Customer Reviews

Love

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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I well remember when this L.P. came out. Frank Sinatra was bringing everyone imaginable aboard his new Reprise Records from Jo Stafford to Dean Martin to Dinah Shore to Keely Smith to many many others and here came this album with a ravishing cover--the best Rosie ever got--and inside a truly eclectic selection of songs arranged magnificently by the unmatched Nelson Riddle and sung the Hell out of by Rosemary Clooney, far far away from her "This Ole House" and "Mangos" days for sure. It's a shock to learn many moons later this actually was RCA's followup to "Rosie Solves the Swinging Riddle" and the label disliked it so it wouldn't release. With his unerring insticts, Ole Blue Eyes acquired the master and got the album out, beautifully mastered and gorgeously packaged in a manner RCA never could have mustered up (RCA, Columbia and Decca never got anywhere near the album covers of Capitol, Reprise and M-G-M. The lamest album concepts and titles and worst covers came from Decca and, even worse, its Coral subsidiary--Teresa Brewer and the McGuire Sisters and Rosemary Clooney shoulda sued). Rosemary often said this was her finest album, which is really saying something, but she's right. It's so intelligent, so incisive and so damned beautiful. Don't miss it. Last time it was barely in the stores six months before it disappeared. Use this window of opportunity to grab it!

This is the album that was a metaphoric and literal love affair between Rosie and Nelson Riddle. Yet Capital, reluctant to spend money packaging and promoting an album not reflective of the contemporary, "populist" sounds of the sixties, wouldn't release it. Determined to prove his old employer wrong, Frank Sinatra, who early in the fifties had made tons of money for Capital by returning to the classics of the "Great American Songbook," purchased the master tape and released it on his own label, Reprise. But the public was no longer buying this sort of sophisticated romantic sound, so the album quickly vanished from sight. Thankfully, it's back, and the quality is every bit as first rate as one might expect from music and musicians of this magnitude. Rosie brings to the songs not only the youthful tone and sustained breath support of her earlier years but the maturity of interpretation characteristic of her later Concord period. Perhaps it was a slight miscalculation to go with an exclusively ballad program, an approach that had worked well with the carefully sequenced Sinatra sessions ("In the Wee Small Hours," "Only the Lonely," "September of My Years") but that almost proves too much of a good thing in this heavily textured collection. Treat this one like an expensive torte, savoring its rich, sinfully delicious pleasures in small amounts, and you won't be disappointed.

This truly is one of the most beautiful recordings I've ever listened to. It's haunting and I never tire of it. The choice of music is wonderful and the arrangements by Nelson Riddle are superb. After reading "Girl Singer", Ms. Clooney's autobiography, I was attracted to this album because she thought it one of her best. And I have to agree. This is Ms. Clooney in her prime, she was in love with Nelson Riddle, a hopeless love affair because he was a married man, and the emotion in her voice reveals just that, the feelings of a woman in love. It's almost as though she was singing it to him, and I suspect she was. A must for anyone who loves a beautiful voice and a superb selection of love songs.

This album has to be the best thing Clooney has recorded to date! Such emotionally attached singing and passionate arrangements make up this splendid album! The love affair between Clooney and arranger Nelson Riddle would forever leave its mark. Do not hesitate to add this album to your collection.

"Love" is probably the best album ever made by the legendary Rosemary Clooney (certainly her best effort at doing a cohesive themed album). No doubt a lot of the magic associated within the album was created through Clooney's affair with arranger Nelson Riddle. Together, they made what has become a landmark record in the Clooney catalogue.

Despite the impeccable vocals of Clooney and the velvety arrangements of Riddle, it now seems almost unbelievable that the album's original release through the RCA label was cancelled (at a time when the label was beginning to cut back on it's jazz and theatre cast recording projects). Four years later, Frank Sinatra acquired the master tape and (recognising it's very rare qualities) released it on his own Reprise label, where it quickly became a smash success.

Everything (including the gorgeous cover photograph by John Engstead) is 100% high-class, from her well-judged deliveries of "Imagination" and "More Than You Know", to the wrenching "The Man That Got Away" (that only rivals with Garland's recording; added as a bonus track from her subsequent album "Thanks for Nothing"), Clooney is on form. In the arrangements, you can hear how Riddle is matching and playing with her voice to create the best balance between her and the various instruments. A very welcome CD reissue (and at a bargain price).

[Reprise/WEA 9 46072-2]

For years as a youngster I could not find an LP version of this album that was in good condition. Small wonder as the prevous owners from the decade before probably played and replayed the records until they were worn out. While in college I finally found a shop in New York City that carried a Japanese pressing whose sound quality matched Rosmemary Clooney's performanc- stunning! Before that time I had no idea of Nelson Riddle's genius nor his love affair with Rosemary. It was only through John Gavin's notes on this 1995 Cd that I discovered what could be heard on the disc; these two people were deeply in love- with music, with lyrics, and with each other. This is my favorite Clooney album. Her takes on "Imagination", "How Will I Remember You", and "Why Shouldn't I" are reminders of how sophisticated her approach was to a song yet at the same time so full of gentle warmth. "It Never Entered My Mind" is sung with a deep understanding of a love won and a love lost while "Someone To Watch Over Me" ends the album on a hopeful note. A few years ago I directed Christopher's Durang's "Beyond Therapy" in which the main characters sang a small portion of "Someone To Watch Over Me". When asked by the producer if I would like a recording as background to end the play I immediatly chose Clooney's version. Audience members were quite taken with the song and asked where it could be obtained. Luckily, I was able to answer that Frank Sinatra had the vision to buy the tapes from RCA (who were reluctant to release them on their label) and issue them on his Reprise label. This CD is the best of Rosemary Clooney. And she and Nelson Riddle are stunning!

Clooney and Riddle were having an affair when they made this album, and it shows. The simmering passion in Clooney's voice, the restrained and throbbing arrangements by Riddle are all there, evident to the listener. To hear it is to be a voyeur in a love affair by 2 musical geniusis, and to share in the upliftment that love always brings.

This album flopped when first released because it didn't fit in with the fashions of the time - it harks back to an earlier, pre-Elvis age. However, the sheer quality of this album, which I believe to be Rosie's best (and I'm by no means alone in that view) meant that it would eventually gain the recognition it deserves.

As other reviewers have observed, Rosie and Nelson got on really well, but they were both married to others, so whatever they may have been dreaming of, it could not happen. (This was 1963, but attitudes have changed a lot since then.)

However, it is clear that Rosemary lived out her fantasies in the love songs on this album. It's no coincidence that one of the songs is called Imagination and another is called I wish it so. The last two tracks were not part of the original album, but were recorded later. Yet, they fit so well - the title of the final song, The man that got away, shows that the dream is over. The other bonus track, a wonderful cover of Peggy Lee's Black coffee, also fits in well.

This album is one of the best albums of it's kind ever recorded by anybody. Apart from Rosie's own fans, this album should interest fans of Jeri Southern, Polly Bergen, Gogi Grant and Julie London (I love them all), or anybody who enjoys lovely romantic music generally.

Introspective, lyrical, sentimental. This album introduced me to a different kind of Rosemary Clooney, and, according to the liner notes, it's one of the reasons it wasn't a commercial success the first time it was released. But the arrangements, the melodic line--tunes I've heard before but didn't really hear until I listened to Rosemary's classic interpretation--compare Rosie's version of "I Wish It So", to Dawn Upshaw's: Rosemary tells a story, Ms. Upshaw is just singing a pretty song. This is essential Clooney. You may not listen to it every day, but it's a part of her audio-autobiography that shouldn't be missed.

Love is an outstanding release from Rosemary Clooney with lush arrangements by the great nelson Riddle. When they say that this showcases a slightly older and more polished Rosemary Clooney, they are right. The sound quality is excellent and I like the artwork as well.

The album begins with Rosemary singing "Invitation;" this song doubles as a beautiful opening tune and an invitation to listen to the entire CD. Rosemary sings with an awful lot of grace and style; she shows a great deal of maturity and polish--great! "Yours Sincerely" features Rosemary again in the spotlight; she never misses a beat and she handles this complicated vocal arrangement flawlessly. Nelson Riddle's arrangement uses the strings to great advantage, too. Listen also for "Find The Way." "Find The Way" is an emotional love ballad that gets a fine interpretation from Rosemary as she sings this so sweetly. The strings again enhance the melody to make this number very pretty.

"How Will I Remember You?" has Rosemary singing at her very best; and she delivers this with all her heart and soul. I really like this number. "More Than You Know" is a very classic pop vocal with a stunning Nelson Riddle arrangement to make this tune a major highlight of this album. Excellent--I love it!

"You Started Something" is another very classic love song that gets the royal treatment from Rosemary as she bats this one straight out of the ballpark. The brass enhances the arrangement and Rosemary makes "You Started Something" into a wonderful number. "If I Forget You" is another classic tune that Rosemary sings beautifully and soulfully.

"Someone To Watch Over Me" is a fine ballad that places Rosemary front and center; but of course Nelson Riddle's arrangement works wonders for this tune. "Black Coffee" is treated as a jazzy melancholy number that sparkles like gold when Rosemary sings it like silk; and listen for the final tune, "The Man That Got Away." "The Man That Got Away" is a signature Judy Garland song; and Rosemary would make Judy proud with her exquisite interpretation of the torch song. "The Man That Got Away" also uses the brass and strings very well.

Overall, this album is a must have for fans of the great Rosemary Clooney. People who like classic pop vocals will appreciate this album as well.