Customer Reviews

Ultimate Collection

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I been searching for years for a song on this CD. A wonderful collection of Belafonte classics and some more obscure recordings. I really enjoy his version of some old folk songs.

The brilliant American compilation, Downtown to Sunset Boulevard, was never released in Britain, but this compilation is clearly inspired by it. The time-span is greater - the oldest hit here is Suddenly there's a valley (which gave Petula a British top ten hit despite competition from Gogi Grant and others) - and there are some new recordings here too.

The pre-Downtown era is also represented by With all my heart, My friend the sea, Romeo and Sailor (a hit in America for Lolita under its German title Seemann). It also includes Chariot, a French million-seller, for which Petula recorded an English version called I will follow him (not included here). Petula's English version did not chart in Britain or America (although it did well in other countries), but Little Peggy March covered it and had an American chart-topper with it.

The peak years are represented by mostly the obvious tracks, though it is nice to see Two rivers included. This is a song Petula wrote herself about her divided loyalties between London, where she spent her early years, and Paris, where she has lived ever since.

The seventies and beyond are represented by an assortment of stage and movie songs along with a few other songs. These are often different from those selected for the Downtown to Sunset Boulevard compilation - Finian's rainbow and Goodbye Mr Chips are represented on each compilation by different songs - so you may find it worth buying this whatever music of Petula's you already have.

The variety of different songs and styles included here is breathtaking, which may not suit everybody, but demonstrates that Petula could sing just about any type of song and sound fantastic - and helps to explain why Petula has sold more records than any other British female singers, then or since.

If you don't have any of Petula's music, this is an excellent career-spanning collection, although if you are only interested in her sixties music, there are several other collections that cover that music extremely well without any of the other stuff.

If you decide to buy this, you will enjoy many happy hours listening, whether you give it dedicated attention or play it as background music.

Ultimate Collection with Harry Belafonte is an amazing collection from a true crooner of calypso and island folk music. He has an amazing vocal ability and the lyrics for his tracks are quite well done and never sound forced or phony. It is true that most of the tracks are not written by Belafonte himself. However, still takes nothing from this collection of amazing island and calypso tracks such as Banana boat, Mary's boy child and many other nice tracks that are amazing to listen to and if one has a decent vocal abilities (like I do) then they are fun to sing as well. The book-let looks cheap but the photo is nice and shows Belafonte looking suave. This is a great summer album whilst drinking some gin and tonic.

I would definitely recommend this album especially if you're a Petula Clark fan or even if you are not. As usual, the singing is fantastic. A good blending of old and new, including songs I didn't have in my vast Pet Clark collection. I especially loved Memories of Love, a new song recorded by her, which I'm surprised didn't become a hit. And her cover of the various Broadway musical numbers was awesome. It only goes to prove that even at the age of 70, Petula still has it. Buy this album, you won't regret it.

This is an excellent collection from one of the worlds truly great pop singers of the 50s and 60s who has gone on to become an international stage theatre and screen superstar and performer.

Petula is nothing less than perfect on this collection. It reminds us of her career highlights from the 1950s and 60s with such classics as Downtown,Don't sleep in the subway , Sailor,Romeo, and This is my Song.

This album also show highlights from Petula's stage sucesses of recent years,including a superb interpretation of "Tell me its not true" from Blood brothers, having heard the original version of this by Barbara Dickson, I feel this is the definitive version. I heard Petula sing it recently in concert and it mae the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end - sensational!

Buy this you won't regret it!

Over 70 years alive, Petula Clark is climbing a new top of her career. We in Germany love Petula, but singers like Dusty Springfield are more famous. Why? I don't know. For me, Petula is THE singer, her technic in singing is fabulous. In this collection you will find some of her 60's and 70's hits, mixed with absolutely new songs. Petulas clear and strong voice is young in this new pieces, very likefully! "When you get right down to it" sounds as it's been sung by a teenager, I wished it has a longer running time. Buying this double-album is buying Petula "now and then", and you can be sure: You wouldn`t regret this buy!

WANT TO LEAVE THE STRESS OF TODAYS WORLD IN THE DUST....TAKE A SPIN WITH PETULA....THIS CD WILL INVIGORATE YOUR SPIRITS AND REMIND YOU OF THE INNOCENT + FUN PART OF THE SIXTIES:)

THANKS PETULA, SINCE THE AGE OF 13 I HAVE ENJOYED YOUR PRESENCE IN MY LIFE AND ALWAYS WILL.
THERES PETULA, LESLEY GORE, DUSTY, AND THE LADY WHO SANG "TO SIR WITH LOVE" --- BUT PET REMINDS ME OF THE RED PHONE BOOTHS, DBL DECKER BUSES AND THE BRITISH MOP HEADS, ET AL:)

THIS CD IS NEWLY RELEASED AND I SUGGEST YOU TAKE IT FOR A SPIN IN YOUR 1964 BABY BLUE MUSTANG---HAPPY CAVORTING:)

We especially listen "The Collection", and surely all his albums are favorable.. I like "Come Back Liza","Cotton Fields" and "Hava Nageela" most, as several unforgettable oldies...

There are a lot of collections of Petula Clark's recordings out there, but this has to be one of the most thorough and comprehensive on two CDs. Almost all of her hits from 1964 - 1968 are here ("Don't Give Up" is the only one that's missing). However, there are also a handful of her early hits from 1955 to 1963, and a second CD that comprehensively covers the 1970's through 2002, including songs from her Broadway/ West End shows like "Blood Brothers" and "Sunset Boulevard". The only complaint might be that the French hits are a bit scarce (only two songs in French), but that's a minor issue. As a bonus, Petula also gives her individual comments on each song in the enclosed booklet.

From personal experience, as well as reading reviews of many of the other Harry Belafonte CD's available - especially those advertising themselves as his "greatest hits" or "best of" - it is clear that many fans are still searching for the definitive collection of his hit singles. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to put one together as he only had 14 from 1952 to 1968, and one of those charted twice! Even this one, calling itself the "Ultimate" collection falls far short in that respect as it omits seven of those hits.

Career-wise, he pulled off the impossible when, at a time when many singers found their careers shunted to the sidelines by the advent of R&R in the mid-1950's, he successfully re-introduced something to the general North American buying public that, for a brief period anyway, captured their attention. Calypso. De sound of de islands, mon.

After going nowhere with Jubilee Records in 1949, he signed with RCA Victor and, in 1952, cut his first Calypso tune, Man Smart (Woman Smarter) which, b/w Jerry (This Timber Got To Roll), failed to chart. He then achieved his first hit with a cover of a 1950 Jo Stafford hit, Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair) which, with the backing of the Millard Thomas orchestra, reached # 30 Pop in December b/w Shenandoah. He then tried again with a Calypso record, but once more came up short as Matilda b/w Suzanne again failed to chart.

He then went back to another cover of a straight pop tune, Gomen Nasai (Forgive Me), with Henri Rene & His Orchestra, and this time made it to # 19 in April 1953 b/w Springfield Mountain, before finally scoring with his first Calypso hit, Hold 'Em Joe, from the Broadway show John Murray Anderson's Almanac in which Belafonte starred, and which topped out at # 30 in April 1954 b/w I'm Just A Country Boy, both with the backing of the Hugo Winterhalter orchestra. Neither the hits nor their B-sides are included here.

There then followed several more failed singles (The Fox/Man Piaba in 1954, Jump Down (Spin Around)/In That Great Gettin' Up Morning, and Come Back Liza (1955) before, and in the midst of the rocking sounds of The Green Door, Hound Dog, and Singing The Blues, hitting it big with an opening acoustic guitar lick, followed by "Down de way where de nights are gay and de sun shines daily on de mountain top, I took a trip on a sailing ship and when I reached Jea..maica I made a stop ..."

By Christmas 1956, Jamaica Farewell, which peaked at # 14 Billboard Pop Top 100 b/w Once Was, had been joined on the charts by Mary's Boy Child (# 12 b/w Venezuela) - both hits backed by the William Loris orchestra, and soon, no teen party was complete without those records and a copy of his follow-up LP Calypso. Banana Boat (Day-O), based on a Jamaican folk song, followed in early January 1957 going to # 5 Top 100 and # 7 R&B b/w Star-O, both with the backing of the Tony Scott orchestra. RCA then re-released Hold 'Em Joe, and this time it peaked at # 84 Top 100 in March, while the B-side, I'm Just A Country Boy, registered as a "follow-along" hit.

Then, with the Bob Corman orchestra, came the wonderfully whimsical Mama Look At Bubu, on some pressings shown as Mama Look-A Boo Boo (Shut You Mouth - Go Away), which reached # 10 R&B and # 11 Top 100 in April 1957, b/w a version of the West Indian folk song, Yellow Bird, which, titled Don't Ever Leave Me, made it to # 90 Top 100. The A-side is here but not the flip. That summer, again with the Corman orchestra, Cocoanut Woman got as high as # 30 Top 100 while the B-Side, Island In The Sun (from the film of the same name starring Belafonte), reached # 30 Top 100.

The Billboard Pop Top/Hot 100 and R&B singles charts were never again adorned by his Calypso sound, although he did very well with his LPs and personal appearances. In 1967, still with RCA Victor, he scored his first
Adult Contemporary (AC) hit when A Strange Song rose as high as # 5 that fall b/w Sunflower, and in June 1968 his cover of By The Time I Get To Phoenix reached # 38 AC b/w Sleep Late, My Lady Friend. None of those cuts are here either.

Not a bad compilation, and the sound is impeccable, but it's still one that leaves the fans of Harry Belafonte yearning for that one definitive collection.