Customer Reviews

Most Requested Songs

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This collection of Susannah McCorkle's "Most Requested Songs" rates five stars, purely on the merits of the artist. It contains some of her best-known and most characteristic work, from the harsh beauty of her signature piece, Jobim's "Waters of March," to the touching (and now saddening) "For All We Know." Recorded between 1976 and last year, covering her whole career, each performance is graced with Susannah's clairvoyant comprehension of lyrics, her mastery of languages, her gimmickless musicality, a voice brimming with intelligence and heart, playfulness, wit and sensuality. All this talent was strictly in the service of bringing forth the story, the inner spirit of every song. Maturing and improving with time, she became the voice of experience, wounded love mixing with hope, ever more audible in each sad ballad.

To me, it is criminal that despite her three decades of superb live shows, extensive touring and nineteen albums, she never gained the wide recognition that was rightfully hers. She should have been the best loved gal jazz/pop singer since Peggy Lee; one of those voices you heard most often on jazz radio.

I cannot avoid feeling bitter and angry about this album. It is not the record Susannah wanted to make in 2001. Interviewed by a German jazz magazine last February, she already had her next project well in mind:

"I'm going to do all love songs in several languages - I'll probably do one in German - in fact, I'd be interested to hear what your suggestions might be! I'll do romantic standards, 'cause I love them of course, and I'll do a couple of Brazilian songs, and probably another one in French - I don't know if you remember, I did "Nuages" in French, and people really liked that - one in German and probably one in Spanish. But it will mostly be in English, and it will still fall within the category of jazz."

It was not to be. Soon after, Concord Records decided to economize by not doing a new McCorkle album, and issuing this "Most Requested" set instead. Susannah gamely went along, selecting the numbers and writing the liner notes, but it was a cruel disappointment. Denied one of her most cherished creative outlets, she fell deeper into the depression that ended with her suicide in May.

This "Most Requested Songs" should have been a bonus, a companion piece to the new album, a wonderful introduction to a great singer whose best work was still ahead. It will serve that purpose, and very well, too. But now we can only look back.

As an assortment of recordings covering close to a twenty-year period in McCorkle's career, this album is remarkably cohesive--more consistent in programming, sonic properties, and even vocal quality than many of the overly-produced albums of today.

Yet Susannah is not the easiest "sell." Her voice is not going to bowl you over like Eva Cassidy's, seduce you like Diana Krall's, or intimately embrace you like Shirley Horn's. There's often a "tired" quality to her tones, a rough-edged coolness along with hints of strain and pain. Her indebtedness to Billie Holiday, especially late Lady Day, is more than a little apparent. What may be lacking in vocal equipment is readily compensated for by sheer musical intelligence.

But the reason Susannah was so essential is that she was one of the few remaining interpreters and representatives of the American Songbook. We live in an age when the production and synthesis of music have replaced performance and interpretation. The artist and the material are inseparable, a single commodity. Imagine the absurdity of even considering the way a Michael Jackson or Elton John, a Madonna or Britanny Spears interprets a good song. Popular art is no longer about interpretation--the performer's or the listener's. It's simply about the manufacture and marketing of a product.

Susannah felt so strongly about the songs she sang that, as she relates in the album notes, she sat through Fred Astaire's "Shall We Dance" 3 times in order to jot down all the lyrics of the Gershwin tunes. Wonderful songs, according to her, are what "chronicle our lives, cheer us up, and keep us company." For the listener who takes songs as seriously as Susannah, this is an indispensable album. She brings to bossa nova tunes a raw, tragic quality lacking in the mellow Astrud Gilberto orginals; she literally "becomes" Chet Baker in her reprise of his performance of "Look for the Silver Lining"; she brings to life the latent power of the songs of Kern, Gershwin, Porter, enabling us to experience the ways in which their songs reveal us to ourselves.

In one sense, this collection is a more satisfying album than Susannah's last recording session, "Hearts and Minds." That program includes so much ironically sad and autobiographical material as to be a trifle depressing. Thankfully, one of the real "keepers" from that date, "For All We Know," is included in this self-selected anthology.

The only time I ever heard of Susannah McCorkle was on magazine reviews or on some low-watt college jazz FM station in Orlando. This is a typical tragedy of the music business. After her death, I purchashed this album, and I wish I had known of her talent better. She interpreted classic songs better than anyone currently in the business, yet she sold nowhere near today's pop ego divas. She wasn't a dynamic yeller, or this week's fad, she was a sensative artist, who really loved a good song. Her voice was clear, strong yet with a hint of playfulness. Like the old jazz joke says.."You can't be that good..if too many people like you." If that's the case, Susannah was very very good, but it wasn't because we didn't like her, it was because we seldom ever heard her on the radio. Well at least, we still have her great recordings.

Do yourself a favor: Set your CD player to repeat "The Waters of March" about a dozen times. Different sounds become apparent with each replay; the rhythm, the gentle melancholy, the wistfulness of the vocal phrasing; the engaging, gentle piano accompanying the heart-wrenching rhythm. This the definitive wistful version of a beautifully crafted song, poetic and pure, with the downcast eyes of a disillusioned romanticist longing for more from life. Far and away, the most sensitive, beautiful and accomplished song in its clarity, simplicity and beauty that I have ever experienced.

...it took me weeks to find who the artist was at the end of Jerry Seinfeld's documentary Film "Comedian"...but alas, I found it. If you have seen the movie and you appreciate good music when you here it, then you remember the song "Waters of March". It is a masterpiece.

Here the late Susannah McCorkle picks her most requested songs, and they're a great lot. Rather than bore you with the details, if you like torchy, interpretive jazz, you'll like these sensitive and beautifully sung songs, which span a wide-range of genres. The opening song "The Waters of March" has exquisite phrasing and is worth the price of the whole CD. "Quality Time" is so funny and so well delivered, it deserves a repeat button all its own. One note: The CD version of "The People That You Never Get to Love" is not the one from the album of that title, but rather another version with an octet...it's not as good as her other version, but still more than serviceable.

What a joy...and what a tragedy! If you've never listened to Susannah McCorckle, "Most Requested Songs" will be a true revelation to you. It was to ME. I've been slow in building a CD collection (didn't have a CD player until last year, actually!). And although I heard one of her wonderful songs once on a jazz station, I hadn't owned a CD of hers until I read a recent review in Entertainment Weekly magazine. I was curious. So I ordered this CD from Amazon...and was blown away. I agree with those who say it's a CRIME that she wasn't given more exposure on jazz stations and on television. Each track, from the slower ones to the more upbeat, would echo in my mind throughout the day. I couldn't wait to hear them again. The artistry - she's soothing, yet witty, upbeat,yet sad, making each lyric and note count -- was a joy to behold. And if you know the oft-repeated circumstances of her tragic death, you listen and think: what a loss. But this CD, the last project on which she worked, accomplished a key goal: it shows such a wide range of artistry that improves on repeated listening that I now only have one choice: to buy more and more of her CDs. The sad part, of course, is that there are only so many I can buy, now. My favorite tracks: The Waters of March, Look for the Silver Lining, I Thought About You, If I Only Had a Heart, Thanks for the Memory, S'Wonderful, and the all-too-prophetic For All We Know. That's a LOT of tracks for me to love in a CD. The bottom line: I bought it because I read a provocative review and was curious...and I'm now a HUGE fan. I don't listen to her now because of her STORY...I listen to her because her style is such a JOY.

So, on a scale of 1 - 10 I have Margaret at 1 and Susannah at 10 [where is Jo Stafford?]. When Susannah sings, I find myself wanting to know everything about her. She draws me into herself by drawing me into the songs she chooses to sing. This album has three songs, "The People you Never Get to Love" , "Quality Time" and "The Waters of March" that for me define the artist. She voices wistfulness with a bitter aftertaste, has an absolute mandate to destroy the mundane and possesses depth of experience requisite to strobing an already brilliant lyric. I think her suicide [maybe she knew], will turn the world on to just who she was and how important she was to us.

Susannah McCorkle may have been one of our best and most underappreciated cabaret/jazz singers. Tragically for us and for reasons known only to her and to her maker, Susannah chose to leave us last May and left a huge void in the hearts of her fans. Fortunately, she also left us some wonderful music.
Her parting gift to us is the posthumous release "Most Requested Songs". This CD, which is composed of tracks from her huge catalog, gives us an idea as to the incredible range that she had. And very strangely, there are some omens on this CD. For example, "They Can't Take That Away From Me' (covered nicely by Diana Krall), "Look For the Silver Lining", and perhaps very appropros, "Thanks for the Memeory" (the Bob Hope theme). My favorite is "The People That You Never Get to Love" which tells the story of "what might have been", some of the saddest words in our language. Perhaps Susannah never realized how much we love her and how much we miss her. And maybe we never told her how much she meant to us.
Susannah's vast catalog of music covers many composers. She has dedicated several CDSs to their work. For example, one this Cd you will find "If I Only Had a Heart", by E.Y. "Yip" Harburg, and yes it is the song from "Wizard of Oz". There is the latin flavored "Waters of March" (which you can now find on Jane Monheit's CD.) This Cd also includes the quirky "Quality Time" and the thoughtful "I thought About You" by Johnny Mercer (who wrote "Jeepers Creepers"). Susannah has an entire CD dedicated to his works as well. And there is "S'Wonderful" by the incomparable George Gershwin, another tribute CD. In short, there is something for most fans on this CD. If you are new to Susannah or if you are interested in getting a sampling of her work, give this CD a listen. I believe that it will inspire you to listen to some of her other CDs, as it did with me.
The more I listen to this CD, the more I enjoy Susannah's work and the pain in my heart grows with the realization that she is gone. Let's appreciate what she left as her legacy.

This collection of McCorkle's most requested songs includes some great interpretations of standards, like "Easy to Love" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me". It made me sit up and listen to "Thanks for the Memories", which had just been a Bob Hope theme song to me, up until then. Throw in McCorkle's theme song "The Waters of March", and you've got enough great songs to make buying this CD a worthy purchase in just those 4 songs. Then listen to the whole thing a few more times, and you'll find new favorites to love. If you've never listened to Susannah McCorkle before, this is a great place to start.