Song for Young Love / Once Upon a Time

Lettermen | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 8, 2003)
• Original Release Date: 1962
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collector's Choice
• ASIN: B00006RYJ3
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #132,615 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Blueberry Hill

2. When I Fall In Love

3. The Way You Look Tonight

4. Come Back, Silly Girl

5. Dreamer

6. I'll Be Seeing You

7. In The Still Of The Night

8. It Happened Once Before

9. Smile

10. A Song For Young Love

11. There's Got To Be A Girl

12. Valley High

13. Evening Rain

14. How Is Julie?

15. Lover's Beach

16. My Funny Valentine

17. Once Upon A Time

18. Polka Dots And Moonbeams

19. Remembering Last Summer

20. Sixteen Reasons (Why I Love You)

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

The Lettermen had 32, count ’em, 32 charting albums, each a model of close-harmony adult pop, and not ONE of them is on CD! Such a situation fairly begs for a Collectors’ Choice Music reissue, and we’re happy to oblige, offering their first two albums—FYI, "A Song for Young Love" was their highest-charting release, at #6 in 1962—on one 24-track CD. Special note to Lettermen fans—if this one sells, you can expect a lot more!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding sound quality - as good as it gets ..., October 23, 2003

By 

Jake Ivey (Dahlonega, Georgia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Song for Young Love / Once Upon a Time (Audio CD)

I'm a classically trained musician and audiophile who has remastered much of my older music collection from retail CD's because of audio quality issues - but I wouldn't touch any of these masterpieces. The engineers simply did a REMARKABLE job of mixing and mastering these recordings, no doubt from the original session tapes. When I first listened (with earphones, of course) I was almost astonished, doubtful that the great sound would hold up from song to song but, to my amazement, it did. It was goose bumps for an hour. It just doesn't get any better than this. Without question, this is the best sounding Lettermen CD so far, the best quality reproductions yet released on CD.

To me, the best Lettermen material (song titles, arrangements, and recordings) comes from the original period of 1962 - 1968, and was recorded by the original group (Jim Pike, Tony Butala, & Bob Engemann). They just had great chemistry, their voice types matched well, and the result was a unique sound, a great blend. About the time Gary Pike replaced Bob in 1968, the style of music was rapidly changing and The Lettermen (necessarily) changed with it. Today, Tony still has The Lettermen going strong but this original period, far and away, represents their best stuff, and is some of my favorite music of all time. These albums, A Song For Young Love and Once Upon A Time, were released in 1962.

Since I am intimately familiar with every recording from this period (with few exceptions), having long ago memorized every melodic measure, I have no reservation in saying these recordings sound better than the original vinyl. No integrity was lost, and I actually detected parts of music background through the albums I hadn't heard before, which I didn't think was possible. This is the way older, analog recordings should be. It's as if they zoomed back to 1962 and did a digital recording of the entire session. Amazing. And all the selections on this CD are good - there are no fillers.

If you liked The Lettermen, or just like ballads, you'll love this CD. We just have to hope they'll continue releasing these great recordings from the original Lettermen period. Oh, do yourself a favor (get a decent set of headphones if you don't already have them) and treat yourself by listening through your headphones the first time you listen. This is The Lettermen like you've never heard them. Just be ready for the goosebumps.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars give these men a spotlight !!!, April 27, 2008

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Song for Young Love / Once Upon a Time (Audio CD)

Song For Young Love/Once Upon A Time is an excellent twofer CD by the incomparable Lettermen. The Lettermen harmonized just about better than any group I've ever heard; and they sang with all their hearts. This impresses me greatly; and hopefully with CDs like this one The Lettermen will always be fondly remembered. The sound quality is excellent and the artwork is very nice, too. I always like it when they incorporate the record album artwork into the CD artwork.

The album opens with The Lettermen singing "Blueberrey Hill" so sweetly; the strings complement their singing perfectly and I love every minute of it! The Lettermen prove with this tune they were champs! "When I Fall In Love" is equally bright; this is a major highlight of this album and it's truly very beautiful. "When I Fall In Love" features The Lettermen harmonizing to perfection--and beyond! Terrific! In addition, "The Way You Look Tonight" shines brightly and The Lettermen never skip a beat!

"Dreamer" features The Lettermen singing a fine tune and they handle the changes between major and minor keys effortlessly. Impressive! Of course, we know that it really wasn't so easy these guys were incredibly talented and they could make it appear effortless without any trouble. "In The Still Of Night" uses the strings to great advantage; and again The Lettermen use modulations between major and minor keys so very well. The overall effect is that "In The Still Of The Night" is an especially pretty ballad-and that's grand.

"Smile," a song partly written by the great Charlie Chaplin; has an beautifully and very sensitive arrangement; I love this rendition of "Smile" and I predict that you'll like it very much if you haven't heard The Lettermen perform this already. Great! In addition, listen fort The Lettermen to do a smashing job on "There's Got To Be A Girl." They play and sing this so flawlessly and I am amazed at how well they do this number.

"Evening Rain" has a stunning arrangement fr the piano and The Lettermen sing this with all their hearts and souls. It's a very pretty melody and The Lettermen take this song to new heights! In addition, "My Funny Valentine" works at many levels at once; and this is another major highlight of this album.

"Once Upon A Time" shines brighter than silver and gold when The Lettermen sing it; and listen for The Lettermen on "Remembering Last Summer." "Remembering Last Summer" is a sentimental Love ballad that gets the royal treatment from The Lettermen as they croon this without a superfluous note."Time Was (Duerme) is another sentimental ballad and The Lettermen deliver this with their usual panache. Great!

"Turn Around, Look At Me" was a huge hit for The Lettermen; and just one listen proves why! It's absolutely stunning. The CD also ends nicely with The Lettermen singing "Young And Foolish;" this makes a strong ending for this CD and that's terrific.

The Lettermen amply prove on this CD that they were champs. I highly recommend this for their fans; and people who enjoy classic pop vocals will also want this for their collections. Thanks you, Lettermen!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More originals please, July 5, 2006

By 

Stephen Yazulla "Eye Man" (St. James, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Song for Young Love / Once Upon a Time (Audio CD)

These first two of their albums of the original Lettermen are fantastic. Sure would be great to have other early original albums released in CD form as were these two. The numerous "Best of..." compilations simply recycle the same songs. The original cuts of "I Believe", "You'll Never Walk Alone", "Dearly Beloved", "No Other Love", and so many others are not on these reissues. Or how about their beautiful Christmas album of about 1970. The Lettermen harmony has never been equaled. Reissue the orginal albums. How about it?