Customer Reviews

Very Best of

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"The Very Best Of Claudine Longet" is a very pleasant and enjoyable musical experience. The album does not reflect Claudine's "best" which are scattered throught the albums of her recording career but it is truly representational of the "Claudine Experience". Her mellow whispy voice evokes quiet intimate warmth.
Perhaps her most famous recording opens this album: "Hello Hello"! This was my first introduction to the person and music of Ms Longet a way back when. She does a unique rendition of the Beach Boys "God Only Knows" which certainly does Brain Wilson proud.
My personal favorite on this collection is "As If You Walked Away". There is a sad melancholy aura that permeates this song and lingers with you long when it's over.
I can't imagine the late sixties/early seventies without the musical soundtrack of Claudine Longet. I'm happy she came along and recorded the tracks she did. . . and now we can listen to them all these years later with that same naive joy we had way back then.
I don't know if Claudine will ever or plans ever to record again, but I would be glad if she would. Thanks Claudine for all the beautiful songs and thanks for all the happy memories of youthful years. You're a beautiful woman who made beautiful music singing beautiful songs.

Claudine Longet is one of the great guilty pleasures of pop music--and not just because of the controversy behind the 1976 death of Spider Sabich, the scandal for which she is best remembered. Claudine belonged to the legendary 1960s roster of Herb Alpert's A&M Records, a group of loungecore artists horribly reviled by "hip" music critics for bucking the music and image trends of the pot-and-acid era. Alpert's acts included The Carpenters, The Sandpipers, Sergio Mendes, Alpert's own Tijuana Brass, Burt Bacharach, and Chris Montez. As Alpert himself explains: "I think people were bugged with hearing music which had an undercurrent of unhappiness and anger, even sadism." Claudine made five albums for A&M, and then went on to ex-husband's Andy Williams' Barnaby label for three early 1970s releases--and faded into musical obscurity. Until this compilation, Claudine's music was only available through costly Japanese imports or scratchy old vinyls at the thrift shop. Varese Sarabande has done a nice, if incomplete, job of presenting her music. The selections are mostly from the later Barnaby releases, leaving off some gems like "Wanderlust" from her first album and her incredibly beautiful version of the Everlys' "Let It Be Me" from her best album "Colours" and completely ignoring her most obscure album "Run Wild, Run Free." But since Claudine never made a bad record, any 16 of her tracks would be a very listenable "best of" collection. Ethereal, innocently sexy, free-spirited, Claudine sang like she looked on some of the jacket sleeves--the gorgeous, young lady in the diaphanous dress on the beach. Guilty, guilty, guilty. Nobody ever made records like these!

No jokes, please : This is excellent easy-listening/lounge music. This CD collects some very good material sung in her trademark light, breathy style set against tasteful, attractive arrangements. Nice booklet and photos as well. It's a shame A&M won't license more of her material (only four tracks are from A&M where she did her best albums), but what's here is very good. An import, "Digital Remastered Best", contains A&M material and is highly recommended, as are most of her import CDs, although you have to be independently wealthy to afford most of them.

This collection is good as a moderately priced CD of Longet's songs. But I hardly would call it her "very best": most tracks on the disc are taken from the 1969-72 period, leaving out a great deal of her album songs from 1967 and 1968 that made her style so distinguished. I would recommend to buy this CD together with "A&M Digitally Remastered Best" that covers her A&M albums, which personally I find her truly best.

Although it includes only four tracks from her A&M days (her best period, but A&M is stingy with licensing), this is still a fine collection, not withstanding that it's the only US collection available. Good booklet, too. The import, "Digitally Remastered Best", is the recommended choice for Longet collectors, but this is nevertheless well recommended and nicely priced.

There's an undeniable magic when Claudine Longet has her way with an arrangement by Nick DeCaro. It's four parts camp to one part brilliance, and it can really hook you if you keep an open mind. This collection, however, is not a best-of or even the place to start. Get Claudine's "Love is Blue" album which has most of her all-time greats - Randy Newman's "Snow," "Small Talk," "Happy Talk," a hysterical "Falling In Love Again," the Bee Gee's "Holiday" (you have to hear it!) and - I swear to God - a love song to a seal. There's never been anything quite like her....

If you're interested in buying this CD one would imagine that you know a little bit about Claudine Longet's singing voice--or lack thereof. This was her style and people craved it and for those whose craving is still untamed here is an easily accessible disc featuring 16 whispered selections by Longet. Despite her small voice, Longet does well even with big splashy arrangements, though some are too loud and make Longet's voice difficult to her. Her covers of the Carpenters' classics, a Beach Boys' tune and John Lennon's "Hear, There and Everywhere" are well done, but she is completely off the mark with "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," sung in French and Buffy Sainte Marie's "Guess Who I Saw in Paris." It's unfortunate that some of Longet's other covers, "The Look of Love," and her Jobim outings from earlier albums are missing from this disc, which would make all the more worthwhile owning.

From the moment I first heard her music, I was enthralled. What a gem! On poor material she sounds so, so. But on good material she sines brillantly with her soft vocal style. I do believe A & M records did their very best to show case her style and provided the very best accompany ment of musicians and arrangements. I have tracked down five of her albums in the past and often put them on single cds to listen to my favorites. My only regret is that she is no longer making sweet music!!!

The first song Hello Hello had me dancing naked in my bedroom. My dogs enjoyed the show!

Though nowhere near complete (where's "Snow"?), this compilation of music from my very favorite A&M recording star is a must for fans. Claudine's haunting vocals (delivered in a whispery French accent) were truly ahead of their time. This is 60's easy listening at its best. Magical.