SHE HAD THAT EXTRA SOMETHING
Barry McCanna | Normandy, France | 03/26/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Frances Day starred on stage and in films during the thirties and early forties, and this 2-CD set encapsulates her career. Accompaniments include those of Ray Noble, Louis Levy, Carroll Gibbons, George Scott Wood, Geraldo, Jay Wilbur, and Henry Hall, and she duets with Max Kirby, Al Bowlly, Arthur Riscoe, John Mills, and Bud Flanagan (with whom she performs a somewhat bowdlerised version of Cole Porter's "But In The Morning, No!"). Four of the tracks are recordings of radio broadcasts, including "Summertime" with Geraldo, and the parody "An Englishman Spoke In Grosvenor Square" with Henry Hall. In his comprehensive liner note, Michael Thornton refers to her habit of "bending the words, and often the music also, to her own fey persona". That succeeds in most cases, but what works on stage does not always transfer well to record. "S'cuse Me" in particular, sounds like a cross between Betty Boop and Shirley Temple! But the few less successful tracks are far outweighed by the many delights in this attractively packaged compilation."