Customer Reviews

Politely! / Swingin' Pretty - Two Classic Albums from Keely Smith

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

 

 

Keely Smith is one of those rare stars that comes along every few thousand blue moons that is not particularly flashy or flamboyant, but gets every drop out of any song that she lays her chops on. Former husband Louis Prima knew talent, and here's proof of Louis' smarts thanks to the people at EMI/Capitol Special Markets. Teamed with fantastic arrangers Billy May (on the "POLITELY" sides) and the incomparable Nelson Riddle ("SWINGIN' PRETTY sides), Keely exudes and exceeds all emotions from wistful to downright pandemonium. While many of these sides can be found on various other CDs, there are some real standouts here. Billy May's rip-roaring chart for "ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET" still makes me throw my head back and laugh with delight. Keely keeps right up with the band too, and makes this old chestnut a fine swinger. Other great charts from Billy include the female counterpart to Ol' Blue Eyes' timeless "ALL THE WAY", which Keely really torches soulfully, the bouncy "S'POSIN'", and the sly "COCKTAILS FOR TWO". Being a huge Billy May fan, I really enjoyed that part of the CD. Being a HUGER Nelson Riddle fan, I could hardly wait to hear the few sides I hadn't previously. One of which, the evergreen Gershwin standard "THE MAN I LOVE" is absolutely grand. (It could never compare to the reading Nelson and Ella Fitzgerald gave it a few years prior on Ella's "Gerswhin Songbook" set, but then, what could?)Still though, a real gem. Keely starts it out slow enough, despite the slightest under-urging from Nelson's "sneak-up-on-ya" swinging chart. By mid-song, it's a free-for-all, if only for a moment, to build to the fantastic tag as only Riddle could do (and help the singers he backed acheive as well) Sadly, there are no extensive liner notes to tell for sure,(although replications of BOTH original albums are in the booklet) but it really sounded like Keely was back with Sam Butera and the Witnesses on "YOU'RE DRIVING ME CRAZY", another great one of this album. It's amazing to watch Riddle drift in and out of somber to swingin' tempos on otherwise melancholy songs such as "STARDUST" and "THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER YOU" (two hits for Nat King Cole on the same Capitol label, arranged by the same Nelson Riddle!) These sides close with a fine reading of "WHAT CAN I SAY AFTER I'M SORRY?" A great re-release of two great albums.

Capitol knew just what to do with Keely Smith, with producer Voyle Gilmore putting her in the hands of Nelson Riddle and Billy May. Her three albums for Capitoll are models of imaginative song selection, exceptional arranging and vocal performances that are continually surprising--resting on a rock solid voice with impeccable intonation, warmth, irony, humor and wisdom. Frank Sinatra felt Keely was truly one of the great popular singers of all time and these splendid albums certainly show why. When she went to Dot she found herself in the hands of Billy Vaughan--yoicks--and it was all downhill from there. As she later lamented on the "Tonight Show"--"I thought all record labels were the same." The low points were an album with Keely as a painted Indian on the cover and an album of twist music. Actually, on Dot there were no high points. So cherish the Capitol material--it's absolutely topnotch and makes you wonder what might have been had Louie and Prima stuck with Capitol.

The torch-singing Keely Smith has always been better listening than the comedy-singing Keely who charmed Las Vegas and other venues with her then-husband, Louis Prima. This double-album Capitol re-release makes the point better than any customer's review. With terrific arrangements from Billy May and Nelson Riddle, Keely's renditions of "Cocktails for Two," "Sweet and Lovely," "Stormy Weather," "The Man I Love" and 20 more equally great standards make this Collector's Choice CD a great choice for your collection ... and for the collection of someone you love. Having named my only daughter Keely some 40 years ago, I can only hope there's another double-album re-release of Keely Smith ballads coming soon.

"Swingin' Pretty" sounds fabulous, just like it did on the stereo pressings of the Capitol LP, where the vocal was out-of-phase, but that has been corrected here. "Politely" however, is inexplicably mono, when the photo of the LP jacket on the front of this CD's booklet shows it to be in "Capitol Stereo - The Full Spectrum of Sound." A UK release entitled "The Best of the Capitol Years" contains all 12 tracks from "Politely" in Capitol Full Dimensional Stereo. This release gets docked one star for its mono content.