Your Songs

Harry Connick Jr. | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 22, 2009)
• Original Release Date: September 22, 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony Music Distribution
• ASIN: B002DYJAJ8
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (233 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,122 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #11 in Music > Jazz > Traditional Jazz & Ragtime > Traditional Jazz General
  • #11 in Music > Jazz > Traditional Jazz & Ragtime > General AAS
  • #19 in Music > Pop > Oldies > Traditional Pop

Editorial Reviews

2009 album from the singer, pianist and actor, an album of cover versions of songs requested by his many fans. Like his best-selling Only You of 2004, Your Songs consists of Connick singing familiar songs with a full Jazz big band and string orchestra, and, as with nearly all of Harry's previous albums, he wrote each of the orchestrations himself. He also recruited two of his lifelong friends from New Orleans, Branford and Wynton Marsalis, as well as bluegrass guitar virtuoso Bryan Sutton, for guest appearances. 14 tracks including 'Mona Lisa', 'Smile', 'Just The Way You Are' and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Musical Botox, September 29, 2009

By 

David Cady (NYC) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Your Songs (Audio CD)

There's a very interesting article from The Globe and Mail online that chronicles this, Harry Connick's first (and hopefully last) collaboration with mega-producer Clive Davis. Connick claims that the album was "the kind of...market-minded disc that [he] thought he'd never do, `not in a million years.'" Connick is quoted as saying that working with Davis at times left him "pissed" and "humiliated," and feeling "What am I doing, auditioning for this dude?" If there's proof positive that an artist of Connick's caliber should trust his own instincts, it's this seriously misguided collection of pop pablum.

The album starts with a fairly standard big-band arrangement of "All the Way," that clearly tells us we're in "When Harry Met Sally" territory. Which is fine, that's a place in which I'm more than happy to live. But what follows is dreadful: a cheesy version of Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" that turns this simple, Grammy-winning classic into the theme from "Love, American Style." And other tacky renditions of tacky songs follow: A hokey, bluegrass version of Elton John's "Your Song;" Easy Listening takes on Beatles and Burt Bacharach tunes; a lackluster, rinky dink "Can't Help Falling in Love With You" that made me want to sway and hold up a lighter. Wynton Marsalis' trumpet solos only reinforce that's it all very Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.

I've always regarded Mr. Connick as an arbiter of good taste and classy jazz, neither of which he displays here. There are thousands of brilliant, moving standards out there, and instead we get...Don McLean's "And I Love Her So?" Really? Disheartening to say the least.

To be fair, not all the tracks misfire. The abum's last three, including "Who Can I Turn To?" (which I was expecting to go over the top) are actually restrained and heartfelt; and the Nelson Riddle type arrangement for "Besame Mucho" works quite well. That it's pretty much the same one employed for "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Some Enchanted Evening" speaks again to just how uninspired and cookie cutter this album feels and sounds.

I'm not sure how reproducing the Perry Como Songbook is keeping Mr. Connick relevant, but Clive Davis has a plan. He did, after all, bring Barry Manilow back from the dead, and got a Grammy for doing so. We can only hope he confines himself to producing, and doesn't introduce Connick to Mr. Manilow's plastic surgeon.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not my favorite Harry Connick CD, October 22, 2009

By 

SoHappy (Syracuse, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Songs (Audio CD)

This is a good CD, though not my favorite of his works. It would make nice background music, but didn't capture my attention enough to sit and simply listen for the hour. I liked the song selections as they are classic romantic hits. Harry's voice is strong as usual, though his rendition of several of the tunes didn't do the songs justice.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yous Songs is great!!!, September 28, 2009

By 

Bup FX (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Your Songs (Audio CD)

If anyone knows Harry Connick Jr., they know what a great musician he is. This cd shows off those talents and then some. Harry shines through the most creative and thoughtful covers of some of the best and most well known songs of our time. Harry covers Nat King Cole, Sinatra and Billy Joel (among others) and does them all extraordinarily well. This man is a true artist, and Your Songs is true art.