Customer Reviews

Martha Raye Swings

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3 star:		(1)
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Martha Raye Swings is a very good CD of Martha's earlier hits many of which have never before been out on CD. The sound quality is really rather good considering the age of these recordings; and the artwork is very nicely done. This is a great CD for Martha Raye fans!

"My Little Cousin" starts the CD off with Martha Raye giving her all to this tune; and the big band/swing style arrangement makes this a very good tune to kick off the CD! "Three Little Sisters" is another good number; Martha's voice is as clear as a bell and her excellent diction makes her performance even better! Martha delivers "Three Little Sisters" with lots of positive energy and that's excellent. Listen for "Ol' Man River;" Martha Raye's rendition plays with the tempo quite a bit but this classic tune still holds its own very well.

"(If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have To Swing It" features Martha front and center--and that's quite all right by me! This jazzy tune gets a fine interpretation by Martha and when the jazzy part begins this number takes off like a jet! Martha does an excellent job on "(If You Can't Sing It) You'll Have To Swing It;" she really opens up and belts this out like a pro! "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good" is another highlight of this album; and when Martha Raye sings this you can tell she really was a fine songbird. The music that accompanies Martha fits in perfectly with her vocals. "I Cover The Waterfront" is another very special ballad; Martha Raye sings this with panache and I'm amazed at her natural talent.

"Sweet Lorraine" has a fine arrangement and Martha Raye delivers this with great sensitivity; I have associated this tune with Nat King Cole and his trio but Martha's interpretation is also quite good. "The Boy Next Door" comes from the MGM musical entitled Meet Me In St. Louis; and when Martha sings "The Boy Next Door" she infuses it with a lot of heartfelt emotion--Judy Garland would have been proud!

"After You've Gone" is an old, timeless classic that Martha performs flawlessly; her treatment of "After You've Gone" includes a slower tempo but it works very well. Similarly, "Miss Otis Regrets" gets a different style of treatment--Martha's version has a musical arrangement that's practically upbeat--this is something I never heard before but it sounds pretty good after all.

"Blues In The Night" has Martha singing her very best and the backup chorus harmonizes flawlessly to support Martha's performance; and the CD ends very strong with Martha Raye performing "That Old Black Magic." "That Old Black Magic" is another timeless love song that never ceases to amaze me. Martha certainly gives this the royal treatment with a delivery son strong and yet so sensitive that it really leaves a lasting impression on my mind.

Overall, Martha Raye fans will be thrilled that so many of these fine tunes have made it to CD. People who like classic pop vocals will also want this album.

I'd forgoten had good a voice Martha Raye had. I'm glad they released this CD. It was excellent.

I own numerous discs of singers from this era, and this is one of the worst in sound quality I have seen. I wasn't familiar with Sepia prior to this, but I can guarantee that I won't be purchasing any more of their discs. This disc is a real fooler, as the liner notes and cover art make it look like a real professional job.

Martha Raye, the famous wide mouthed raucous and slapstick comedienne, was also a fine singer. She sang frequently in her Hollywood Paramount days. Every now and then, she would discard the comic songs and swing arrangements and show her skill with a ballad.

This selection of recordings, as the name implies, mainly contains swing versions of the songs. Some of the songs are duds such as "Wolf Boy" and "Pig Foot Pete". Others do not lend themselves to a swing version such as "The Pity of It All" and her rendition of "Old Man River", in particular, is awful. It is one thing to swing the lyrics, it is another to completely change the tune, particularly such a great song. She also is flat on one high note and it made my skin crawl.

The CD covers a lot of ground with swing, jazz and a few big band arrangements and best of all, a few straight ballads. Her renditions of "Close to Me" and "I Cover the Waterfront" are great. The quality of the recordings is very good with Raye's signature clear diction.

Many of the recordings are rare.