Customer Reviews

Rosie Solves the Swinging Riddle

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Rosie Solves the Swingin' Riddle! is an excellent CD that features both Rosemary Clooney the vocalist and Nelson Riddle as both conductor and musician. The quality of the sound couldn't be better; and the CD artwork is very good. The artwork essentially comes from the original record album release.

The CD starts with a hot rendition of "Get Me To The Church On Time." Rosemary Clooney aces this completely; and Nelson Riddle sounds so good with his buddies! This big band style arrangement works wonders for this number from My Fair Lady; and I know you're going to enjoy this ballad. "Angry" puts Rosemary front and center with another Nelson Riddle arrangement from heaven! "Angry" has Rosemary Clooney singing her best; and the percussion that imitates the sound of tap dancing gives the number a very "smart" sound. I love it!

"I Get Along Without You Very Well" features Rosemary swinging brightly to enhance this number with all her might; and listen also for "You Took Advantage Of Me." Rosemary sings "You Took Advantage Of Me" with panache and every note is just right. Indeed, Rosemary never sings a superfluous note! The brass on "You Took Advantage Of Me" works well for this tune as well.

"Some Of These Days" gets a faster tempo than I'm used to; but it still holds its own very well. Rosemary and Nelson combine forces to make "Some Of These Days" a highlight of this album. Listen for a particularly full, lush musical arrangement by Nelson Riddle on "Some Of These Days." "Shine On Harvest Moon" benefits from the brass and the percussion; and when Rosemary sings this it truly takes flight! "Cabin In The Sky" shines like gold when Rosemary sings this with heart and soul; although I don't remember this tune from the movie of the same name--the same name might be a coincidence.

"Without Love" is so stunning when Rosemary Clooney and Nelson Riddle team up to perform this classic tune; and the album ends so nicely with them performing "The Theme From Return To Payton Place." Terrific!

There's just no doubt about it--for Rosemary Clooney and Nelson Riddle fans, this CD is a must have! I highly recommend it. People who enjoy classic pop vocals will also cherish this one for years to come.

Thank you, Rosemary and Nelson! We will never forget you!

This is one of my favorite Rosie albums, which gained her a lot of credibility at a time when she needed it to shake off the image of novelty pop singer. The title may suggest a set of high-energy uptempo songs and the first song, a foot-stomping version of Get me to the church on time, fits that bill exactly. However, what you actually get is a nice mix of tempos, with plenty of ballads, although even they swing. You would certainly be able to dance to this album if you wish.

The songs are well-chosen and suit Rosie well. Some of them are reasonably well known, but none of them have been over-recorded. It is incredible to think that Shine on harvest moon was written in 1909, and was therefore half a century old even when Rosie recorded this album. It stands the test of time well, and still sounds great now.

Perhaps the best known songs here are I get along without you very well and April in Paris, but every song here is a real gem. Rosie and Nelson were both in top form when they recorded this album.

This is a very different album from Love, a very smoochy colloection of torch songs recorded at around the same time, but released a couple of years later (also available from Amazon.com). Between them, they show just how versatile Rosemary was.

My copy of this album is the original CD release. This new edition has been re-mastered so it should sound even better. Furthermore, two extra tracks have been added.

This is a brilliant collection by a lady who continued to make great music until the end of her life. She will be sadly missed, but her music will live forever.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this album!! I listen to it all of the time, even at the gym. Not only is Rosemary's voice fantastic, but Nelson Riddle and his orchestra are rockin'!!
I'm a late-blooming Rosie fan. Most people my age (42) grew up with very different musical tastes. My parents got me hooked on adult-contemporary when I was a kid. My dad actually had a band and played much of this music. It's so refreshing to hear 44 year old music sound so refreshing instead of the Britney, Christina, et. al. garbage being recorded today.
Rosie strikes me as someone I would have liked to have known. That seems to shine through her beautiful voice.

I bought this CD by mistake from Amazon. I wanted to buy the original one, but I found out too late that I ordered CD-R.

Nowadays the art cover is different and its pattern shows that it's CD-R. However when I ordered the CD on February 11, 2011, the photo showed the original art work. I don't remember of reading any alert about CD-R. I only remember that Swingin' Riddle (a hard to find CD) was back again in stock.

I thought at first in returning it to Amazon. Then I realized it was worthless, because the CD wasn't too expensive. So I decided to open the cd and to give one chance for CD-R.

I confirmed it isn't my kind of media. There's no information about the album, besides its track list. Everything is poor, even the abrupt end in each track. I miss the last three or four seconds of each song.

Rosemary Clooney and Nelson Riddle are in top form. The album is great. Although I don't recommend the CD-R version. I'm looking for the original Audio CD.

I give five stars for "Rosie Solves the Swingin' Riddle" album and one star for CD-R version.

This is one of the best albums ever recorded by Rosemary Clooney. I also believe it is one of the best albums ever made. Rosemary's voice is superb and Nelson Riddle's arrangements are some of the best he's ever done. Only Riddle's work with Sinatra can match the quality of his work on this project. I highly recommend this album to everyone who owns a CD player.

This is a wonderful CD, musically and vocally masterful. However, this label's version cuts off the ending of every song such that none fades out or otherwise ends as originally intended. It's like racing down the street and hitting a brick wall. All I'm saying is, try to get a version other than Bluebird's, which I've found disappointing, obviously. That said, Rosie's version here of "By Myself" is absolutely top o' the heap.

Recorded in 1960 at the height of their love affair, Rosemary Clooney and arranger Nelson Riddle make some of their sweetest music in ROSIE SOLVES THE SWINGIN' RIDDLE.

You might be led to believe that the album as a whole is an upbeat affair (which it mostly is) however there are some great ballads ("How Am I to Know?", "April in Paris") in which we can catch our breath. Rosie shines with the jubilant "Get Me to the Church on Time", and "Limehouse Blues", which Riddle scores with lots of delightful Oriental flourishes. And nobody except perhaps Judy Garland has recorded a more satisfying, galvanising "By Myself".

Riddle knew exactly how to draw the very best out of this most expressive and soulful singer - and finally exorcised Clooney from the novelty pop genre in the process! Clooney would later remark on their relationship as "the best blending of my job and my personal life that I've ever had".

The disc is filled out by two bonus tracks, recorded around the same period as the SWINGIN' RIDDLE album. "Without Love" is the big ballad from Cole Porter's "Silk Stockings" score; whilst "The Wonderful Season of Love" was used as the theme in the movie "Return to Peyton Place" (ironically directed by Clooney's husband Jose Ferrer during the time when their first marriage was beginning to crumble).

Next to Love, this is probably Clooney's all-time best album.

this is a great album which i have now on cd as well as fancy meeting you here and clap hands here comes rosie. now we need rosie sings country songs from the heart and a touch of tobasco with perez prado
hint! hint!

It is such a great CD I have almost worn it out playing it every day in my car.