Customer Reviews

16 Most Requested Songs

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I may be regarded as a bit young to appreciate Rosemary Clooney, but at the tender age of 21 I have been virtually a lifelong fan. It is hard to believe that only 16 songs make up this collection but I tend to look at it from the point of view of narrowing it down to just 16. For someone just discovering the magic of Clooney's voice it is a wonderful introduction. To an old fan a masterly tribute.

I am only 12 but when I hear great music I know it! I like Rosemary's old music mainly because I love her on the movie White Christmas I watch that movie like 2 times a day one time 4 but fast forward through some of it the last time. Ok getting off subject I would just like to add she is beautiful in that movie and sounds like a really nice person and that there is no reason for some1 to dislike her(as if any1 could)! Well that is all thanks for your time!

Love always,Patty

I bought this CD in the early nineties when performers from this period were first coming out on CD. I've been pleased with it ever since. Since these songs were from the earlier part of Ms. Clooney's career, the sound quality won't match what we hear today. However, the remastering is very good, and the 'softness' is appropriate for the music and the period--it's especially fun to listen to in the car!

This CD has most, if not all, of the hits that Rosie is remembered for. Though some people will want every recording from an artist, many want only their greatest hits--just like today. These people will be well satisfied with this CD.

This CD is a great value at the price, buy and you won't regret it!

There are a few good songs that are different & upbeat. Most of the music is mellowdramatic and semi-slow. It was worth the money...

Aloha

Yes there was a musical world before 1956 and the Elvis explosion. That musical world, however, was the world of the parents, including mine, of the Generation of '68. One of those voices was that of Rosemary Clooney. Then I thought she was square- you know with that smooth voice and `good girl' image and all in a film like White Christmas with Bing Crosby. Then, several years ago, before she died I heard her in an interview on National Public Radio where she admitted to a drug problem and other little indiscretions. Of course, for this reviewer that meant that I might have to reevaluate her work now that I knew she was not really that `good girl'. Now a lot of her sound is still beyond the pale for me and her seeming addiction to bebop novelty songs like Mambo Italiano is off-putting but she certainly is more interesting as a singer to me now. I like the sound of Come On-A My House but what really is nice is Ms. Clooney's way with a ballad. Try Hey There and Tenderly on for size. Then work your way to Half As Much and then a nice little version of Blues In The Night and Too Young. It only took me 50 years to recognize it but Rosemary- you did good.

At the outset let me point out that the cover currently shown above is not the cover for the Rosemary Clooney entry in the series 16 Most Requested Songs. Rather, it comes from her album Love Songs. The correct cover is shown with the cassette version of the release.

As for this volume (the tracks shown above are correct) there is one thing common to the large Columbia series which covers a wide variety of artists ranging from Tony Bennett, Mel Torme, Doris Day, and Johnny Mathis to Robert Goulet, Jim Nabors and Buddy Greco (among many many more), and that is, the otherwise informative liner notes (usually at least three pages) never explain how the producers arrived at what constituted the "16 most requested" for any of the artists concerned. Requested by whom?

Now I know they do not claim to be the "best" or "greatest" hits of those concerned and anyway, when filling out a 16-track volume for a Buddy Greco or Jim Nabors they couldn't find 16 legitimate hits anyway. But when it comes to a Rosemary Clooney, that's a different story because this elegant lady had 33 singles reach the Billboard Pop Top/Hot 100 from 1951 to 1960.

So, with that much material to choose from, and with many of those hits certainly being at the top of any list of "most requested songs" why would they include these four: When You Wish Upon A Star (never a hit for Rosie); It Might As Well Be Spring - the 1945/46 hit versions from State Fair are more closely associated with Dick Haymes, Paul Weston & His Orchestra with vocal by Margaret Whiting, and Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra with vocal by Billy Williams); In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The Evening - the 1951 hit versions of this song from the film Here Comes The Groom belonged to Bing Crosby & Jane Wyman, and Jo Stafford & Frankie Laine); and Too Young (there were 5 hit versions of this in 1951 - and none belonged to Rosie, but rather Nat "King" Cole, Toni Arden, Patty Andrews, Fran Allison, and Richard Hayes.

More appropriate tunes than the four mentioned above not normally associated with Rosie would have been: You're Just In Love (her first hit, a duet with Guy Mitchell that reached # 24 in early 1951; Beautiful Brown Eyes (# 11 in spring 1951); Too Old To Cut The Mustard (a duet with Marlene Dietrich that reached # 12 in late summer 1952); and Mangos (# 10 in spring 1957).

But even at that, it's still a nice volume of some of her most significant hits, and with the insert you get six pages of background notes written by Fred Binkley. What you don't get, and this seems to be a hit-and-miss thing with the entire series, is a discography of the contents. So, I have indicated the chart performances hereunder for your information:

Come On-A My House - # 1 for EIGHT weeks in summer 1951 and Botch-A-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina) - # 2 in summer 1952 - both featuring Stan Freeman on harpsichord; Hey There - # 1 for SIX weeks in summer 1954 with Buddy Cole & His Orchestra; Be My Life's Companion - # 18 in February 1952, Tenderly - # 17 in March/April 1952, and Mixed Emotions - # 22 in September 1951 - the past three with Percy Faith & His Orchestra; Mambo Italiano - # 10 in December 1954/January 1955 with Buddy Cole's orchestra and The Mellomen; You'll Never Know - # 18 in January 1953 with Harry James & His Orchestra; Half As Much - # 1 for three weeks in June/July 1952 with the Percy Faith orchestra; This Ole House - # 1 for three weeks in late summer 1954 with the Buddy Cole orchestra); I Could Have Danced All Night - # 49 in June 1956 with Paul Weston & Hus Music From Hollywood; Blues In The Night - # 17 in October 1952 with the Percy Faith orchestra.

I went to see a play and before the play started they piped in music for the people in the audience to listen to while waiting for the actors to come out and begin the play, one of the songs that was played was Rosemary Clooney's Come on-a My House and I really loved it and thought it was a wonderful catchy song and I thought wow, Rosemary Clooney is a wonderful singer so when I decided to buy a Rosemary Clooney CD this is the one I chose and I love all of the songs, Come On-a My House, Mambo Italiano, etc, and I'm truly pleased with this CD and I highly recommend it!

Rosemary Clooney is justly famous for "Come On-A My House," a weird but wonderful amalgam of pseudo-Italian lyrics, tinkling funhouse keyboards, and her obvious enjoyment of the goofiness surrounding her. That's the first song in this collection, and you have to be strong to resist the urge to get up and dance around to it.

The very next tune, another novelty called "Botch-A-Me" (a bastardization of the Italian command to "kiss me") is ridiculous but fun. Then there's "Mambo Italiano"--used to such great effect in the 1998 Michelle Pfeiffer comedy "Married to the Mob"--and on all, Clooney has a great sense of humor. There's a catch in her voice that betrays her urge to giggle, and it's most enticing.

Clooney's easygoing gal-next-door personality seems perfectly suited to silly stuff like this, but she is just as successful at the more somber end of the song spectrum. She unfurls the banner of her gorgeous voice on "When You Wish Upon A Star" and you find yourself believing that wishing on a star really will get you your heart's desire.

On "I Could Have Danced All Night," Clooney convinces the listener that she could indeed have spent the entire evening on the dance floor. In fact, you want to join her there. Her great talent, in addition to a lovely voice, is to invite you into each and every one of her songs.

I've loved Rosemary Clooney ever since I was a little girl! ( I'm 19 now) She's a true classic and from what I've heard an all around great lady. We should all try to be as loving and caring as this talented woman. Her singing comforts people in hard times and helps us celebrate the good times. True fans would enjoy this CD. And if you're not a fan you'll become one quickly! Rosemary always leaves you wanting more!

Rosemary Clooney was the greatest pop or jazz singer that the 1950's had to offer, for the pop side, these hits were a mixed blessing. On one hand you had the horrible music hater Mitch Miller, producing, or shoudl I say overproducing her songs. It was Mitch's idea for the harpsicord in Coma on a my house. Clooney wished she hadn't recorded some of these tunes. However there are some gems here like Tenderly, Hey There, In The Cool Cool Coll of the evening, I could have danced al night. However thsi is just the pop side of Clooney try Blue Rose, with Duke Ellington's orchestra, and you'll hear a whole different versitile singer! This cd is the best way to get the 50's pop side of Clooney but don't judge her from this fluff until you've heard her with the Duke! Or any of her earlier Concerd cd's.