Customer Reviews

Meet Marvelous Marilyn Maye / Lamp Is Low

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Two 1960s-produced albums from songbird Marilyn Mae are available on CD so that everyone can now enjoy this radiant voice. Maye confounds listeners with her style, sounding at times like the full-throated brassiness of Eyde Gorme or the smokey-hued vocals of a latter-day Liza. She offers up a spirited Take Five, the Dave Brubeck hit, a romance-filled Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars, and does a Louis Armstrong imitation on the overdone showstopper Helly Dolly, but she makes it listenable. There are other super song selections on this album, including David Shire's Washington Square delivered with the sparest of backings. Maye is still performing and these albums show why that is.

I never thought I'd see the day...Thanks once again to the great people at Collectables for this long-overdue reissue of two fantastic Marilyn Maye albums--her first for RCA from 1965, and her third from a year later. Dare we hope for more? I hope this sells, and people rediscover a wonderful singer who knew how to pick wonderful material.

What a treat to have Marilyn Maye's wonderful sound on CD! Her first album demonstrates her varied talent to take on any song style. An excellent singer that sings naturally from the heart. I have followed her through the years and am so glad that others may have the chance to rediscover such an outstanding entertainer.

Marilyn Maye possesses one of the purest vocal instruments in the world of good music. Her intonation is flawless, her sound unique and the orchestrations provided on the two-album reissue are among the finest the record industry could have procured. My only regret is that Ms. Maye didn't record more in the years of her popularity.

Marilyn Maye has a voice so beautiful you just can't ignore her when she sings. This CD gives us all of the tracks from two of Marilyn's record albums entitled Meet Marvelous Marilyn Maye and The Lamp Is Low. Great!

The CD starts with "Get Me To The Church On Time" from My Fair Lady. Marilyn sings this passionately with a jazzy music arrangement to make this number all her own. "Misty" features Marilyn performing a much more pensive ballad; her excellent diction bolsters her performance. Marilyn's interpretation of "Misty" reflects her fine creativity--wow! The strings enhance the natural beauty of "Misty," too.

"Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe" gets another jazzy rendition with great brass, drums and percussion. Marilyn sings this with all her heart; and it shows as she delivers "Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe" to perfection! "Hello, Dolly!" starts with Marilyn singing this ballad with just a piano accompaniment; and when the song gets underway the brass and percussion enhance Marilyn's performance very well. Listen for Marilyn to pay tribute to Louis Armstrong when she sings part of this ballad in a gravely voice! Moreover, "Make Someone Happy" gets the royal treatment from Marilyn as she sings this passionately with great sensitivity.

"The Lamp Is Low" starts off with some great brass for a bouncy rendition by Marilyn; she really bats this number straight out of the ballpark! "You're Gonna Hear From Me" showcases Marilyn singing at her very best; and she doesn't disappoint. Great! "You're Gonna Hear From Me" makes great use of the brass, too.

"Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars" gives us Marilyn singing another pensive romantic ballad with great sensitivity; and she delivers "Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars" beautifully. How's about that percussion, too? "Too Late Now" begins with a great horn solo; and when Marilyn comes in this number truly takes flight!

The liner notes feature beautiful artwork; and we get the original liner notes from both record albums. The photos of Marilyn are really nicely displayed, too.

Marilyn Maye never did anything half-baked; and this two-fer CD proves it. We are so much better off for Marilyn sharing her magnificent talents with us; and hopefully she will continue to entertain us for many years to come.

In pulling together two of Marilyn's LPs from the 1960s, Collectables rewards those of us who knew and enjoyed her jazz-oriented interpretations, mixed with Ella-styled scat. Hopefully, it also introduces her to a whole new generation.

The songs presented here by this songstress born in 1931 in Wichita, Kansas, many of them performed on The Tonight Show where she was a favourite of both Johnny Carson and bandleader Doc Severinsen, are some of the best of the old standards, and she handles them, in her own unique way, as good as any before her or since.

It's just too bad this is the only Marilyn Maye CD available because the contents do not include any of her hit singles or their flipsides for RCA Victor from 1966 to 1970. None made the Billboard Pop Hot 100, but seven did score on the Adult Contemporary [AC] charts. In fact, she holds the distinction of having the most AC hits [eight - one song charted twice] without once making the Hot 100.

These are: Cabaret [# 9 in late 1966 from the Broadway musical b/w Two Lovers]; Sherry [# 8 in March 1967 from the Broadway musical b/w Too Much In Love]; When We All Get Together [# 25 in August 1967 b/w You've Got To Be There]; Step To The Rear [# 2 in December 1967 from the Broadway musical How Now, Dow Jones b/w For Those In Love]; Till You Come Back [# 35 in April 1968 b/w Never Tell Me (Todavia)]; Feelin' [# 14 in January 1969 b/w Mr. Clown]; and Think Summer [# 17 in August 1969 billed to "Ed (Ames) & Marilyn" and b/w You Do. The same song, this time billed to Ed Ames and Marilyn Maye, charted again at # 38 in June 1970 on a re-release.

Wouldn't those make a nice 14-selection CD for some enterprising distributor. Step up to the plate Eric Records. Or Rhino. Or Varese-Sarabande. I'm almost afraid to say Collectables because, if their past history is any criterion, they will somehow contrive to leave off one or more of the hits. On this one, however, which has nothing to do with her hits, they did an admirable job. Recommended.

Marilyn Maye is the epitome of Kansas City Jazz! This hard to find CD is a fun journey back to some of the best jazz you'll find anywhere. No wonder she appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 76 times!

To the hardcore cabaret/supper club fans, the very mention of the name Marilyn Maye is enough to send shivers down your spine. To the un-initiated, this disc is the perfect starting point. Marilyn Maye is one of the most acclaimed yet curiously forgotten leading ladies of the 1960s cabaret scene. She achieved fame on TV, clocking up 76 record-breaking appearances on the Tonight Show; toured the country in productions of "Mame" and "Hello, Dolly!", and sang the theme song to Governer Robert Ray's political campaign ("Step to the Rear"). And forget about Garland, Lee or Streisand...Ella Fitzgerald hailed Ms Maye as "the greatest white female singer in the world"...a compliment indeed.

The proof still lies in Maye's outstanding debut albums for RCA ("Meet Marvelous Marilyn Maye" and "The Lamp is Low"), both reissued here in their entirety on a single compact disc from Collectibles. Sit back and revel in the lustrous VOICE, equally at home in big-belting showstoppers ("You're Gonna Hear from Me", "Get Me to the Church on Time") or tender love ballads ("Too Late Now", "Where Are You?").

Maye always maintained that she modeled her vocal technique on male rather than female singers. Perhaps this is why she managed to rise above all the other female cabaret singers of her period; her bold, take-no-prisoners vocal style instantly grabs you with it's intensity, passion and vivacity. This CD is a no-brainer for admirers of the Great American Songbook. Highly recommended.

[COLLECTIBLES COL-CD 2807/DRC1-3008]

Marilyn Maye is truly marvelous!! It's a great CD. There are very few, if any, who sing as well as she does, or I should say as well as she did when she recorded the songs on the CD. She is still performing today at 81 years of age. I haven't heard her recently, but if she is 25% as good now as she is on the CD, then she is better today than most vocalists out there.

I first heard "Put On A Happy Face" by Marilyn Maye on Music Choice and was very impressed. I went to Amazon.com and found the CD with the song on it and made the purchase. The entire CD is full of excellent songs and I am very, very pleased with the product.