Customer Reviews

Then & Now

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With so many artists releasing "Greatest Hits" or "Essential" recordings, it is only fitting that legendary Academy Award winner Shirley Jones do the same. Her 2008 release of "Then & Now" is just that, a collection of the best show tunes she has recorded over the years plus brand new songs which she makes her own. This must have collection includes a beautiful version of "Beauty And The Beast" which is a true showstopper.

Those who fell for lovely Shirley Jones on-screen appearances in CAROUSEL, OKLAHOMA, THE MUSIC MAN and other movies will welcome the availability of this compilation of songs spanning her career. Apart from recalling soundtrack moments from the above films, there's also space for her versions of Pat Boone's on-screen numbers CLOVER IN THE MEADOW and GIVE ME A GENTLE GIRL which were cut from APRIL LOVE and its soundtrack album. Selections from the series of studio-produced albums also connect Shirley with then-husband Jack Cassidy.

For the NOW section of the collection, Shirley chooses BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and MEMORY with spoken introductions for songs from THE MUSIC MAN and a medley of AS TIME GOES BY/BILL/YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU before adding a reprise of songs from OKLAHOMA! and finishing with YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE from CAROUSEL. Of course, fifty years on, it would be misleading to claim these new tracks attain the same purity of Shirley's younger vocal vibrancy but she's still a force to be reckoned with despite a coping tendency to flutter slowly rather than fly outright. However, the fact these tracks have been included is bonus enough for Shirley's admirers to appreciate.

This was a gift, and the person it was given to likes it. I had a chance to listen to it and was disappointed, but what matters is what the receiver of the gift feels.