Today & Yesterday: Celebration in Song

Perry Como | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 9, 1993)
• Original Release Date: November 9, 1993
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002WMZ
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #26,034 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cross-Generational Collection of Songs!, August 2, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Nova Scotia, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Today & Yesterday: Celebration in Song (Audio CD)

This is a well engineered collection of songs dating from Perry's very first recording for the RCA Victor label in 1943 to his last in 1987. The recordings are presented chronologically and that's a plus. Unfortunately, Perry's recording career is by far too massive to be well represented within a three CD collection such as this. BMG could have devouted an entire set to his 1940s recordings alone not to mention almost every decade since! Releasing only one song from the five album collection produced by Hugo & Luigi in the early 60s, for example, is clearly a misrepresentation of Perry's recorded repertoire and his very successful Nashville collection is not clearly represented either. The real problem here is that BMG is trying to do too much with too little. Perry's success is probably more cross generational than even Sinatra and his many fans would have been better served had BMG attempted to focus in on this fact a little better. This is a collection well worth having but there are more recordings missing than there are present. BMG is attempting to kill a number of birds with one stone, if you'll pardon the cliche, but their shots are far too scattered. Anyone familiar with the Como repertoire knows full well that he deserves better than this from a label to which Mr. C. was loyal for almost 50 years. This is a good start but BMG needs to go back to the drawing table and begin to do the job thoroughly.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a voice!, April 14, 2004

By 

Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Today & Yesterday: Celebration in Song (Audio CD)

It's a tragedy that most people under forty don't even know who Perry Como is and few have ever been exposed to his music. This album will introduce to some marvelous music, sung by the inimitable Perry Como. As a fan of Perry, Sinatra and Bing Crosby, comparisons to their voices is inevitable. Perry modeled himself closely after Bing and the influence clearly shows. His voice wasn't as deep and his range wasn't as great, but his voice was more mellifluous and mellow, particularly as he aged.

All of Perry's great 40's and 50's hits are included here, as well as two stellar songs from the 70's, "And I Love You So" (my personal favorite) and "It's Impossible." Como injected so much pathos and emotion in both these songs. He learned how to use his vocal instrument more effectively as he got older. One of the greatest moment on this set is the inclusion of Perry's last great song, "Wing Beneath my Wings," one of the best swan songs in American music.

Perry Como's music is timeless and anyone of any age can enjoy it. No one else sang quite like him with that beautifully restrained, sweet, gentle style. I've seen Perry in concert several times and he was a beautiful man, inside and out. His voice mirrors his soul and this is a superb collection.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the essential como collection, July 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Today & Yesterday: Celebration in Song (Audio CD)

There are too many fine recordings of Perry Como to try to come up with the definitive three c.d. collection, but this comes as close as anyone can get. I just hope that R.C.A. goes to the effort of putting together part 2 of the Como collection. I'll surely be waiting.