Search - Eydie Gorme :: Sings the Great Songs From The Sound of Music and Other Broadway Hits

Most Orginal Arrangements & Best Bonus Tracks EVER

Jim Holtz | Madison, Wi United States | 06/25/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"EYDIE GORME SINGS THE GREAT SONGS FROM THE SOUND OF MUSIC & OTHER BROADWAY HITS is as great as the title is long! The orginal 12 tracks are still among most adventurous arrangements in good pop music. Eydie really showed off her skill, orginality, & flair in all of the 1st 12 tracks which made up the lp. The last 9 are very powerful but mostly restrained. Rodgers & Hammerstein's MY FAVORITE THINGS opens with a great pulsefying tempo which ends with her signature high note. What folllows is the attention grabbing & passion filling Rodgers & Hart ballad, IT NEVER ENTERED MY MIND . She hit the perfect note on her 2nd reading of "Once" in the song's verse. Back to Rodgers & Hammerstein for GETTING TO KNOW YOU & SOUND OF MUSIC. With the swinging GETTING Eydie used her wide vocal range & vibrant voice to transform a nice sweet ditty into a cabaret swinger. Her ballad performance of SOUND OF MUSIC was an ode to nature! Eydie stylized it with even going off key on the word, blessed, & created a vibrant alfresco effect. Her Kern & Hammerstein's BILL reminds one of Keely Smith. Both gave that aged show tune an updated punch. Now we have the last 2 R & Hammerstein songs: CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN & SHALL WE DANCE. CLIMB rivals any singer of religious music. She wss able to stay in her upper register giving the song its much deserved reverence. Her SHALL is so joyously swinging with her high notes macthing the brass. AS LOND AS SHE NEEDS ME is pure Gorme Torch Ballad. She hit all the notes dramtically & built to that powerful high note! The swinging MATCHMAKER, MATCHMAKER had Eydie pleading for the perfect male! SMALL WORLD & JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS are prime examples of how she could flush new life in overly done material. SMALL started slow & then went into a different, upbeat tempo with Gorme not missing a note. With JUST, she did a revision of it. This time the verse was removed & she got more adventurous with the ending. Eydie stayed with the orchestra when it quickly went up hill, never faltering. This orginal album is still one of the best vocal pop albums of all time. I honestly don't know of another album where the singer stayed so on track vocally . The 9 bouns tracks are also gems. Yet, can anything compare to the oprginals? 2 of the 9 bonus materials, DO I HEAR A WALTZ & PARTY'S OVER are from this period or before it. So, we have Eydie in her great vocal shape but the other songs were recorded later. Her voice had aged but she still shined. TIME HEALS EVERYTHING has one feeling every ounce of Eydie's pain. Gorme sparkled with her restrained dramactics on SEND IN THE CLOWNS. So, why not buy the best & tell everyone do the same."