Customer Reviews

For Those Who Think Young

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I think Joanie was one of the first singers I fell in love with as a kid. She was so cute, the archetypical Warner Bros. babe!
I missed out on the LPs the first time around, and collected them all in the 70s. Her fresh, crisp & cool delivery was like a Malibu breeze. No hint of cigarettes & brandy in her style! She had radio hits a la Connie Francis, but her LPs were strictly swinging jazz. "For Those Who Think Young" features a studio session with the great Marty Paich, and a live set with a Bob Florence combo - both first rate. Joanie still sounds just as fabulous 40 years later, and this is a wonderful place to discover her terrific singing style, even though all the discs are great!

I was fortunate enough to obtain most of Joanie Sommers' early albums in the 1980s, realizing how great a singer she was back in the 1960s. The folks at Warner Brothers were smart enough to market her music toward both teens and adults.

Here, Joanie is given two distinct musical backgrounds...the first side with a blazing big band led by Marty Paich (recorded in studio), and the flip side with a jazz combo in live concert, with Bob Florence at the helm. Each of the 12 tracks is superb, but my personal favorite is "My Ship", which demonstrates how well she can get inside a ballad.

The title of this album "For Those Who Think Young" is a fitting one because it was Pepsi's slogan back then (Joanie sang that well-known jingle). I'm happy that this album is on CD!!!

It's a shame that Joanie Sommers is best remembered for the utterly goofy '60s hit "Johnny Get Angry." She's an accomplished vocalist with straightforward, charming delivery, sounding a bit like Vikki Carr without the angst. This disc benefits from some blazing arrangements from the great Marty Paich on the first six tracks. The remaining cuts come from a concert performance and feature less-inspired Bob Florence backings. Joanie is in good voice throughout, but leans toward a cutesy quality at times that is distracting. When she reins in that tendency, she's quite a charmer, especially on an absolutely gorgeous reading of "My Ship."

"For Those Who Think Young" proves that Joanie Sommers was and is a dynamite big band jazz singer, one who makes musicians stand and cheer after she knocks the roof off. Sell chart-topping popular singles she will. Sell out popular jazz venues she will. In this album she is the ultimate headliner in total command all the way. For starters, "Blues In the Night", a driving big band honky tonk, finds her belting Mercer's lyrics to the moon and back. She follows up in the same way with a rocking original "Hard Hearted Hannah". "Out of this World" is reflective of her deft, precise jazz timing. The jazz ballads "My Ship", "Round Midnight", and "Why Shouldn't I?" are gorgeously executed. Of course, the arrangements of Mr. Marty Paich are first class, and provide Joanie a perfect backdrop for her original and creative phrasing. Get it...it wins!