Customer Reviews

Love Letters

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

 

 

I made the ridiculous mistake of buying THREE copies of what I thought was one of the BEST female vocal albums of all time. THIS one is NOT it! Sad to say, Ketty Lester was several orders of magnitude better in the REAL 'Love Letters' album. This album was a HUGE dissapointment.

This is NOT the same "Love Letters " vinyl I bought in 1965. So why call it that? I feel ripped off. But then I didn't check the listing. Didn't think I'd need to!!

Although this is not the classic Love Letters album (Era Label)she issued at the time "Love Letters" was #1, it does contain the follow-up hit"But Not for Me" which was not on that original album. However the rest of the album seems like the outtakes from her RCA days.

Ketty Lester's original Era Records 1962 LP "Love Letters" was one of the most seductive recordings of the decade. It was no accident that Lena Horne and Peggy Lee gave their endorsements in the liner notes. Not only does the CD in current release delete some of the best cuts of the original, but Ms. Lester's voice is not in peak condition and production values are below the standard set in 1962.

Don't be fooled! Know what you're buying! For those who think you're buying the CD release of Miss Ketty Lester's wonderful Era LP release of Love Letters from 1962 - please know this is NOT it! The title is the same, and to further add to the confusion, they use the original album photo of Lester (and similar cover art) but that's as close as it gets here! Well...almost! The version of Love Letters on this collection IS the original (and in addition, they've included Lester's formulaic sound-a-like follow-up release of But Not For Me, which was also on the original album). But that's it! None other of the beautiful, almost atmospheric songs from that original lp are included!

What is offered here is Lester's second LP release for the RCA label - The Soul Of Me (1964) - minus one song! That album has yet to be officially re-released on CD in its entirety, and sells anywhere from fifteen to fifty dollars (and up) on vinyl. So, with that knowledge in mind, collectors and afficionados of Lester's sublime vocals may want to purchase this CD. Hence, my three-star rating!

For those who are interested in the original Love Letters material on the Era label - keep praying for a CD release or keep searching for the collectible lp on vinyl. Just be ready to pay the big bucks!

From the dim light of the past, a dreamvoice, quiet and persuasive, is telling to us what is hidden in the heart
of an artist woman.
Voice and Music: everithing is quiet and soft: we seem to be
listening to the intimate feelings of a sensitive heart.

Let me say right from the start that I'm a little confused about this album, especially after reading some of the other reviews which criticize it for not being a faithful reproduction of an earlier vinyl LP. For a collector of original hit singles, like me, the $64,000 question is, was the version of Love Letters on that vinyl album the same as the hit single she had in 1962 for Era (# 2 R&B/# 5 Billboard Pop Hot 100 in early spring b/w I'm A Fool To Want You, therefore making this one an alternate version? All I know is, it sure sounds to me like the original hit I heard some 45 years ago. Then again, maybe my old ears are playing tricks on me.

In any case, this seems to be the only CD devoted to her music currently available so, until someone like Ace of London does a proper anthology I'll just have to assume this IS the original hit single version.

Ketty Lester, born Revoyda Frierson in Hope, Arkansas on August 16, 1934, has had quite a career, ranging from a stint with Cab Calloway's orchestra, to the Ziegfeld Follies in New York, to acting roles in Days Of Our Lives [Helen Grant], Little House On The Prairie [Hester Sue Terhune], and Morning Star/Evening Star [Nora Blake].

She also put four tunes into the Billboard Pop Hot 100 in 1962 for the Era label, beginning with Love Letters some 17 years after Dick Haymes first took it to # 11. Perhaps it was the copy-cat keyboard arrangement on her next offering, another oldie called But Not For Me, but whatever the reason it did not make the R&B charts and just missed the Hot 100 Top 40, reaching # 41 in July b/w Once Upon A Time, although it did make it to # 10 on the new Adult Contemport charts. introduced the year before.

Her last two charters fared even worse, as You Can't Lie To A Liar b/w River Of Salt topped out at # 90 Hot 100 in October, and the Woody Guthrie tune This Land Is Your Land b/w Love Is For Everyone stalled at # 97 Hot 100 in December. After that she disappeared from the charts altogether.

Elvis, who would use almost the same arrangement on Love Letters and take it to # 19 in 1966, once said he loved the sensuous texture of her voice, and you only have to listen to a few tracks to see why.

I repeat, what we need now is a definitive "best of" with the originals of all four hits and their B-sides, plus some other lost tracks that demonstrate her vocal versatility. Such as Moscow Nights which added lyrics to Kenny Ball's 1962 smash Midnight In Moscow.

It would be nice to know what she's doing now.

I think you will find the version in the soundtrack "Blue Velvet" to be the original, at least run time is correct, but have not listened to it...

original run time is 2:36 or 2:37 and not 2:41 for the Love Letters cd

ditto for a Time Life compilation 2 LP box set titled "The 60's - Rave On", which I do own... run time was 2:37 on this lp

you should also get the correct version by getting the 7" 45 vinyl that is still available...

original 1962 7" from ERA say 2:27, I don't think this is correct, on ebay I saw the image of 7" label with a radio station logo stamp on it that someone had penciled in 2:36

radio stations need to know correct run time.

Not the original but what the hell. Worth it for the title song alone. Interesting lady.

Although I admit that this CD doesn't do justice to Miss Lester's great artistry, it is yet a good CD, for it gives a good choice of melodies where the smooth voice of Ketty is whispering delicately (but the lady could belt out a song!). And you can appreciate the musical sense of this great singer who made several great records for RCA. If you can, you should try to find her other CD "Where Is Love?". Do you remember that she was offered the role of Julia before Diahann Carroll? And she won an Off-Broadway award for her revival of "A Cabin In The Sky". A great artist to (re)discover!