Search - Frank D'rone :: After the Ball (Dig)

Parting is not goodbye

Ian Bradley | Bury, Lancashire United Kingdom | 02/28/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a poignant choice with the recent sad news of Billy May's passing.
It is Billy May's name, however, on the cover which drew me to the album. This is one in the series of Verve's continuing re-issue programme. Should you get hold of a European issue, it comes in a cardboard sleeve, reminiscent of those bonsai productions of which the Japanese are so fond. The picture on the cover shows a personable young man - shirt collar unbuttoned, jacket draped over one arm, the other outstretched in welcome - who looks rather like a potential nominee for the post of candidate for the Democratic Party.Listening to the album, it is clear that these personable qualities are reflected in D'Rone's voice which is tuneful, pleasant but not particularly distinctive. In truth, by the time this album was recorded, a chill wind was already beginning to blow around the bandstand and anonymous young men like this were part of the problem. There is only room for one Frank Sinatra, one Nat `King' Cole, one Tony Bennett. Great art is as distinctive and unique as a fingerprint. Things seem to have come full circle with the return of the rather bland boy singer.In view of this, the billing on the cover of the album is rather appropriate if anachronistic. `Billy May and his Orchestra' it reads. Well, by the time this recording came around in January 1960, Billy had not been a name band leader for years. As he told writer Gene Lees with typical humour:"I said I didn't want to be a band leader because you had to stand up there and do `Happy Birthday to Myrtle.' If somebody asked me to play `Happy Birthday to Myrtle', I'd tell them where they could shove it. And that ain't the way Lawrence Welk does it." Whilst the title track is arranged not by Billy but by Nat Goodman in a good approximation of the May style (even down to the last note resembling that of Billy's up-coming arrangement for Nat Cole of `Day In, Day Out'), the other eleven cuts on the album are all Billy May's charts.They are typical of his work at this period - as velvety and gilded as the interior of an old cinema. `Oh Look At Me Now' is neither as wry nor insinuating as the version Bobby Darin was to turn out with Billy a couple of years later.
Standout arrangement has to be `You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To' - shades of `Softly As In A Morning Sunrise', a booting tenor riff, that muted Riddle-style brass and the band opening out the throttle in the instrumental break.There are some old and some fairly obscure songs amongst the collection which Billy wraps, appropriately, in svelte string arrangements. `Come To Me My Melancholy Baby' dates back to the twenties and I have never heard `Now I Know' sung by anyone except Johnny Desmond on an OWI transcription Glenn Miller's service orchestra.
The programme is divided pretty evenly in this way between swingers and ballads. D'Rone is adept at both styles but obviously more comfortable witrh the ballads where his style is reminiscent of a Vic Damone or a Jack Jones.Listening to the album at the present time, it is hard to imagine a more fitting track to close than Fischer and Laine's `We'll Be Together Again.' D'Rone's delivery is simple and sincere. The Billy May arrangement with its swirling strings almost anticipates the opening he would use for Sinatra's `Luck Be A Lady', his writing , in contrast, behind the lines `Times when I know you'll be lonesome/ Times when I know you'll be sad...' more reminiscent of `...Sings For Only The Lonely.'The lyrics- like a little kiss from somewhere - promise "for parting is not goodbye, we'll be together again..." We'll hold them to that..."

Spectacular!!!

Joseph Denney | Los Angeles, California | 09/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have to take issue with those who find Frank D'Rone's voice bland or uninspiring. Twenty years ago I had the extreme good fortune to have an acquaintance tape one of his then out-of-print albums for me. I was and still am completely blown away by the purity of his sound, his phrasing, and his breath control. There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that he was the best male singer of his time (and hopefully still is, although I have not been lucky enough to hear him in-person for some time now). In my book, there is Frank D'Rone, then comes Mel Torme, and then comes everyone else. Buy this CD, sit down, and really listen to it -- don't use it as background music. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed. Instead, you will wonder, as did I the first time I heard him, why he never found the audience he truly deserved. If you are a true fan of vocal jazz, this is one item you absolutely must have in your collection."

Pleasantly Surprising!

Peter LoRicco | NJ/NY | 08/27/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Having bought this album on a whim, I must confess that I found it quite the endearing pleasant surprise. While some listeners may gripe that Frank D'rone's voice is bland and simply uninspiring, I find it rather appealing! Frank Sinatra he is not, but Frank D'rone, blessed with a fluid vibrato and smooth breath control, does sound like a cross between Bobby Darin and Nat King Cole...which ain't half bad if you ask me! The song selections are superb, especially since many of the tracks are not the same standards recorded time and again. Billy May also deserves credit for his arrangments which enhance Frank's expert vocal performances. This album is a swiftly swinging, dreamy delight that deserves much more credit than I think it gets. If you are a fan of male vocalists from the 1950s and 60s, do yourself a favor and buy "After the Ball"! Maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised too!"