Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wait There's More!, March 1, 2003
If you haven't made up your mind about this recording from the previous comments, let me give you the bottom line. Don Costa had worked with Sinatra on the WB /Reprise label, but Rankin could not have timed the effort better, for Costa passed away not long after this was made.. This IS one of the truely magnificent vocal albums in history. Why it never got the recognition it deserves I will never know, but the session is unreal. "When Sunny Gets Blue" and "Here's That Rainy Day" will show you a "lush-ness" beyond belief. I would bet anyone, that more than half of the people who own(ed) the LP have the CD, it is simply that good from beginning to end.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Trancends time, January 30, 2003
I first saw Kenny at the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach CA in the early 80's. I was an an Aierto fan, and he was playing with him, so some of my samba/rugby fans and I decided to check him out. Well, Aierto showed up late, and Kenny played half his set solo. Our table was about three feet from him, and he started with "Blackbird". Bing. I was hooked. Aierto got lost and finally showed up, playing hubcaps, broken cymbals, and assorted plumbing and automotive scrap, to convince all that he was and is the most immaginative recorded percussionist ever. Kenny finished his set with "Eye of the Eagle", with Aierto playing a battered parade bass drum. It was as close to perfection in music as I have heard; a sensitive vocalist, deep lyrics, gentle, perceptive percussion, melded with clear acoustic guitar chords and pick that made the four rugby players at my table tear up. I saw Kenny a couple of years later with my new bride, right before the Golden Bear was demolished and turned into a resort. He was magic. It was to the Kenny Rankin album that my daughter, now the most perfect 17-year-old a father could pray for was concieved. Do your self and future generations a favor - own this masterpiece.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Memories Will Fade And Pretty Dreams Will Rise Up", January 21, 2006
To me, this Don Costa-arranged-album is one of the best-ever Kenny Rankin recordings of all-time. Kenny Rankin has said that Don Costa gave him his very first set of guitar strings in 1962 and since that time his fantasy was to record an album with him. And 14 years later, that fantasy became a reality when they recorded this wonderful album of ten remarkable songs. Don Costa's typically sublime arrangements and Kenny Rankin's creative talent as a singer, guitarist and pianist, were all delightfully wrapped-up in this rare musical offering. This is one of my earliest gems (LP format) when I was just starting my very own collection and it's ever so good to listen to it from time to time, and each time is as enjoyable as the first time I listened to it years ago.
Kenny Rankin never fails to deliver great music and performances in all of his recordings for his artistry is truly one-of-a-kind. Don Costa was known as one of the best Sinatra arrangers and his best work, aside from this album, was presented in one of my absolute favorites, "Sinatra And Strings." Put them together with Wendy Haas (electric piano and organ), Roy McCurdy (drums), Peter Marshall (bass), Nino Tempo (tenor sax), and the end result is this treasure of a recording, produced by Michael Stewart and dedicated by Mr. Rankin to his mother, Elizabeth.
Kenny Rankin's unique version of "When Sunny Gets Blue," written by Jack Segal and Marvin Fischer in 1956, is simply a pure beauty. Just the intro alone would put any listener to a trance.
"When Sunny gets blue
Her eyes get gray and cloudy
Then the rain begins to fall...
When Sunny gets blue
She breathes a sigh of sadness
Like the wind that stirs the trees
Wind that sets the leaves to swaying
Like some violins are playing
Weird and haunting melodies
Memories will fade
And pretty dreams will rise up
Where her other dreams fell through"
He sings another two achingly beautiful songs, James Van Heusen and Johnny Burke's "Here's That Rainy Day" and Stephen Bishop's "On And On" (Puts on Sinatra and starts to cry). I love his smooth take on a popular song in the Seventies, "Groovin'" written by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati and was originally recorded by The Young Rascals. The arrangement is so sublime making it easily as the best version of all. Ditto with his poignant but charming George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
The talented artist shines with his take on his very own composition, "I Love You," which he wrote both lyrics and music, and wraps this beautiful package up with another of his very own, "Through The Eye Of The Eagle."
Kenny Rankin's vocal artistry is a marvel, and so is this album.
P.S. Many thanks to a good friend of mine who kindly provided me with a new copy of this rare and hard-to-find-CD. It's one of my most cherished CDs from my collection.
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