headlining for five years at Chicago's Dreamland Ballroom and touring both England and France, where she was accorded the highest accolades of the day. At home once more, she evolved into one of the great jazz and blues divas of the 1920s and 1930s, equalling the likes of Bessie Smith and Ethel Waters, a top-draw on both sides of the Atlantic throughout the 1930s and a popular performer "for the boys" during World War II. And then, quite suddenly, she stopped. In 1954 she suddenly dropped out of public sight, enrolled in medical classes, and for the next twenty years had a satisfying career as a nurse. Although she made a few appearances and released a few recordings, it was not until she retired from nursing in 1977 that she returned to music--and when she did it was almost like a bomb went off. She became particularly well known for her "naughty" blues numbers, sexy and wickedly witty and thoroughly wonderful. Alberta Hunter had it going on.

For those seeking her later years recordings in search of racy music, THE LEGENDARY ALBERTA HUNTER will be a disappointment. Recorded in London, this is Hunter as the Europeans saw her: elegant, smooth, and disciplined, an elegant nightclub and concert singer--not the blues shouter puncher for which she was so famous in the United States. She sings here with a certain calculated throw-away quality, easy, unstrained, but with poweful control. Some of the recordings, perhaps most notably "What Shall I Do" have an unbalanced quality, with the instruments slightly overpowering Hunter, but this a flaw of recordings of the era--and fortunately it does not occur on every selection. The finest, in my opinion at least, are Hunter's memorable version of the Cole Porter classic "Miss Otis Regrets," the elegantly rendered "Stars Fell On Alabama," and the casually poignant "I Travel Alone."

THE LEGENDARY ALBERTA HUNTER really does not show Hunter's full range, not by a long shot; there are no blues, little in the way of what we would describe as jazz, none of the naughtiness for which she was so famous (and which could not be recorded, due to censorship, until she returned to the stage in the 1970s.) But it is Alberta Hunter, always elegant, always class, and always memorable. Recommended.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exellent spotlight on Hunter's caberet abilties, November 11, 2004

By 

Lame LaRRY - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legendary (Audio CD)

Alberta Hunter went to London to be in shows, and adapted very well to the sophistocated cabaret style. She sounds sophistocated and CLASSY ON THSI EXELLENT CD. VERY LITTLE JAZZ CONTENT IS HERE, HOWEVER JACK JACKSON'S OFTEN PEPPY BRITISH SOCIETYY DANCE BAND IS EXELLENT IN TEH RAY NOBLE, LEW STONE STYLE.