Customer Reviews

Rawls Sings Sinatra

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

 

 

Rawls sings Sinatra is the type of album many Lou Rawls fans have waited years for him to produce. A swinging big band, jazzy arrangements with a blues vain throughout. Great songs, fine playing all topped by Rawls' magnificent vocal performances. We have been listening to these songs by Sinatra, Sinatra wanabes or the latest prodigy for over 40 years. How fitting then that Lou Rawls in the autumn of his career should produce one of his finest albums. He takes Mr. Sinatra's classics and makes them his own, given a few listenings the songs on this album sound as if they were written especially for him, dare I say even the phrasing is inch perfect!
Everybody involved in this project can be truly proud to have produced a superb Album that repays repeated plays and the chance to hear one of the Greatest singers of all time with the right material, in the right setting - Frank who!

Lou Rawls must be in his late 60s now but on this 2003 recording he proves he can still cut it. Yes, some of his range has gone and his voice isn't as assured as it used to be on the ballads, but it remains the richest, smoothest voice in the business. His phrasing is fresh and inventive and he really stamps his mark on these Sinatra classics. My favourite tracks are Nice and Easy, All the Way, Chicago, Learning the Blues and The Lady is a Tramp. Nice arrangements, great songs and a quality singer. Recommended.

I dig Lou Rawls but this Set doesn't fully work.His voice is still solid but He isn't able to fully pull off Covering Sinatra.it has moments but comes up short&I was hoping this would get Lou back on top again but this is a Good try but a bit short.I'd love to Hear Lou Cover Sam Cooke or Mel Torme stuff then He would Bring it.

I've been buying Lou Rawls material for over thirty years. Love that deep rich voice. His last few productions have had a lot of good material; so I was expecting him to hit this CD out of the ball park. There are a few tracks I like; but most have something missing. Being familiar with the Sinatra originals, this is where I think the problems lie: 1) the back-up arrangements are not as good as the ones Sinatra got. 2) Mr. Rawls' phrasing suffers in comparison with Sinatra's. On the other hand Lou Rawls has every right to put his personal stamp on this material. In this instance he did not succeed as well as I hoped.

Lou Rawls sings the songs Sinatra made popular his way. The arrangements are jazzy and snappy with Lou adding his own personal style to the lyrics. No one can replicate Sinatra and why would anyone want to try? Lou Rawls sings these songs with a talent and flair that is his alone. If you like this type of song & music, I recommend adding this cd to your collection. I hope Lou seriously considers doing another cd of this type of music.

OH MY GOSH, his voice sounde even BETTER than it did in his classic 1962 lp, Stormy Monday. This cd is as classic as his jazz debut album Stormy Monday(with Les McCan). This cd is his most jazz based since his 1st lp too! Here we have jazz legend Benny Golson lending fresh yet classic sounding arrangements, and trumpet playing, though not a whole lot of soloing. This cd is exellent all the way thru(& if you buy it from Borders, you get a bonus track, You Make Me Feel So Young). As a matter of fact some of the highlights are You Make Me Feelo So Young*, Come Fly With Me, All The Way, Nice'N'Easy, and the whole cd flows, thanks to Golson's Billy May/Nelson Riddle like arrangemets, that are slightly jazzier than May or Riddle. Rawls vocie is in peak form, I mean his baritone has never sounded richer, creamier and smoother than now, he certianly sounds better than he did in the 60's. He sounds sexy, mature, and sure of himself, without sounding cocky(though cocky was a Sinatra trait). Rawls swings on a Sinatra level, I mean Rawls swings hard for this, one of his finest sessions. Rawls' vocie sounds so appelaing here i doesn't need be compared to Sinatra, and since rawls makes these songs all his own, this really is a tribute(unlike other unsucsessful tributes like Barry Manilow's, part parody, part insult cd). The main reason to buy this is to hear a singer like rawls who has the voice but hasn't recorded an entire set of standards(or a decent non-Christmas album since 1962), here is a great excuse not to hear him on his usual R&B throwaway albums. this is Rawls at his best, he should continue to do all standard albums, with even trio jazz backing... Rawls is a jazz singer at heart, and weather you are a siantra fan or not, you will enjoy this set of basicly standards. Fine singing by one of the greatest baritones today(other than Herb Jeffries). You wil love this, and so will anyonw, these make good stocking stuffers.

That's what the CD should have been called...this guy has an impeccable voice...so what do they do? They make a recording that was basically unlistenable to me....the orchestra was obviously recorded first and then Rawls sang overdubs....he sounds completely disconnected from the music...if you can get by this then the CD is recommended.

RAWLS sings SINATRA is really a welcome addition to the RAWLS collection. Mr. Rawls' voice is as strong and listenable as when he was 40 years younger. There isn't a bland song in the collection and I hope there is RAWLS SINGS SINATRA...Vol. 2 in the near future. It works, Lou! Thanks to the wonderful 'behind the scenes' people who made it happen, also.

While I agree with some that Lou Rawls' voice is past its prime, I'd still rather listen to him paying tribute to Sinatra than anyone else! What his amazing voice has lost over the years (and it hasn't lost all that much), he makes up for with phrasing and timing. These songs sound so well-suited to him! Highly recommended.

Hey even a Cheech & Chong Sing Sinatra would have been more tactful than Manilow Sings Siantra, but that isn't the issue here. This cd Rawls Sings Sinatra is one of the best in his whole career(on the same lavel as his date with Les McCan in the early 60's), and Rawls' rich and elegantly aged baritone wraps itself around 12 Sinatra associated tunes. Rawls easily makes all these songs his own, without anyone having to draw comparisons to 'ol bBlue eyes, himslef. Rawls appealing baritone has never sounded so smooth and weathered getnly like fine old wine. Much like Keely Smith's cd tribute to Sinatra, Rawls was actually a singer Sinatra himslef admired artisticly, so this tribute makes sense, and unlike Manilow, and other oppritunists, Rawls waited yeasr after Sinatra's passing on, not to make money off others losses. This is a fine cd which shows a great singer in his musical prime! Half of the arrangements are swingin' and half are mellow & roamntic, with exellent Benny Golson arrangements and short jazz solos, a great disc, worthy of listening to over and over again... Make this a gift for a Sinatra, Rawls or swing/jazz fan for Christmas, they'll love it!