Search - Frank Sinatra :: Sings the Select Johnny Mercer

BRING IT BACK FAST!

ALAIN ROBERT | ST-HUBERT,QUÉBEC | 12/13/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't understand why this disc is out of stock.This collection is actually the complete SINATRA recordings of MERCER songs during his CAPITOL years.Including here are the two versions of DAY IN DAY OUT that are fascinating to compare.JEEPERS CREEPERS was in the first album that NELSON RIDDLE and FRANK made together in 1953;WHEN THE WORLD WAS YOUNG was in the last CAPITOL album in 1962.SINATRA recorded many other MERCER tunes for his label REPRISE:MOONRIVER,DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES,EMILY etc.The superlatives you probably heard about this guy from SAVANNAGH are all true;no songwriter of his generation can symbolize his country better than MERCER;he remains the ultimate poet of the AMERICAN songbook.When you hear one of JOHNNY'S tune,you feel AMERICAN."

The best of the Capitol "Sinatra Sings the Select..." series

G. C. Todd | Memphis | 11/25/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm biased. Sinatra's catalogue from about 1950 through the mid sixties is almost all uniformly excellent. I like the "Sinatra Sings the Select..." series of c.d.'s because the great songwriters are best sung by Sinatra (sorry Ella, I love the Songbooks as well).



Although the great concept albums should not be skipped over in favor of these collections; any Sinatra lover will enjoy the context of these "Select" c.d.'s. It's all about interpretation and for me, it's in the Mercer songs that Sinatra really digs deeper for that extra bit of emotion.



The Sammy Cahn, Rodgers and Hart, and Cole Porter collections are great too, but Johnny Mercer just seems to write for Sinatra's personality so very well.

"

The master's voice sing's the virtuoso's songs

Jean E. Pouliot | Newburyport, MA United States | 09/04/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The incomparable Frank Sinatra sings classic Johnny Mercer on this wonderful CD. The tunes are mostly taken from recordings made in the 1950s and early 60s and feature the classic 40s and 50s big band arrangements that were standard in the pre-rock era. This style, as well as Sinatra's broad and masculine voicings, give the tunes a decidedly retro feel, lightly masking Mercer's sweet lyrics and melodies with the right touch of manly insouciance. Mercer's great hits, "Autumn Leaves, " That Old Black Magic" and "Laura" are here. Even people like me who couldn't name a Johnny Mercer tune before hearing this will be amazed at the number of great old melodies they recognize.



This fine album might not be the best introduction to Johnny Mercer, since Frank stretches and flattens the melodies so much. But Mercer fans will appreciate the treatment their hero receives at the hands of the master vocal interpreter of the mid-20th century.

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